Are you an All-Star? We know you are! This week we're saluting the car loaded music video "All Star" by Smash Mouth. So you get your game on! This music video came out in 1999 and is based on the B movie Mystery Men. Don't worry, I didn't remember that movie either. But apparently it had a good cast. Was it just too cheesy? Who knows. But anyways, without the movie we wouldn't have this beloved video. So on to the cars.
One of the major stars of All Star is this 1979 Corvette Custom Limo. Digging through blog archives over on Corvette Blogger, I managed to find a few details about the car. Apparently it's a custom build from Cinema Vehicle Services for the movie and later the video. Yes, the same folks who build Eleanor! One of the things I love about this car is the paint scheme. It's the same paint scheme featured on the 1978 Indy Pace cars. According to the post, it was built from a stock 1979 Corvette that was stretched to 23 feet long! Can you imagine driving around in this thing? The article later mentions it being sold on eBay. I haven't been able to find much else about it. Other than this post over on Bang Shift. I can hear Adam Sandler walking up to this thing and saying "Woah.. must be Burt Reynolds or something.."
Believe it or not, this is the villain car of the movie and music video! But what about our heroes? Well they get a 1959 Rambler Rebel Cross Country Custom. The Mystery Men pile in it and later pop out for a fight scene. There's some debate over on IMCDB as to what exactly the car is. I think it could be just a dagwood of a car put together from pieces. It's Hollywood, we can do anything we want right? One interesting note about this classic is, like a lot of classics. They only made this body style two years, 1958 and 1959. You can learn more Rambler Rebel Cross Country over on Hemmings.
This next ride, I honestly don't know much about. It looks straight up out of the 70's. A time when the custom trikes were all the rage. But I thought it was worth a mention. That's the wrap for this post. Check out full video below! Till next time, the articles start coming and they don't stop coming (hopefully). See ya!
Are you getting as excited as I am about Barrett Jackson New Orleans 2023? This will be the first ever Barrett Jackson in New Orleans. The show starts next week on Thursday the 28th and runs through Saturday 30th. As always they'll have a live stream running of all the hot bidding action. If you happen to miss the show, don't worry it will be up on YouTube later in the coming weeks. I just finished going through the docket and we are in for a treat folks. Below are our movie and tv car related picks from the upcoming show.
Our first pick is a very nice example of a 1980 SE Trans Am. Very much like the one Burt Reynolds drove in Smokey and the Bandit Part II. Complete with a 301 turbocharged V8 under the hood. According to the listing, this car has under went a complete comprehensive restoration. The real question is does it come with a Frog? *wink*
Our next pick is a 1967 Shelby GT500 Eleanor Tribute car. Note this car is not an original screen used car. However it is a licensed replica. It features panels built by Cinema Movie Services. If you recall they're the original builders of the screen used cars. Under the hood a beafy Ford FE 429 V8 backed up by a 4-speed toploader transmission. With a 9 inch Ford rear-end sending all that power to the ground. There are several other Eleanor tributes or replicas going on the block this show. This one is our favorite.
Last but certainly not least is a 1967 Cobra Re-Creation. I'm curious to see how this one goes. Factory built Shelby's bring a ton of money. This is a recreation, but built with Shelby parts. It should do well. A lovely looking build. You may remember our article from years ago about the Shelby Cobra body and frame that came up for sale on the Sharks and Cobras episode of Pawn Stars.
Party time excellent, requires excellent tunes. Do you have the right part for your Wayne's World AMC Pacer? Looking to head-bang accurately with the best of Wayne's World fans. Well you're gonna wanta pay attention to the information we have for you today's Proper Prop. Proper Prop, the segment of On Screen Cars where we tell you how to get proper prop for your tv/movie car replica.
The object we're talking about today, is the cassette tape deck used in the Mirthmobile. Ah, the Mirthmobile. The famous ride belonging to Dana Carvey's character Garth. But where did Garth get his tape deck? Well through a lot of screen pausing and analysis we have an answer for you. But it's a little complex. There were actually two cassette tape decks used in the films.
Panasonic CQ-H08
The first film used a Panasonic CQ-H08 AM/FM Cassette Deck. These units were sold around the time of the film in 1990 - 1991. You can kinda spot the front of this radio in the scene where Wayne pops in the Queen tape. I had a hard time finding photos that matched. But if you pause at the right time, you make out the words Panasonic in the upper left corner of the device as well as the words "HI-Power". The bass and treble knobs are not readable in the film, but the location on the device is unique enough for a match.
Kenwood KRC160
The radio in the second film was a bit easier to find. It was a Kenwood KRC160. This radio is much more noticeable. It's almost as if Kenwood sponsored for product placement. I can't think of much reason why Garth would have upgraded so soon. The features of the previous units were the same. I would suspected a in dash CD player to replace the portable one on top of the dash. But not another cassette deck. I was able to find out a lot more about this radio. You can see the specs here.
Something to note about both of the radios used. Both of these radios are a single DIN standard design (180 x 50 mm panel). Where as the original Pacer radio had a two-post radio (volume and tuning knobs). The dashboard would have needed to be modified to allow for the larger radio face. This is something very common with vehicles prior to 1984. You can actually see the larger hole that was cut for the radio in the Pawn Star's episode where Rick Harrison buys the car. Sadly at that point the radio had been pulled from the car. Logically the radio should have been the later Kenwood model. I guess we'll never know for sure.
So where does this leave us with Proper Prop? Well the answer is simple, are you building a Wayne's World 1 or 2 AMC Pacer? I hope you enjoyed this deep dive. I know we sure enjoyed digging for this piece of obscure prop trivia. Till next time, Party On!
Say it with me "ThunderCougarFalconBird." Now say it again 10 times fast. Addicting huh? Well I have to say it's a memorable piece of Futurama fiction. Apparently the future's version of manliness is a mash of classic car names and parts rolled up in a big fancy hover car. Episode S2E10 entitled "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" introduces us to the car. In the beginning of this episode Amy decides she needs to go car shopping. They go to see Malfunctioning Eddie and his Rocket Car Emporium. Where Fry is nearly swayed by the salesperson to buy the car.
Nothing makes you feel more like a man than a Thunder Cougar Falcon Bird
Nice pitch isn't it? The car reminds me much of Simpson's: The Homer in it's terms of oddness. It does pay great tribute to the old big fin cars of the 1950's. You can see the artist had the 50's Ford Thunderbird in mind. The grill is kinda a mix of a Ford Cougar and Ford Falcon. Hints the name ThunderCougarFalconBird. Check out that super-charged V8 poking up from the hood. Rarrr! I like the rest of Fry and Salesperson's conversation.
Fry: "Sorry, I'm not here to buy."
Sales Person: "I understand and it's wonderful that you don't care whether anyone questions your sexual orientation."
Fry: "I care! I care plenty! I just dunno how to make them stop!"
Sales Person: "One word: Thundercougarfalconbird."
I think this car would have an interesting emblem to it as well. Take a 80's Mercury Cougar emblem (I still think it reminds me of a ThunderCats logo). Throw some wings on the cougar, thunderbolts and there ya go an emblem for the ThunderCougarFalconbird! Last but not least check out this Flickr post on a LEGO version of the ThunderCougarFalconBird. Nice job LEGO Ambassador Matt De Lanoy! aka Pepa Quin on Flickr. Well that's all I have for now on the topic of the ThunderCougarFalconBird. Let's hear what you have to say! Post in the comments. See ya next time!
Yesterday Hasbro rolled up their display in New York City at the American International Toy Fair. A full scale movie vehicle of the famous Transformers Optimus Prime was parked out side The TimesCenter. The truck however cannot move on his own power and is not street legal. It took a team of two flat beds traveling across the country to bring Optimus to the big show. Hopefully he'll be on his best behavior after Bumble Bee's appearance during a Super Bowl Commercial. It's hard to keep your cool when you get a New York City welcome.
Well how did the city respond? They gave Optimus a ticket. Hasbro reported that all the proper permits were acquired to park Optimus on the street. However a $115 dollar ticket was applied. No word yet if Hasbro has plans to pay. But word quickly spread through out the web. Including a video or two popped up on Youtube. Check out one of the videos below for the full street appeal. Till next time avoid a boot or tow and pay your tickets!
Update: January 2021
Sorry folks the video and account associated are long gone.
Panasonic CQ-H08
Kenwood KRC160
