Not long ago LeftLaneNews.com did an article about the new 2011 BMW Isetta Concept. You may remember our earlier article about Steve's infamous love affair with not only Laura Winslow, but his not-so attractive funny looking BMW Isetta. Never the less Steve had car love bigger than the Volkswagen Beatle. After seeing the new concept, I had to ask "Would Steve Urkel Approve?" Let's look at the differences shall we?
The first striking feature is the fact the car has two doors. There is no large single door on the front. Granted I can understand. The single door on the front may not be the safest thing in the world. The wheel base appears a little longer. Nothing wrong with a little extra nerdy leg room. Engine? The new Isetta will feature a full zero emissions electric motor setup. On a single charge the car will be able to go a 100 miles. Gas and diesel engines will be optional later in life cycle. I guess Steve and Laura would have a hard time making that trip to Cincinnati from Chicago huh?
So would Steve Urkel approve? Given the "nerdy/tech" appeal of the car, I would think so. He'd be grin'n with his spenders all the way to the BMW dealership. Another chance for him to own a Isetta. If you recall, Steve's went over a cliff as he nearly escaped with his life. I wish him well! Got a nerdy car story for us? Let us know on our forums! Did I do that?
The rare or not so rare 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...
Cameron: [Ferris slowly pulls the Ferrari out of the garage] No, Ferris. I'm putting my foot down. You're just gonna have to think of something else.
[Ferris keeps driving]
Cameron: How bout we rent a nice Cadillac? My treat! We could call a limo! A nice stretch jobs with the TV and the bar. How about that?
Ferris: [Ferris pulls the car back slightly] Come on. Live a little!
[Cameron crosses himself, walks to the car]
Yea, I can't blame Cameron for trying to stop Ferris Bueller from taking his dad's rare 1961 Ferrari 250 for a joyride. Especially knowing that only 55 of these cars were ever built. But hey, ya only live once right? As Ferris Bueller says: "Life moves pretty fast, If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Solid words, I might add. But seriously how rare is this car?
The real thing.
At the time of the film, said car would have been worth around $350,000. If you think that's chump change. How about the same car on the auction block today? The highest recorded auction sale of a Ferrari 250 GT California was $10,894,900. That car once belonged to actor James Coburn and was won by British national radio DJ celebrity Chris Evans. The original cars of course were all hand built with steel and aluminum body panels. The engines were the same V12 engines Ferrari used in their Tour de France race car at the time. Very classy and very rare automobiles.
Well the one on screen, not so rare.
Due to the rarity of the car, three replicas were used in the film. The fiberglass replicas were built by Modena Design and Research for Paramount Pictures. Modena used MG convertibles as a base car. Under the hood, Ford's beloved 302 V8 was crammed in. Overall these replicas were very well crafted. To an untrained eye it's fairly hard to tell if they're the real or not (fooled me for years). Matter of fact, Ferrari ended up suing Modena for use of trademark design and emblems. Not soon after the suit the company went out of business.
Interesting Facts
Have you ever noticed the license plate numbers/names on different cars in the film? For example the license plate on the Ferrari says "NRVOUS." Other cars appear with special vanity license plates as well. Some examples include the text VCTN (National Lampoon’s Vacation), TBC (The Breakfast Club), MMOM (Mr. Mom), and 4FBDO (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). This little Easter egg plays tribute to the director's (John Hughes) earlier works. Another interesting fact is Ferris and Cameron attempt to row back the mileage by running the car in reverse. This trick would work with most cable driven speedos. If the movie Matilda had been around prior to Ferris Bueller, I'm sure the guys would have tried using the electric drill to reset the mileage.
Final Thoughts
As with all good things, they must come to an end. If you've seen the movie, you've seen the horror a classic car crashing through a window and dropping off into a creek. If I were Cameron's father it's hard to say what I would have done. But again, it's just a car. In this case it was a replica of a classic rare car. Not all is lost. Kids, learn a lesson from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. If you're thinking about taking your parent's rare car out on a joy ride (without them knowing), don't do it. There are plenty of ways to "live" life and have fun. Happy skip day(s) to all the seniors of the class of 2010! Till then have fun and don't get caught.
By now I'm sure you've read or seen previews about the new up coming A-Team movie. It's an awesome tribute/remake of a great 1980s show. If this is new news, don't worry. I've embedded the trailer at the bottom of this post. If you've seen trailer, did you noticed anything interesting about the new van? I found some photos of the van on the set. I studied them over and thought I would share them with you.
Time for Change?
Right away I didn't notice anything. But after looking it over a few times. A few things start to stick out. But the changes are a good thing. Matter of fact, we think they're freck'n awesome! But the changes do stand out from the original van. To set the record straight, I want to start off by saying this is not the same year of GMC Vandura used in the series. But that's not a bad thing. You'll see.
The Changes Arn't Bad
From the side you can see some differences in the way the red stripe is done. Note the side ground effects / side steps have been traded out for side exhaust pipes (very manly I might add). The wheels are solid black. Close up photos on AutoBlog and Jalopnik reveal that they're not even the same style as the original. You can see the bling chrome tow hooks and winch from miles away. Front license plate? I pity the fool who.... you get the idea. The front fog lamps on the grill bar are different shapes. The new van has an updated grill as well.
Final Thoughts
But at the end of the day. It's the same concept, just slightly updated. I'm glad they didn't move away from using the same make and model of van. I couldn't imagine anything built in the last thirty years that could replace the A-Team van. One question I have is. Would I go as far as to say this design is "retro." Well that's debatable. What are your thoughts? Comment and let us know how you feel about the new A-Team van. We'll be working on our next On Screen Cars post. See ya then.
Just this last week, Gorillaz released a new music video featuring some cool muscle cars. Not to mention a surprising special guest. The new video is to help promote their upcoming album, Plastic Beach. For those who are not familiar with Gorillaz, let me give you a short introduction. Gorillaz are a virtual band created after comic book series Tank Girl. It's members are Russel, 2D, Murdoc and Noddle. The actual musical performers vary from song to song. It's a very interesting concept to say the least. But enough about the band. Let's talk about the video.
Each Gorillaz video tells a part in a never ending story. I'm not currently up to date with what's going on in the story, other than the fact their escaping to an island. But this video starts out with the gang racing through the desert in a 1969 Camaro SS. They're being chased down by a cop in hot pursuit. Noodle-bot manages to shoot at the cop till the cop runs off the road and crashes through a billboard (very Dukes of Hazzard like). Things are fine for the moment, till they pass Bruce Wills in a 1968 El Camino. Bruce Willis starts chasing down the group and tries to gun them down. He successfully shoots out the back window and driver side mirror. The chase goes on as Bruce's El Camino pushes Murdoc harder. Some nitrous effects are used and they escape only for Bruce Willis to catch up again later. The chase ends with the crew running off a cliff into the water, where the car turns into a shark. Let's talk about the cars!
The Cars
The Camaro is badged on the tail panel as an 1969 Camaro SS, painted black with a white vinyl top. The front emblem was replaced with a "Stylo" emblem. There's a star on the door with the bullet holes and rub marks, very rough looking. It's got the factory rally wheels with center caps. If it's a true Camaro SS, it should have either 396 V8 or a 350 V8 engine under the hood. It's debatable if the blower scoop is functional or if it's just there for looks. The scoop is sitting on top of a cowl induction hood. It looks kinda out of place. One last note, the Camaro front-fender scripts appear and disappear throughout the video. Do you think two cars were used?
The El Camino is a 1968 model (non-SS). The paint color resembles candy apple red. The wheels look like American Racing 200S, classic style. I found something a little confusing with the shifter. In one part of the clip, Bruce reaches down to grab floor shifter knob. If you look up at the steering wheel, you can see a column shifter as well. Is the floor shifter a fake or was the column shifter just left for nostalgia? If you look closely, the column shifter appears to be in the park position. Just a interesting note. Engine size? The car is badged as a 327 small block chevy (note the close up near the end of the video).
Final Thoughts
Two words. Mind Blowing. There is a lot of stuff going on here. I thought it was a great video. The video has a Mad Max kind of theme going on. The new album will be released soon, you can pre-order through our store! The cars are awesome. It's not that often that you see classic muscle cars in music videos anymore. Not exactly sure what the song is talking about. I've read different explanations on the web. Some say love, some say death and some say it's about the car. I think we're all left to interpret the meaning for ourselves. Question, is it just me, or do you guys think the video producers like classic Chevrolet cars? Would a Mako Corvette be a closer match for imagery of the car turning into a shark? Comment your thoughts as we work on our next post. On Screen Car will keep ya posted on On Screen Car happenings. See ya next time!
If you had dinosaur ranch on a remote island what vehicle would you use to get around? The Jeep Wrangler was Universal's answer as to the vehicle of choice for Jurassic Park's staff transportation. You know, the Jeep is perfect for getting up and down through terrain, transporting stolen embryos and running from dinosaurs. At least that was the case for the Wranglers in the film.
Base Jeep
The base vehicle for Jurassic Park Jeeps were 1992 Jeep Wranglers (YJ). The Jeeps were the "Sahara" trim level which included a few exterior extras such as alloyed wheels, colored fender flares, step board and front bumper mounted fog lamps. Interior options were special trail-cloth seats and removable doors with pockets. All 1992 Saharas came with the 4.0 liter 6 cylinder standard.* All the Jeeps used in the film appear to have manual transmissions. However automatic transmissions magically appear from time to time (kinda like how the General Lee switches back and forth through the Dukes of Hazzard series).*
Jeep 18
Jurassic Park Jeep
What makes the JP Jeeps special? Well let's start with the paint scheme and graphics. The paint scheme consists of a Sand Beige Poly background with two red diagonal stripes through the body.* Each Jeep is numbered on hood, on the side and on front/back license plates.* There is also a id tag hanging from the rear-view mirror. The park logo is on the doors. The windshield frame is red with light bar hoop on top. However from my research only Jeep number 12 features lights on the light bar (maybe removable?). Don't shoot me down with hate mail if I'm wrong. The rear tail lights lights have additional amber lights on the top. The wheels are alloy, however they're painted red to match the stripes. All of the JP Jeeps are equip with winches and ride on BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A tires.
Jeep 29: Very little screen time for this Jeep.
Jeep 10: Note the missing top. Used in the scene where they escape from the T-Rex. Later used to escape to the chopper.
Jeep 12: Used to by Dennis Nedry in attempt to escape the ranch with stolen embryos.
Jeep 12: Can Dennis not drive? Note the Lightbar.
Jeep 12: Final scene for Jeep 12, Dennis is killed by a Dilophosaurus.
Final Thoughts
Above is a clip from our favorite scene from the movie. In this scene the visitors are being chased by the a T-Rex. For comic relief the camera pans to the side rear view mirror. On the mirror you can see a warning label that says "Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear." The T-Rex in the mirror is looking a little too close for comfort. I still crack up when I see this scene. The Jurassic Park Jeeps are pretty neat. I think it would be a fairly easy movie car to clone. However it may not be one of the easier base vehicles to find. But they're around. If you're interested in creating one of your own, the guys at JurassicParkJeep.com forums maybe able to help ya out. It looks like a great community. Till next time, drive safe and watch out for dinos! Don't forget to register and chat with us in the forums!
* Updated: 03/05/2010 with some great info from the guys at JurassicParkJeep.com
The Changes Arn't Bad
Final Thoughts
