Homer Simpson is a man of many talents. No that's not right. Homer Simpson is a man of many hats? True, Homer has done just about every job imaginable, a jack of all trades so to speak. But did you know he was once a truck driver? Well he was! Way back in episode 17 of season 10, Home drives a big rig called "The Red Rascal." We thought we would celebrate this one episode wonder.
Looking from the side, the Red Rascal bares resemblance of a late 90's Freightliner front end with a Mack cab. It's not uncommon to see this an animation. Resemblance to anything real life is just a mark of artist inspiration. On side you can see a nifty logo for the trucking company. A pinup girl with a confederate flag one-piece swimsuit posing with a cartoon wolf. You may remember a similar wolf in older Looney Toons cartoons.
Here's a little background on the episode. Homer finds himself pitted against a truck driver in a showdown steak eating contest. His rival, Red Barclay wins the contest only to die shortly after. In honor of Red, Homer takes its to the road in The Red Rasel to complete Red's final haul. Meanwhile Marge and Lisa have a unrelated adventure of their own. Here we can see Barclay's operators license under the visor. Rest in peace Red. Here's to the hero we didn't know we needed.
Toward the end of the episode Homer falls asleep at the wheel and rescued by this little gadget called the "Navitron Auto-Drive System." Apparently in the Simspsons world, every truck has auto pilot. But it's a trucker's best kept secret, at least until Homer spills the beans. As one trucker says "..with this baby driving your truck. You just have to sit back and watch your ass grow." I'll take their word for it. Say, is this another example of how the Simpsons predicts the future?
Homer and Bart end up getting a lot of valuable bonding in episode. Activities ranging from fishing to enjoying a truck stop meal. I won't spoil the whole episode for you.
But let's just say. It's pretty good. Oh remember Marge and Lisa's adventure. Here's a little tease of another On Screen Car for ya. Till next time, keep on truck'n!
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.
OnScreenCars.com is still alive. It's been hard to keep up with posting with the holidays. But I wanted to include a very special holiday post. Ben Bond of the Tampa Bay Ghostbusters just shared with me a video of his Ghostbusters ECTO Truck all decked out for the holidays! I've been meaning to do a full feature on this truck. This is the second vehicle from the group to be featured on this site. You may remember Ghostbuster Jason Rawley's Chevrolet HHR. More to come in the future on this truck. But for now let's enjoy Ben's truck with a hint of Griswald flavor.
This weekend teen action movie Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief debuted. My wife and I, plus some friends went and saw it. It's a must see if you're into Greek Mythology or a fan of the book series. There was a lot of sword battles and action. Not to mention a fair amount of On Screen Cars! Today I wanted to share one of the car findings from the film. Be forewarned! The text below contains some spoilers for those who have not seen the movie! Don't say I didn't warn ya!
Spoiler Alert!
During the movie the main character, Percy Jackson and friends travel across country to collect items to aid them in their quest. The team uses different vehicles along the way. One of them being a red and white, 1966 Ford F100 Pickup Truck. The truck was used at first to help take out Medusa. Whom according to Greek Mythology has the ability to turn people to stone. The team later uses the truck to drive to Nashville, then Las Vegas. I don't want to give away too many details.
Again the truck is a 1966 Ford F100. Ford produced this body style between 1961 and 1966. This era is the 4th Generation of the Ford F-Series Pickup. The front grill designs vary from year to year. The unique 1966 grill makes it really easy to determine the year of the truck. Not to mention the Twin I-Beam emblem logo as well. The Twin I-Beam suspension was only available for this body style between 1965 and 1966. The wheels are after-market. It has the stance of a 4x4 truck. But I don't see any hub locks. The two tone, red and white combination looks great on these trucks.
Final Thoughts
If you follow the story line the truck was driven at least a 1000 miles across the country by non-experienced drivers without any problems. I'm not saying that isn't possible. But with a vehicle that old and a trip that long without a hitch is a merit in itself. When you're using well maintained equipment, I guess anything is possible. Till Next time! Keep on trucking and watch out for Greek Myths! We'll keep bringing more On Screen Cars!
Update: See one of the other cars from Percy Jackson, a Maserati 4200 GT!
Since Toyota has been in the news recently with the huge recall on gas pedal assemblies. I thought I would do a quick post about my favorite Toyota Truck ever featured in film, Marty's 1985 Toyota 4x4 Xtra Cab Truck from the Back to the Future Trilogy.
Haven't seen Back to the Future? You can find it in our store!
Early in the first Back to the Future film, Marty McFly nearly falls over after seeing the truck above for the first time. His reaction "Check-out that 4x4!" He told his girlfriend, Jennifer that he would love throw a few sleeping bags in the back of the truck and take it up to the lake. He told her, someday that truck would be his. Little did he know that it would later happen, but only after trip to the past changes his future. When he arrived home from 1955, it was sitting in the garage with a single-coat wax job by Biff Tannen.
The truck made a short return in the beginning of Back to the Future II as well. The scene pretty much just connected the two films. However the truck does comes up in conversion. The future McFly family is sitting around the table, talking about how Marty broke his hand in an auto accident during a street drag race. The conversion serves as some foreshadowing as to what happens at the end of Back to the Future III.
The truck got it's big break near the end of the final movie. Marty and Jennifer are shown riding through the suburbs in the truck. They're on their way to the crash site of the Delorean. While stopped at a red light, Needles Tannen Douglas J. Needles challenges Marty to a race. The light turns green and Marty floors it in reverse and does a 180. Looking back, the couple watches Needle's near miss with a Rolls Royce. Marty changed the future by avoiding the accident that would have cost him his music career.
Staged up and ready to roll...
...in reverse! Do you think Michael J. Fox did his own stunt driving?
Note the license plate and KC light-covers.
Notice the missing front license plate? What about the double bars on the light bar uprights?
Yeah... That would have hurt.
Final Thoughts
I give the truck's appearance two thumbs up. I like the wheels and all the extras. I think it was a good fit for Marty's character. It would be a fairly easy truck to replicate and show as a movie vehicle clone. There were a lot of these trucks made. Who knows, I might get around to making one someday. It wouldn't be my first Toyota truck! Till next time, remember "...the future is what you make it...so make it a good one!" See ya in the future!
