'Taxi' may not be the most rememberable film. Sure it had it's share of laughs. But when was the last time someone said "Hey, um let's watch Taxi." For those who have not seen the movie. Here's a short rundown. A police officer (Jimmy Fallon) loses his drivers license and is forced to rely on public transportation. A crime occurs and he happens to hail the fastest cab in the city. The cab is driven by a wantable race car driver (Queen Latifah). Hilarious antics happen and that's the movie. Short and simple right? Well, I'll be honest. When the film came out, I enjoyed it. The thing I remember most from the movie though was the car Queen Latifah drove.
The car is standard looking Ford Crown Vic taxi cab at first glance. But with a press of a button it became a full on race car. Kinda neat huh? Well yea. What makes this car special is the creator. The late great Eddie Paul, the man responsible for numerous Hollywood automobile creations. xXx, Grease, Cobra, Fast & Furious to name a few of the productions Eddie was commissioned on. The base car is a P71 Ford Crown Victoria. P71 is a special order trim package created by Ford just for police use. They're pretty easy to spot. Most have the "Police Interceptor" badging on the back. Lot's of extra goodies in the package. As Elwood (Blues Brothers) would say would say "It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks..." Eddie made some major modifications to this car. Custom body kit, 20 inch wheels and hood scoop are most notable. But something that always threw me off was the shifter. There's a standard shifter on the column and then this other shifter in a custom console. I'm not sure which one you actually use. These features are likely all just for looks. This car did have the air bag removed and custom steering wheel replaces the factory wheel. There was a large bit of CGI used in the film to augment its appearance.
So why are we talking about this again? Well, one of the cars used in the film is for sale on eBay. At just $39,999 dollars, you too could own a movie car. Sounds steep. Keep in mind, you can actually drive this one. It's street legal. Not many movie cars you can do that with. Not sure if you would call this the hero car. But it was used in many of a chase scenes. Including the scene where the car hits a fire hydrant. Believe it or not, Eddie signed the dash on this one. Rest in peace our friend. Till next time, be safe and take the bus. See ya!
Imagine your favorite movie cars as Pixar characters! Well the guys over at Next Movie commissioned Old Red Jalopy (a poster designer) to anthropomorphically redesign seven famous movie cars as Cars 2 characters! Seven famous movie cars were Pixarized (is that even a word?). Not sure. But I agree with NextMovie.com, I too smell a concept for some interesting sequel material! Listen up Pixar and Cars fans!
All of the cars feature eyes on their windshields just like the regular Pixar Cars characters. Each of them have a unique smile and facial expression. I like how the artist took the time to make each car special. I can start to see voices and personalities forming in my head for some of the cars. However the pieces that really caught my eye were the Delorean Time Machine, The Batmobile, and Ecto 1! Check them out over at NextMovie.com! Hopefully Old Red Jalopy will have these posted on their site for public consumption too! See ya next time.
Wouldn't you like to own a tv/movie car? How about a car used in actual hollywood production? With luck you may be able to find one on eBay. This week's eBay find is a 1970 Dodge Challenger used in the movie The Bucket List. A movie about two older guys who have little time to waste. The guys met while in the hospital. Where they're given the bad news that they have little time left on earth. Together they decide to share their wealth and do all the things they've always dreamed of. One of those things on the list was drive race cars. This is where this sweet Challenger pops onto the scene.
According to the auction information this car was used in more than just The Bucket List. It was also used in an episode of the hit show NCIS. Not to mention a role in the 2010 movie The Runaways. An exciting career for a single car isn't it? Not to mention the mileage is only a little over 60,000 on the clock. Picture Car Warehouse has provided a Certificate of Authenticity and back that it's real. All looks good here. However it doesn't pack the muscle it advertises on the hood. Sorry there isn't 426 Hemi under there. But at least the seller is up front and honest about it. But what you do see is a reasonable powered 318 Mopar V8. All in all it looks like a clean car.
You can see more about this car on eBay. So what do you think about this post? Is eBay Finds a great idea for a new segment on our blog? Let us know what you think in the comments. Till next time, live like there is no tomorrow!
Roger Dodger, Speed Buggy article ready to go! Vroom-a-zoom-zoom! Ah Speed Buggy one of the most beloved cartoon tv cars of the late 70's. Even though I was born in the 80's doesn't mean I didn't enjoy re-runs of the show. Not to be confused Scooby Doo, the show Speed Buggy was about a teenage cartoon detective team created by Hanna Barbara. If you've seen the show you would know the car Speed Buggy came to life after Tinker and gang built him. The opening credits does a great job of explaining the origin of the crazy car. Some say Herbie the love bug was the inspiration for the car. But where did the voice come from? That was none other than Hanna Barbara's Mel Blanc, voice to famous characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and more. Check out the opening credits.
Final Thoughts
One of my favorite parts of Speed Buggy, is the opening credits where they create the car. You can see the team working on the engine. Which I think looks like a hybrid between a Volkswagen engine and a Ford Flat-Head design. Gotta love the big exhaust headers. Not to mention the spitting and sputtering sounds Speed Buggy makes as he talks. At the time of the show, fiberglass Volkswagen/Dune Buggy conversions were really popular. Especially the Manx body kits. I think that may be part of why I enjoyed the show so much. You can find out more about those designs at the Manx Club site. Die hard Speed Buggy fans need to check out Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Vol. 1 That's a great collection of not only Speed Buggy cartoons, but also some of your other 70's cartoon favorites as well! We'll that's all for now folks! See ya next time here at OnScreenCars.com!
That's a great collection of not only Speed Buggy cartoons, but also some of your other 70's cartoon favorites as well! We'll that's all for now folks! See ya next time here at OnScreenCars.com!