1940 Batmobile Build part Part 5

(PART ONE IS FOUND HERE!)

A LOT has happened since July 2016 which was my last update. My timeline to finish this car was hijacked by a couple of new star cars that jumped the line!

First I got a great deal on a few “Viva Las Vegas/Speed Racer Mach 5” fiberglass body parts, (tossed them in my son’s garage for the future) and then a 1966 batcycle body kit popped up that I was planning on tossing behind the hot tub so I could get back to my 1940’s N8mobile!  But life happens and both managed to jump the build line! Blogs on those at another time!

My last blog on the 40’s Bat build ended with a list of what was next:

“Next episode:  Making custom side panels, getting that dash back in and working, sourcing and making side pipes and figuring out the giant bat-face, with light up eye headlights!  Stay tuned bat-fans, this may take some time!” At least I was right about it taking some time! Sheesh!

So let’s start with the dash!  I filled in the WW2 panel with lots of lights and switches from my shrinking magic box of bat gadget leftovers and it looked like this photo.

It got test mounted in the center, and after rewiring and installing the gauges and turn signal and highbeam lights, I had to figure out what to add to that center open area.

There isn’t a lot of room to work in the dash, and it’s surrounded by 1940’s metal, so lots of scrapes and a bit of frustration to get everything to light up and reconnected!

Thanks to a fellow star car owner Mike Carey, who just happened to work in a fabrication shop, I gave him a small gauge and he mounted it perfectly in the middle, so  I reinstalled it, hooked up a few lights for future gadget triggers and the dash was done!

The AC was “future tech” in 1940, so Bruce Wayne had it way before everyone else! That’s my story and I am “cool” with it! So with that done, that left making custom side panels, sourcing and making side pipes and figuring out the giant bat-face, with light up eye headlights!  I had one side panel from the previous owner, but he had misplaced the other one.  Hey Mike! He punched out two fresh metal panels, based on the original, but then moved jobs and didn’t have the same access to the metal shop after that. So the side panels are by the washing machine, waiting!

During this time I had to find the side pipes that could make the bend I wanted and look like massive exhaust ports, as well as figure out how they would attach to the fenders and the side panels.  To make up my mind, I had to do some mock ups!  I used various round items to figure out how big each tube should be, and then laid them out on the fender to see how they should be spaced out.  I had decided on 4 tubes, so I just started taping and moving stuff around.

Yes, that is old school sprocket fed printer paper! I don’t have the printer anymore, but now and then it comes in handy for a banner or paper side panels for a batmobile!  I just cut out circles and moved them around until I had a clear idea of how they were going to be spaced, and where they hit on the panel and the fender.

So I searched for Duesenberg side exhausts, and replica old cars with the side pipes and it was a frustrating search. Everything I found was either too small, hard to find, and most importantly wouldn’t bend hard enough for my project.  I bought and returned a few pipes and nothing was right, but then I was walking through Home Depot and spotted something that might work, vent tubes!

THE CORVETTE BASED SPEED RACER CAR STOPPED PROGRESS ON THE 40’S BAT, AND PARTS BLOCKED IT FROM EVERY SIDE!

So here’s a rare shot of when I just balanced them on the side fenders (without cutting them, so I could still return them if I didn’t like it) The right size, the right bend, but after working with them, they were too easily dented and I knew I needed something more rugged as I would be bombing around in this eventually.  Good enough for a museum display, I could have cut them and they would be fine, but eventually I had to take them back.

SET ON SO THE TUBES WOULD BALANCE IN PLACE, BUT THIS WOULD BE TOTALLY WICKED!

So I didn’t get very far on the side panels and pipes, but I did get a clear idea on what I wanted and how it should look.  They will be just for show, as I don’t want them to discolor or have to try and reroute the exhaust for no reason.

Lastly, the BAT FACE!  The face is obviously very important, and choosing the right face meant going back and looking at all the different expressions, angles and ways it was mounted on all the drawings and toys.

Mike Carey stepped up again, and wanted a shot at building the bat face!  He was juggling a lot and it wasn’t a rush job as I was being distracted by the “Mach N8” and a few other projects.  Time passed and finding spare time for Mike to work on silly things like this is hard to do in a busy schedule.  Then I helped him get his dream star car, and I knew he should focus on that… oh, and his family and work and stuff too! 🙂 . But big thank you to Mike for being willing, he now has ghosts that are counting on him for a ride!  So back to the drawing board!

The next chapter all started when I got a notice that a infamous “batcar” was lurking near my house for sale…   STAY TUNED for the GRX that triggered a tidal wave in the Star Car World!

 

The Batmobile no one drove… Part 4

By Nate Truman

(Part 1 is found HERE!)

By waiting and buying the perfect donor car, I had jumped over months of work! I skipped taking the car to and from shops, and haggling over price and workmanship.  So I found myself in a great place starting with the fun  details and the finish work!

After registration with the DMV, looking for insurance, it was time to go over the car.

I went through all the paperwork to see what had been done.  As the dash was all custom, I had to get acquainted with all the switches, find the fuse box, etc.

The door handles had no locks, but I had been given a set of new replacement hot rod handles.

There were no windshield wipers.

A gas leak had emerged from the rear of the car.

The trunk wouldn’t open, and it had no lever, just an electronic switch.

The battery was dying because the lights would come on when I had the door open, but the battery was locked tight in the trunk!

The door handle could be a blog by itself!  Figuring out how to remove a door panel in a “regular” car is hard enough, but a hot rod with custom interior, shaved doors, custom glass and reversed hinges proved to be a long learning curve!  After many attempts I finally got the interior panel off, only to discover why the new handles had never been installed.  There was no way to get to them!! Surrounded by sharp metal, there was a clamp like paperclip to hold the handle together. A custom metal piece held the handle in place with two screws.  If you removed the screws, it fell down into the door with a thunk.  So I used magnets, dental instruments, tiny clamps along with a lot of sweat and attempts to finally operate on the driver door and successfully replaced the door handle.  After not being sure if I would ever get the door to close and latch again,  I decided to wait on replacing the passenger side for now.  I had an interior lock on that side, so I could at least key lock the car now.  

Next I knew I needed some bat hubcaps to replace the jag emblems, and a bat in the steering wheel if I was going to keep that.  It came with what I think was the original horn, but was rusted beyond recognition.  I will try and restore, but it may be hopeless.

 I would have to find a 1940’s police siren anyway, you know, for crimefighting!     Also I wanted to make another big bat somewhere on the motor, and the whole dash needed the batman treatment! To the Bat-garage photos!!

 

So first things first, off with the Jag center caps, on with some period bats I designed and cut by my friend, the late great Eddie Paul.  (He was my “brain builder” and we had started the project a few weeks before his passing.  I love that guy, and I am proud that his talented hands worked on this final project.  He will be sorely missed.)

I swapped out the Jaguar logo for a bat in the steering wheel, until such time as I want to swap it to either a banjo type classic wheel (They are very big, so not leaning that way) or some other custom bat wheel! A custom car is never finished!

The couple of drawings in the comics of the dash in the car were a brown dash of the basic variety, (The shot above was the most detailed drawing of the era) but I know bat fans wouldn’t go for just a plain dash!  So out it all came, and I wrapped it in bat black, added a ww2 aircraft panel and dug into my magic box of switches and dials.  I had to have a FEW bat-gadgets! Just for me!  I moved the stereo into the glove box so the modern stereo couldn’t be seen, but I could still play batman music!

Ace the Bathound stood guard by the car most days, powered by what else?  Gentle Giant Dog food, created by Burt Ward!

Remember that shot from the 40’s cop car? Well, I got a ww2 hand unit to connect to the dash, and a period linesman phone for when Batman had to make a call.  With this piece of crime fighting equipment, Batman could clip into any phone line anywhere, and dial anyone, while being untraceable!  It was very nostalgic to spin the dial and have that feeling again to make a call!  I know it will be a fun attraction to show kids!

Found the smallest blades 9″ and the smallest arms from a 70’s VW bug.  Batman’s ready for the storm!  The car was sliced in the back and the front of the roof was lowered, so the windshield had to be custom cut and it’s not very tall!

Finally I made a bat for the back wall like in the toy, but I dropped it on the air cleaner, and liked it way better there.  I had one spot in the dash I didn’t have figured out, but once that was filled in I could reinstall the dash.  Then I would have a cool bat themed hot rod, ready to take to car shows!  I think I have to start driving this thing soon!  Sorry for the cliffhanger, but that’s all for now!

Next episode:  Making custom side panels, getting that dash back in and working, sourcing and making side pipes and figuring out the giant bat-face, with light up eye headlights!  Stay tuned bat-fans, this may take some time!

(PART 5 – CLICK HERE!)

The Batmobile no one ever drove… part 3

The Batmobile no one ever drove… Part 3  Pulling the trigger!

In the custom or “Kustom” world, hot rodders of every shape and size spend their time, talents and money building their dream cars. They change their minds, start over, give up, and some actually finish their weekend warriors!   From “Rat Rods” to “Trailer Queens” lifted, slammed, the list goes on and on of all the directions customizing a car can go.  It’s the beauty of the hobby.   If you have ever been to a car show you have seen chromed engine compartments costing thousands of dollars.  Lifted trucks, lowered chevys, rusted racers – each one is someone’s dream ride. It’s what they wanted to bring into the world of cars.

Some guys have been in the game a long time, and now just “fix and flip” cars they know.  Get a heap, hot rod it up and sell it – then repeat. Mainly because very few of us can afford to keep every car we think is cool!

During my search for a donor “beater” or “Project” car, I had kept my eye on one amazing build that was perfect for my dream.   It was out of my price range and it was just too darn pretty!  But it had everything I wanted and more.     It had been on a journey before I saw it though.  Starting out as a project 1939 Dodge – it got the NHRA frame off overhaul.  New chassis, 400 hp motor, and a builder who was willing to tinker to get a car the way he wanted it.

First a new chassy, and a new crate 400 hp motor was built for the base. The car and body was stripped clean.  You can see in one photo there was a blower on the motor. That’s part of the process, trying looks and ideas, and then deciding to keep them or not!

Here is a set of different ideas for the front of the car. Swapping out original air vents, then sealing them up. The dodge had a center hinged hood, but it was converted to a solid one piece.  Had I found this car for sale, it would have been on the top of my donor list even at this point!

Custom side panels were made, then discarded, and another front grill was designed.

These are not in chronological order, but a few shots to show the body work being done to smooth it all out for paint.  A custom licence plate indent was added by the Rodfathers.

Lots of handwork, rust repair and sanding, priming and sanding again, until it was ready for paint!  

The builder/owner even took a black marker to a photo, to see what it would look like in black, with rear wheel skirts!

The whole process of searching for a project and seeing it through to your finished vision is a long and costly process.   Lots of work and yet another grill this time built by Dean Jeffries brought it all together!    Finishing touches of pinstriping and a new modern interior were added.  All the unique ideas and skills of many hands brought this new car to life!  Once done, it was taken to car shows and just “bombed around in” for a few years like this and enjoyed!    However, once a project is finished and driven for a while eventually it’s time to sell and move on to the next project!

I had watched the craigslist ad for months but never bothered to see the car because it’s list price was fair, but out of the range of what I wanted to spend on the project.  I was also in the mindset of doing a build up of a project car.    But then one day I was appearing in a parade in Burbank, and even though I knew it was too finished and the price was out of my budget I decided to go look at it in person.  The shots of the interior were so spot on to what I would do to match the Batmobile red stripes, I just had to see it in person.

Suicide doors, check! Red and black interior with custom point, SUPER CHECK! 

 

400 hp Crate HOT ROD motor and transmission pro installed, CHECK!

 

Cool from every angle? Oh yeah!

 

Super cool modded body with great paint, and custom red and black wheels? Check!  I fell for this car.  It was just too nice! The list of mods I would have to do to get it to MY dream car, was pretty short.  Just all the fun stuff!  I started making mental lists of what I would have to do with a few areas, like with the trunk, when I added a giant bat fin.

And the dash was going to have to be bat-upgraded.  The steering wheel was out of a late model Jag, and there were Jag emblems on the wheels, and a Dodge emblem on the dash. Great signs that the car was a toy that had been played with and enjoyed!

Lots of fun modern upgrades, like courtesy lights all around, AC!!, hot rod door handles.

A beautiful headliner! How to add a fin without destroying it?

The owner had been trying to sell for a couple years, and for various reasons needed it sold ASAP.  I knew I would never find a car like this again, one where so much of the work I was planning on doing was already done!  After a day or two of deliberation – this beauty was in my batcave!!    

And just as the modder before me, I had to do a quick sketch to see what my ideas might look like, down the road!

Let the Bat-transformation begin!    Stay tuned bat-fans, the best is yet to come!

PART FOUR:  The rise of the 1940’s N8mobile  “I like to personalize all my toys”

The Batmobile that no one has driven…1940 style!

THE 1940’s BATMOBILE aka N8MOBILE BUILD STORY Part One

By Nate Truman

The hobby of star cars has grown from a few crazy people like me pre-internet looking for original movie and TV cars, sweating the details by scanning every frame of a show to try and recreate our childhood dream cars, to a world wide movement!   Since the 1970’s fans of famous cars have been recreating, or restoring the famous rides of the small and big screen to live out their childhood fantasies of driving the ride from their favorite film or TV show.  Even cartoon cars, like the Ninja Turtle van, Speed Racer’s Mach 5, the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, and Transformers have become real drivable vehicles when a fan with a dream decides to bring them to life.

I have been called a “Founding Father” of the star car movement. That’s a nice way to say I have been doing this a long time. Since the 1970’s. Because of that I am running out of cars to find or build that “float my boat”.    I still have a short list of cars I want to drive or see on the roads of Hollywood, but the list is getting smaller. Other fans have jumped in and are building most everything now, sometimes before the movie has even come out!      One that has yet to appear, however, is one I have been waiting for someone else to build for many years.  Because it’s hard, expensive, and not a car that everyone will even “get” except the big time Batman fans. Only a couple of people have tried it. Due to life getting in the way the few that have started builds have given up or stalled.  So I have stopped waiting and am building my own version!

Batman started in 1939 driving a couple of red sedans, but as the early artists and creators, Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang started to make batman stuff, like the Bat-plane, the Batarang, etc.  it was only a matter of a few issues of the comic books that the term “Batmobile” showed up.  Throughout the 1940’s various young artists drew the Dark Knight’s ride.  Even though they were pretty similar, it was when the Batmobile burst through the cover of the Batman comic #20 that the world knew Batman’s ride was something pretty special!

Believe it or not, the Batplane was created first! Made to look like a bat, Batman was flying everywhere in his custom bat plane, but just had an ordinary car for a short while.   As the early artists were young guys trying to work fast to finish more pages to make more money, continuity and conformity to previous art was not a high priority.  So the car was drawn based on each artist’s skills, and their favorite cars at the time.  In other words, it rarely looked the same way twice! No stripes, red stripes, blue stripes, the fin changed in every panel, sometimes with or without fender skirts, windows moved around, doors opened both ways but a few things stayed the same.  It had a big BAT face on the front, and a big bat wing/fin down the middle and out the back!

 

I think someone saw the 1925 round door Rolls Royce and just took it a step further.

 

 

 

     Batman introduced the Batmobile, then drove it off a cliff in the first story, but it was right back in the next issue!  

For the sake of speed, many times panels were copied, or used as reference to draw the car like it had been drawn in previous issues, like these two panels.  Basically they played fast and loose with the details of the batmobile, as each artist tried to copy another version, or put a new spin on it for his panels.

For my 1940’s “N8MOBILE” build, I decided that I would use what inspired me from drawings from 1941 to 1948.  After world war 2, the new artists started updating the batmobile and the design changed almost every time the car appeared for decades after 1948.  (If you want to see all the different versions, go to a great site by a pal of mine,  Batmobile History.)

As there were surprisingly few panels of the batmobile over the 41-48 years of the comics – a few versions emerged based on different artists. Some of those have become available as toys or maquettes and toy designers had to decide what a solid 3d version of these drawings would look like.  Above are some early designs for the toy versions from several companies.

Danbury Mint came out with the first high end detailed model and I like a lot of what they decided on in the real world!

The red stripe patterns, the four exhaust ports out each side and the coupe style with the swoopy back end was what I wanted to shoot for in my artistic “mash up” version.  The one thing I did NOT like was the bat fin.  TOO big. Rear skirts maybe, front skirts no. In several panels of the comic the doors had “suicide” front opening doors. I think reverse opening doors made it more custom and less like a car from the 40’s with a bat and a fin on it!

    

There have been a few other toy versions, Corgi, Eaglemoss, Mattel and a couple of model kits release as well.

Here is the 4 door Maquette version.

  

Most of all the drawings had the car with two doors, but a few had 4 like this display piece.  I liked the split back window, and the fin on this version was a better design in the real world.  So my fin I would be built to look more like this version.

Here’s a great line up of most of the toy versions. All the fins are different, there are versions with 2,3 and 4 exhausts on each side, stripes move around a bit, or all black, but it’s basically the same overall design.  I looked at how many times a detail appeared, and what I liked and didn’t like, as well as cost to come up with my final design that I wanted to bring to life.  I searched for shots of cars with the side hood exhaust in 2-3-and 4 versions and two looked stingy, three would raise questions of “Is this a v6? (no, they had v8’s but the two center exhausts were combined) so for various reasons mostly that it looked the coolest, I decided I would have 4.

 

In my quest to do my due diligence I also scoured old comics, one shots, and any source where I thought I might find another take on this era Batmobile.  A few items showed up, but my favorite was in a modern version of a Batman cartoon where his current batmobile is stolen and he has to use his “vintage” backup ride.

Here is a frame that is a nice “nod” to Michael Keaton stopping his Batmobile from the 1989 movie.

As you can see, the red stripes and many of the details from the Danbury Mint version are included, other than adding an afterburner to the rear.  Because, afterburners are just cool. 🙂 

   

Actually in this cartoon version, they swapped out the big curvy batfin and added a composite version fin.

This cartoon also brought something else to my attention, the interior of the car. In the comics all you see is a 1930’s “Banjo style” steering wheel, and a “circle” on Robin’s side.  Most cars of the day had a clock on the passenger’s side dash, and just a few dials for the driver.

Pretty simple by today’s standards but it’s just what cars looked like then.

 

 

 

 

In this recent cartoon take though, the animators decided to “gadget it up” for some Joker gags and add lots of switches and stuff.  I suppose Batman could have had this batmobile retrofitted with bat stuff over the years, he does tend to over prepare!  It was a fun bit, but the bat gadgets didn’t really get going until almost the end of this batmobile’s run – in the comics all they added during those years were some boat propellers and extra costume storage compartments.
The police of the day did have early CB like radio systems, so I would have to put in something like that in mine.

 

 

 

There was a blueprint dash that was just made up for one of the toys. It was cool, but it was also too busy for the time period and what I wanted the final product to look like.

 

Lastly I had to decide what my Bat symbol would look like. It has changed a lot over the years, and during the 1940’s batman often had NOTHING on his chest or a weird scribbled wing with no head.  I was amazed at how this iconic part of Batman was not really defined in the early years and it seemed almost an afterthought to the artists.  The Danbury Mint version had it’s own classic bat on the hub caps and on the motor.

I eventually combined a few designs, and cropped the ears to come up with a bat I liked.

Now, all that was left to do was find a donor car, and make this fictional cartoon car into my version of a street legal crime fighting monster!    STAY TUNED, BAT FANS, the best is yet to come!  PART TWO, the search for the CAR!

The making of a “REAL” Batmobile batcave!

Sometimes when you make your dreams come true, it triggers other projects you never imagined.  For me, when I finished my full size street legal Batmobile, I  now needed a safe place to park it.  Sure, a locked garage, but not just any garage!

Obviously, I needed a batcave!  Here’s a short rundown on how I built it.
So first I had to do some investigating, to see what was supposed to be in the batcave, and what elements I would want to include in mine.

 

 

Completion day! Well, it’s never finished, but this was a big day. My Bat-mechanic had done a great job, paint, wheels, and windshield – I was ready to fight crime!
Nate Truman’s Batmobile at the local beach! Surf competition with the Joker!

The first time a “REAL” batcave was shown, in the original “Batman” serial films. Basically a desk, some chairs and a bat on the wall.

Several Batcave toys were made after the 60’s TV series was such a huge hit. Sliding down a batpole was the fastest way to get to the cave, but Alfred used the hidden stairs!

 

Over the decades there have been many Batcave toy sets, and some great “virtual” batcaves in drawings, cartoons and even video games.

In this new world thanks to the internet I have discovered that much of my “starcar” and crossgeeking work has usually been done already by someone else! I started a pinterest page to collect everything I would want in my dream batcave.

In my searches I did stumble across a great blog on the batcave and instead of reposting and commenting, I will just link to it. Great history and development over the years with photos and drawings.  And for a quick history from youtube of the “Bat’s Cave” you can watch this video!

Testing the afterburners in the batcave.

I doubt anyone would build a building like this, a lot of wasted space! But he could be Bruce on the top level, and under the building was a “in town” batcave!

One of the great mysteries in the Batman storyline is how did the batcave get built? Alfred? I don’t think so. The latest cave has levels that even Batman doesn’t know what is down there! So many adventures have included a trip to the batcave, or a fight, a new way in or out that it seems it would have to be part magic to do everything the comics have shown us. As much as I would like a beautifully decorated giant trophy room (I think there is a bit of Fortress of Solitude envy going on there) to stay in the realm of almost reality, the best versions are utilitarian.

The secret batcaves around the city, one under the Wayne Tower are the most useful. If Wayne manor is outside the city, Batman’s response time would be pretty bad, no matter how fast the batmobile or batplane/gyrocopter may be. As for a high speed rail car that diverts trains so he can use the subway systems? That seems pretty unworkable. To remove the need for a team of helpers to get him to the scene of the crime, everything seems to use “auto pilot” where planes, and cars can just drive home, or hover until needed. Then they have to have anti-theft out the wazoo to keep criminals from just taking them as they sit unprotected.

So as my house doesn’t sit on top of a huge underground cavern (saving MILLIONS in excavation costs) I had to settle for something smaller. A two car garage hidden behind gates, and about 500 square feet of bat-office space.

Also, Batman has more storage room, and I am guessing he doesn’t have to keep all the Christmas decorations, various holiday stuff and old furniture in his cave, but I do. So no turntable for the batmobile (with a car almost 20 feet long, it wasn’t doable. I checked. And Rechecked. Rats.) But the batcave that would be my design style was obvious, the TV batcave from the 1960’s TV series.

The Man, ADAM WEST! We did a turtle wax commercial that never made air. Having Batman polish my batmobile all day, PRICELESS!

So I started building my list:
A smaller trophy cabinet is just fine to display memories.
Basic automotive tools,
bat-compressor,
some storage bat shelves,
bat-costume cleaning machines,
bat-computer area,
bat-workbench,
a big screen BAT-TV,
bat-sound system,
security devices. The list will never be finished, as many items have all ready been upgraded since my batcave has been built. But little by little, with no help from Alfred, I put together a pretty workable, secret lair to assist in my crime fighting and keep the batmobile hidden and ready for action. As well as a place to keep all the Christmas decorations! Ok, so I am no where near as “Dark” – this is the 60’s batman after all!
And Adam West isn’t always available to polish my car!

Now most “mancaves” are designed to be pleasant from a male perspective, and mostly about relaxing and entertainment. But there is no place for alcohol, dart games and neon in a batcave! Batman would have Protein shakes, Batarang practice target and a batsymbol instead!

(Of course there is always room for bat gadgets and batmobile toys!)

So after gathering info, photos, and ideas for my batcave, it was time to build the real deal, and at a perfect time, as the Batmobile was out getting it’s paint job done – I had room to work!     Stay tuned batfans, the best is yet to come!!!!  PART 2    The Building of the working Batcave!

 

StarCar phenomonon, dubbed “Carsplay” goes global!

One last blog for 2015, an end of the year wrap up!  Nate Truman’s StarCarCentral.com was started around the turn of this centurty, and has been growing in leaps and bounds every year.  From a single 66 Adam West Style batmobile, the idea of building, sharing and driving iconic movie and TV vehicles has grown to include StarCarCentral members around the globe.

In the early years of the hobby, people would fall in love with a famous ride, and the lucky few would buy a piece of movie history from the studios.  A few Herbie the Love Bugs, a handful of General Lee’s from Dukes of Hazzard and a Barris replica batmobile were in private hands.  Occasionally a short lived star car museum would open up for a while, then close down a year or two later.  The cars would be put in storage, or scattered around.  George Barris was kean on keeping track of all the famous cars, both the ones he had a hand in building, and anything else that had been on the screen and caught the public’s eye.   A couple of big auctions at his Barris’ Kustoms city and at the Peterson, gathered together for a brief time star cars from all walks of media and entertainment in the 1970’s and 1990’s.

If you didn’t get to the museum in Hollywood, or go to these simi-secret auctions that only movie car guys knew about, you would never have a chance to see more than one famous car together.

A few years down the road, fans started gathering for reunions.  The biggest of these was “Dukesfest” that happened for several years, and rows of repainted Challengers gathered together.  Some other famous cars would show up as well for a group photo.  Then interest waned and the shows stopped.  Now a new “Fanfest” has been reborn.

Knight Rider fans also banded together and with the help of this new thing “The Internet” started finding other owners of Knight Rider KITT cars.  Rob Louisell, Mark’s Customs, Jay Ohrburg, sold fiberglass parts and the fans constantly improved the interior electronics and helped each other find rare parts to get their dream ride on the road.  A few gatherings of Knight Riders happened as well.  

With the advent of the world Wide Web, every individual star car fan found a home to swap stories and ideas with other owners and fans.  There is a Herbie page,  lots of Knight Rider pages, 1966batmobile.com, basically there is a fan page for every famous movie and TV car that you can think of!

Even though Nate Truman had been tracking and finding screen used movie and TV cars since the 70’s, it wasn’t until 2003 at Crusin for a Cure that Nate finally decided to make his idea a reality.  “Let’s put them all in a pile, and play with them!” So over the last 12 years Nate has collected, connected, and introduced all the star car fans to each other!  It wasn’t easy, as many owners thought that their special car was cool, but didn’t want to park or do events with lots of “vehicular Unicorns”.    But Nate knew that seeing one amazing rare car out in “the wild” was amazing – seeing a HERD of them was mind blowing!  So out of that little new idea, and lots of detective work, Nate Truman’s StarCarCentral.com has become the hub where all the starcars can play together for good.  Hundreds of charity events, police, fire, Autism, Make-A-Wish, Pediatric Cancer Survivors, etc. have been able to include a display of famous movie and TV cars never seen before in public. The first “Carsplay” panel at Long Beach Comic Con happened this year and Nate and his team outlined the history of the hobby, and where it’s headed.

So as a cap to 2015, Nate organized his lineup to set a new record.  The most famous movie and TV cars in a single parade.  Over 40 cars appeared in the 2015 Hollywood Christmas parade!  It was a driving, rolling star car museum – brought together for just a few hours, and then disappeared into the night!  A big thanks to all the fans, owners, restorers, historians, and bloggers who have helped the star car hobby grow, and make new friends around the world!   Here’s the Star Car Central video of all the cars on the red carpet in the 2015 Hollywood Christmas Parade!  We have another 20 cars that could have been included, but we were just TOO big!  2015 Nate Truman’s Star Car Central.com Hollywood Christmas parade

So come join the fun in 2016, bigger and better!  Email Nate@starcarcentral.com or info@starcarcentral.com if you have a famous on screen ride!  With chapters across the United States and around the world, get your toy out and drive it!

 

Bullit Mustang owner Dave Kunz guests on the Petersen Museum Podcast

Back to blogging about star cars, here to start is a pod cast with our Star Car member Dave, and his memories of his cars as he grew up in So Cal car culture!

A fun look back at the car history of ABC’s “Car Guy” Dave Kunz, and his life of loving cars! Take a listen!

Dave also has a regular radio show about what else? CARS! It’s “THE CAR SHOW” if you want to hear more of Dave!

June 25th (Wednesday) 2014 – “El Cajon Classic Cruise” STARZ CARZ NIGHT!

If you are in the San Diego area and want to see some movie and TV star cars, then tomorrow is your chance at the “Cajon Classic Cruise” STARZ CARZ NIGHT!

http://downtownelcajon.com/Events/CajonClassicCruise.aspx

Downtown El Cajon
FREE – Trophies! Food! Fun! Nearly 200 cars! This has become an annual event organized by Charger Steve, who runs the Star Car Central.com chapter since 2005. Hope some of you “LA FOLK” will make the trip! Everybody that comes enjoys it!! Scheduled to appear are:
Steve – in his Scooby Doo Mystery Machine!
Diane – in her Roscoe police car from the Dukes of Hazzard!
Mark – will bring his Gran Torino from Starsky and Hutch!
Victor – with his version of the Black Beauty, from the Green Hornet!
Tyler – WAS going to bring his Bandit, but it was TOTALED while he was in it just this last week!
Tyler is on the road to recovery, but the Bandit is no more. Look for Tyler in the future with a new replacement Trans Am!
Obishawn – will be bringing not one but 2 Star Wars cars to the event!
Ari – is bringing his ever popular Jurassic Park Jeep!
Lee – Will be rolling in his pristine General Lee Charger!
Jennifer – is also attending in her Super Persuit Mode KITT!
Special Guest star? Rumour has it that NATE TRUMAN may actually appear south of Los Angeles in his Shaguar, but Adam West is doing an Autograph signing in Temecula at the same time… stay tuned, the best is yet to come!

A look back at the Hollywood Christmas Parade, soon a bigger line up in Burbank April 6th!

Ok, This is from a blog I found about the 2012 Hollywood Christmas parade, but he got our whole line up and had nice things to say about all of the members who came and participated!   On April 6th we will have more than this epic line up, with a few new members and surprises as well! Come out to the Burbank parade and meet the Star Car Central team!

Wait, what!? The 1960s Batmobile from the Adam West “Batman” show and the 1989 Batmobile riding together??
Awesome. The 1989 one even unleashed a bunch of firecrackers underneath it. Where does he get those wonderful toys?

Another shot of the two Batmobiles.

I’ll take one of each.

Yeah, baby.

Remember when cars looked cool?

Okay, apparently the Christmas parade just turned into a pop culture cars parade, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Here’s the DeLorean DMC-12 from “Back to the Future”.

Another shot of the DeLorean.

Not one, but two Herbie Volkswagen Bugs drove by.

Herbie fully loaded, with stickers and new rims!

The Pontiac Trans-Am from “Smokey and the Bandit”.

Look out, it’s them Duke boys speeding by in the General Lee!

I wonder if Boss Hog will ever catch ’em.

Apparently this was Bumblebee from the Transformers movie.
I wouldn’t know, because I tried blocking that bastardization of a beloved childhood memory from my mind long ago.

Starsky & Hutch. Word.

Scooby Doo riding on by in The Mystery Machine van!

Well whaddaya know! It’s the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Van along with April O’Neil walking beside it!

And yes, that’s the same van from the TMNT video I appeared in earlier this year.

Probably the most intimidating van in history – the classic van from The A-Team.

It’s KITT from Knight Rider.
(fun fact: KITT stands for “Knight Industries Two Thousand)

There was a second Knight Rider car that drove by and the motion lights on the front were gold instead of red.
Must’ve been KITT’s brother, KATT. (HAR!)

Time to go off-roading with Jurassic Park.

Smile while you can kid… you’ll be devoured by a Velociraptor soon enough. Merry Christmas!

Now this one was a real treat for me… I’m a HUGE fan of John Carpenter’s “Christine”, so getting to see the Plymouth Fury
from the film was nothing short of awesome. I do wish they had it playing 1950s rock & roll when it drove by though.

I’ve seen it plenty of times over the years, but the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters is always a welcome sight.

Are you kidding me!? Alright, they definitely saved the best for last. An X-34 Landspeeder occupied by
two Jawas with perfect glowing yellow eyes, a Tusken Raider, and Leia in the Boushh disguise. Amazing.

Nothing says “Christmas” like an X-34 Landspeeder chasing after the Ecto-1 chasing after Christine.

Star Car Central Sept 2012 appearances

I am getting lots of request to give out a “heads up” on when we will be appearing at events!

So here’s a short list just for this month, of a few that are open to the general public. Come by and say “HEY” to the SCC members!  See you there!

Nate Truman

Founder/Owner StarCarCentral.com

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SEPT 8 ROUTE 66 SHOW    back by the gazebo in the back

18730 Soledad Canyon Rd
Canyon Country, CA 91351 
(between White’s Canyon and Sierra Hwy)   5-9 pm., you can show up earlier if you want.

NATE SHAGUAR
DAVE GENERAL LEE
JASON TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE
CLIFF HERBIE
PAUL BTTF DELOREAN
LOU STARSKY

JASON HERBIE THE LOVE BUG

CHARLIE BULLIT MUSTANG

OSCAR MAGNUM PI

SEPT. 16 SOUTH PASADENA POLICE SHOW

The South Pasadena Police Department is located at 1422 Mission Street, South Pasadena, CA. All activities and tables will be to the rear of the station, located off of Hope Street.

ROAD CLOSURES: Mission Street west of Fair Oaks Avenue to Orange Grove Avenue will be CLOSED to traffic from 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

NATE SHAGUAR (TO GO WITH THE BOND CARS!)

JASON TMNT VAN
OSCAR MAGNUM
JERRY HERBIE
PAUL BTTF (FIREBALL?)
DAVE GENERAL LEE
BRIAN BOND
MARK ADAM-12

GARY HIGHWAY PATROL

PAUL W   “Goldfinger” ASTON MARTIN!!!!

SATURDAY SEPT. 22  2012 CRUSIN FOR A CURE

JERRY HERBIE
CHARLIE BULITT
NATE BATMOBILE
JASON TMNT VAN
STEVE SCOOBY
LEE GENERAL LEE
LOU STARSKY
BRIAN BOND
MARK SD STARSKY AND HORNET
GARY HIGHWAY PATROL

TONY BANDIT

The 13^th Annual Cruisin’ For A Cure Car Show
The World’s Largest One Day Charity Car Show
Orange County Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA (714) 708-1500

Supporting the City of Hope Prostate Cancer Program

Gates for spectators open at 7:00 AM
Spectator entry is $15 ($13 with AAA card)
Kids under 12 are free