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!
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!
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!
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.
Well even though I invented the word “Crossgeeking” to discribe those fans who like more than one fan favorite item from two different worlds (like “Herbie the Love Bug” and speaking Klingon) I am certainly not the only star car fan who realized that the only thing better than seeing a famous movie or TV car driving down the street, is a whole bunch of them!
The loose coalition of StarCarCentral.com chapters continues to grow and meet all around the globe!
Here’s what’s going on around the world, in the world of StarCar get togethers, that is!
AUSTRALIA!
Alex has the heart to get a group going Down Under, he says that the main 3 focuses will be for those who want to hire a car, A social group of like minded a little crazy movie car enthusiats, and helping out with Charities as much as they can. 🙂
Australian Chapter is looking for Founding members, so if you have a movie or TV star car, send Alex an email info@starcarsaus.com.au
NATE TRUMAN’S STARCARCENTRAL.COM ON THE RED CARPET FOR THE 2011 HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE!
FRANCE!!!
In France Claude heads up an active chapter of his own, doing all of the hard work to organize weekend events. Star Car owners from France and near by countries have had several great get togethers in the last few years, and they have another one coming up! If you are in France why not stop by and join in the fun!
Here’s the info:
Just under two months before the Meeting of Cars stars of Cinema & TV in Port Dienville (France).
Like last year, the lodging of Colombier welcomes us but with a little fewer rooms. We will complete with homestay but with limited possibilities.
So I need to know soon if some of you are planning to join us during the two days (Saturday 21 and Sunday, July 22) that we may organize the reception at best. Of course I know it’s difficult for those who have anocean to cross ! I remind you that the home is offered for maximum 2 persons per crew.
Here is the provisional program :
Saturday, July 21
– Appointment from 10:00 (location to be defined according to the planned activity in the afternoon but it will be in the Lake District or region of Bar sur Aube)
– 12:00: Picnic at the place of Rendez-Vous
– 1:00 p.m.: Shooting a short film with our cars featured. For its 10 years anniversary, the site http://www.retourverslefutur.com/ in collaboration with McFly Prod and 10200 Z’Images launched a screenplay competition on the theme of movie cars. After selection, the winning scenario is being re-write. We will send you as soon as it will be ready.
IMPORTNANT: for this shoot, we also need to know what are the vehicles that will be present (organization, insurance, license)
– 7:00 p.m.: Appointment at Colombier for a festive and friendly presentation of the cars to the public. Buffet on site.
Sunday, July 22
– 10:00 Appointment with clubs and other owners (location will be specified later) then trek to Port Dienville (road book supplied). Besides, if you belong to a club, feel free to invite members on Sunday. The registration form will be posted on our web site soon and I will send you a pdf version to share.
– Arrival at Port Dienville between 11:00 and 12:00. We anticipate a grouped arrival of the cars of Cinema & TV for the show !
– 12:00: Lunch in Port-Dienville
– From 12:00 to 6:00 p.m.: exhibition of cars (Cinema, collection, exception) on the site of Port-Dienville (if it’s sunny and hot, nearby beach and swimming possible for people who appreciate)
– 3:00 p.m.: Parade of cars stars
We had a little meeting in Holland well, technically it was in Belgium ’cause it was like 2 miles across the border
convention for movie cars here in Belgium Bruges on the weekend of 6.7.and 8 september 2013 ,here you have the link to the page made http://www.facebook.com/groups/362397297148643/movie cars convention in Bruges next year . the weekend of 6, 7, and 8 september 2013 .on sunday 8 september i will organize even a meeting with all american cars , ihope you can all jon us .Please don’t add people from he U.S. or Ausralia or japan because those people won’t come !!this convention is specialy for people from Europe !!!
this would be for a hole weekend from friday until sunday ,hotel will be arranged and parkings for your cars too,
Nate Truman’s StarCarCentral.com gang were invited to be a part of the “Hollywood Treasures” TV show where Nate and Ken from TMPCC helped the staff and stars of the show locate the screen used Camaro from the first Transformers movie, SCC member Randy drove it in with the “seat suit” to hide the driver, so it looked like it was just driving itself. Randy also brought it out for the Drag races in Barona, CA.
Charger Steve from the San Diego Chapter of StarCarCentral.com put on a great event with cars from Nate’s group going up against the San Diego area movie and TV car owners, for a long fun day of StarCar Drag Racing!!!
So the days of me hunting around the world for other fans with little result, has changed quite a bit! Spend some time and look around facebook, or google for events happening near you. I am sure after a while you will start connecting with other movie and TV starcar fans and find they are a lot of fun to hang out with, and of course, DRIVE those cool cars!
Crossgeeking at it’s finest. My Shaguar and A-Team meet up for the first time!
So get out there and find a few “mates” to share your hobby! Enjoy, Share, and do some good – put some smiles on other people’s faces, and you just might find one on your own! To the Batmobiles, Let’s go!!!!
As my time to write up articles about famous movie and TV cars has been trunkated by new projects, here at least is what’s been going on around SCC the past month or so!
Fireball Tim -movie and TV car designer and pal to the SCC has been doing fun short videos over on his site and working his way through the SCC line up!
Chuck aka “Rod Riguez” is the latest captured on camera with Fireball!
before that both Jerry with his Herbie, and Lou with his Starsky and Hutch Torino took Tim for a spin as well!
This last weekend a few SCC members headed out to the Pumpkin Festival in Calabassas and had a great time with the Great Pumpkin!
HERBIE AND ROBOCOP? ONLY AT STARCARCENTRAL.COM!
A few of the “southern” SCC guys did a mid week event at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival and dropped off the movie makers and stars to the red carpet in September GARY with his KITT from Knight Rider, TONY and his SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT Trans Am along with JERRY and his HERBIE.
Our annual appearance at the South Pasadena Police and Fire Open house was a big gathering and lots of fun as well!
The “HERBIE’S” took a road trip finding many of the filming locations from their “Love Bug” movies ending up at where else? Disneyland!
Then Ten star cars were on display at “Crusin for a Cure” to help find a cure for Prostate Cancer – A surprise visit from a new Green Hornet from San Diego area was a highlight!
(Photos you ask? Well, my computer crashed and guess what went with it?) I did meet up with a new star car pal,
with his Frese -McQueen – He works at Disney so no copyright infringement is implied. How about “Thunder-McQueen?” (Copyright Nate Truman 2011)
Then the 10-4 day parade down hollywood blvd had Adam-12 and Robocop along with the Batmobile with lights and sirens blaring to honor policemen and women both real and “REEL”
Here’s a fan video from up above, of the police cars followed by THE BATMOBILE! “That is not Batman and Robin!” 🙂 you are correct, we are wasting gas and having fun with our old cars. 🙂
A group display showed up at the Route 66 9/11 event and tribute up in the Northern part of Los Angeles as well!
Then a visit with the cast of the 1966 Batman televisions series, a meeting with Doc Savage aka Tarzan, aka Ron Ely –
and a get together with Rex Smith star of “Streethawk” in an effort to build him a Streethawk bike mold so he can get back on
his TV star car. (Anyone have any info on the whereabouts of the Streethawk bikes? Also looking for a 80’s Reb Brown Capt. America Bike, and a Battlestar Galactica 1980 Bike and Helmet set!)
Next up is the Harmony Car show! If you want to stop by and see the SCC up close and in person, here’s your next event.
Harmony Car Show
When: Saturday
Time:(10am-3pm)
Where: Barnes Park 320 W. New Mark Monterey Park,Ca 91754
Will we see JASON and his new TMNT VAN?
ALEX KITT OSCAR MAGNUM P.I.
NATE (That’s me! I will actually get to attend one of my own events!) and I will drive either the BATMOBILE OR THE A-TEAM VAN, JERRY HERBIE, JON TRANSFORMERS BUMBLEBEE,
MARK ROBOCOP AND ALWAYS FUN FLOR WITH HER SCREEN USED WOODY ALLEN ISETTA COP CAR
AFTER BURNER OR TREAT!
Then of course Batman will be all over the place for Halloween weekend, from Thursday to Monday at events, openings and just cruising around!
So as soon as my computer is repaired and my photos can be stored all in one place again, that’s the latest!
So you have a dream to put together the most famous van this side of the Scooby Doo van? But it’s just a rainy day fuzzy dream? Here’s the steps I took to put together the coolest van known to man, and don’t say different because Mr.T will find you and bust you up!
Well to start off, I wasn’t looking to own or make an A-team van! As founder and creator of starcarcentral.com I always have my eyes out for finished real or replica movie and TV cars at all the car events I attend, and I have discovered that it’s WAY cheaper and more fun to find a fan who has put in the detail work and money to get his or her dream movie car, than to try to own them all myself. Besides, if I did that, who would drive all the cars? So just like my Knight Rider KITT car that sort of fell into my lap (that’s another story!) the A-Team van sort of “found me” as my new project.
While looking for some cheap transportation for my son, I found myself at an auction looking at beat up Government cars. They were all going for too much money and I felt I had wasted a morning. But then I saw it. A 1983 GMC solid panel van! Well, being a star car fan, I knew my A-Team facts, and after finding out it was a LAUSD van that had been maintained unlike a privately owned delivery van, I knew I had a “deal”. $600 later and some fees to the auction house, and I had the keys to my new full-scale model kit!
No rust, solid door, right year and $600! SOLD!
I got the keys!
True Love! Mounting roof foglights!
As Star cars go, the A-Team is not the easiest one to put together, but it is not the hardest by a long shot! Any Batmobile is up at the top, then the back to the future Delorean and the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters would be next in line as some of the hardest, most expensive and detail oriented to recreate. The A-Team is a lot less complex than just the wiring of a Knight Rider car. It just needs time, money and attention to details – and not giving up! The first step in any star car build is research, and thanks to the internet, that is easier than ever. Having done a Batmobile at the dawning of the internet, if you are building something now, you have it SOOOOO EASY! After a lot of searching I finally found the guys I was looking for, A-team fans in England who had done a lot of the research all ready and were happy to help “educate” me. I was the pioneer in the bat world doing all the leg work, so this was nice to have some fans who knew their way around the A-Team van. (BTW A-team show? HUGE in England. Like Beatles/Rockstars … I don’t know why.)
After the van came home, and all the paperwork was done I started doing prep body work, banging out dents, drilling holes where I would need them, and filling in or marking holes that needed to go away. A long drive out to a van store got all the exterior pieces that needed to be bolted on, and I cleaned out two pepboys stores of their fog lights! 8 yes EIGHT fog lights in addition to the low and high beams on the front of the van! 4 white, 4 amber.
Now here’s were the “model kit” stuff comes in. The Fog lights were not quite right, so I had to modify all of them, cut off stone guards, and then find glass paint to make 4 of the lights yellow. I painted the inside of the glass as yellow lights are difficult to find and to get 8 matching lights in two colors even harder! Sometimes you have to improvise! Anyway, the biggest transformation was obviously the paint. I did my research, and explained to the paint shop what I wanted, and provided them with a pile of photos of the original van to use as a guide. They did great, and it came home all new and shiny!
In 20-20 hindsight, I should have had them paint the insides, but I was trying to keep this project cost as low as possible. I had to put in a lot of extra time and cans of paint but the end result was fine. The main difference between a “Oh, that’s supposed to be that van from the show” and “Oh my Gawd, is that the original A-Team van?” is really in the details. I could have slapped some cool wheels on it at this point and been done. But like most star car fans, the fun is getting the details right. “Is that handle chrome or grey?” “Are the wipers black or chrome?” Does the red stripe go into the door frames?” Details like that about 20 people in the world would care about or even know about. But I believe that people can tell something is just “off”, they don’t know what it is, but once all the parts are in place the over all effect is “WOW! IS that THE one Mr. T drove?”
Besides, just like scale modelers, you are doing the details your way, and you want them to be right for YOU, otherwise it’s just gonna bug you forever. But that’s later in the build!
So there are phases in every star car build, prep, exterior, interior. I was working on getting the exterior right first. One of the big elements of the A-Team van was the super big bull bar and brush guard combo on the front of the van that Mr.T’s character B.A. put on the van. Now, if you scroll up and look at the photo of the van without a bull bar, it looks like the van. Most people when I told them it was missing, said “it had a big bar on the front?” but for me to be happy, it needed that detail. Only one problem, the ones they used that were everywhere and in every catalog in 1983 are all gone and not for sale. After scouring Craigslist and eBay for months for the right bull bar I gave up and made my own.
I took a Craigslist suburban bull bar and tossed the center sections, then welded on a section to make them longer. Next I went to a muffler shop and had them bend the brush guards to my specifications. Then two pals helped with the welding and grinding. A little more money to the powder-coater and it was ready to go!
Trying it on for size, after powder coating!
A long process but the bull bar finally is welded onto the front of the van!
Now there were lots of other details that I am skipping over, but mainly it went like this “Hey, I need a part for a 1983 GMC Vandura that looks like this!”
and the answer was “Oh yeah, those were everywhere in 1983, but I haven’t seen one in 20 years!” SO again I had to find it on eBay, or make one to keep the project moving ahead.
In front of the Batman steps at Warner Bros. studios, a little crossgeeking at work!
Throughout the build I was always searching for parts, but for the most part to the untrained eye, it’s was done. However I needed three different antennas for the roof, and more importantly specific 8 lug ribbed wheels and tires! I was also buying stuff for the interior, police scanners, reel to reel tape players, CB radios, and lots of guns but that all went into a box for when I got to the interior.
Not one, but TWO police scanners!
In every projects story, there comes a stumbling block and for me and my van it was the wheels. The series used all sizes of vanduras both 5 lug and the heavy duty 8 lug full ton vans. (They didn’t break as much when you jumped them through buildings!) but finding the original rims was a daunting task. I would find one rim, but it was in montana, and it was $300 to ship it. Would I find a set of three? pass. Found a set in Alaska, again, the shipping was prohibitive. Then a set of “almost right wheels” came up a few miles from my house. $200 for 4! So I grabbed them knowing that I would rather have “The exact ones” but knowing now after a years search that the perfect ones may never appear so these were better than nothing. So I got the only red paint designed for wheels, and started blasting and sanding and painting and masking all four over a few weeks. Once they were done they sat and sat as I finished the exterior and started on the interior.
I figured “Hey, when I have some cash for tires, I will run down to the tire store and get my BF Goodrich tires and slap them on the van!”
Well that day came, and after telling the clerk the tires I wanted and asked how much his reply was “You can’t buy those size tires anymore, they stopped making them in 2005.” WHAT!!!!@#$@!@ Back to Craigslist, to find 31 inch BF Goodrich tires that will fit on my 16.5 (yes, point 5!) rims.
At that point blowing the car up and smoking a cigar was a brief option! But I still wanted to drive it all put together!
Weeks later I had a set of 6 tires from two sources, shipped two, drove for 2 hours for the other 4, and took my rims and tires to the tire shop to finally get some rims on my van! Well sort of!
No lug nuts, and no way will these fit!
So I got my 6 tires, and 4 rims. I thought I was good to go, but the rims needed special hard to find lug nuts! So back to eBay and I return with the lug nuts. I GET TWO ON THE BACK! Yeah!!! Then as they try mounting the front tires, we find out the tires will rub and are too big. Grr. I know they are too big, but that is the smallest 16.5 tire they made!!!! 31,35,37 for all the big trucks. So I have to cut the front flares to get them to fit. I take my other two tires home. I also notice, that the red doesn’t match the red stripe on the van. It starts to bug me and I know I will have to repaint them.
Blacking out rear windows -frames – tail light frames – handle and keyhole and a few bullet holes for style!
I planned to cut the wheel wells and mount the other two front tires, but in the morning one of my tires has a sidewall leak. I will have to go to the tire shop to swap tires now, so no way of me getting them on at home. I give up on the tires for now and decide to start work on the interior of the van.
As most modelers and fanboys realize, no one other than the other super fans know or care about the details like they do. No one will notice or even care after you point it out that you put in so much research time and freeze framed every episode and discussed on fan chat boards what that thing is in the corner or what brand Reel to Reel tape machine is that behind Mr. T. Again, that’s the fun part! SO knowing full well that even I didn’t know what the interior of the A-team van looked like I had to do the work. That ment scouring the show for glimpses of interior shots and noticing changes over the seasons and picking the interior that I wanted to emulate. (For Knight Rider owners this can be down to an Episode as the interior dash details changed from show to show!)
Once the research was done, it was time to BUILD!
Notice the reference photos taped to the front!
Behind the back set of seats in the van were two sort of matching cabinets. One was well seen on screen and used in several episodes. It had a reel to reel tape recorder and a police scanner in it, so they could listen in on the bad guys they had bugged. Correct scanner and tape recorder found (gotta love eBay!) and measurements taken, so the first cabinet came together pretty quickly.
In the back was an ammo box where they kept their guns and ammo. Sometimes the back row bench seat was in the van, often it wasn’t so they could jump out or carry stuff. My thought was the van was changed based on the mission, so things could change around just like it did on the show. My ammo box got an “A-Team” logo that was not on the show, but just for some flash and name recognition. I also added speakers for the reel to reel so I could make it all work and build those into the sides of the cabinet. Correct details and actual function often collide, and you have to decide what is more important to you. I like electronics and gadgets to be operational, even if they never did work in the “reel” world! An example of funciton vs screen correct is on the screen used vans they had tiny little side custom mirrors and after driving this monster in traffic I opted to use larger mirrors and custom paint them. When it comes to safety or accuracy for a starcar you want to drive, choose safety!
Once they cabinets and ammo box were finished and painted, interior installation was next. All along small details are being improved or corrected, and parts and bits are being searched for and tossed in a box so that I have them when I get to that point of the build. I tried to get “MR.T” for the licence, but someone all ready had it! There are companies that make fake licence plates and for display often star car owners will take off their plates and put on the “show correct” ones. The A-Team van had several blue and gold California plates that changed depending on which version of the van they used on the show that week!
The final interior upgrades, carpet, upholstery etc. should always be saved until the end, so you don’t damage it, and you are free to climb all over the car and set tools etc. without worrying about leaving a mark. I just painted the floor black and grey as a temporary look, while all the work was being done. Plus, you have to take into account your bank book and sometimes projects have to sit for a while until funds are available!
Guns in a box don't look as cool as guns all over the walls!
Less seen right side cabinets that had a desk and makeup kit inside for disguises!
Well after months of putting off the wheel and tire situation, I got more lug nuts, and found a better set of rims for cheap, cheap enough to make me buy a second set and sell off the first set that didn’t have enough “ribs”. I figured I was going to repaint anyway, so if I was going to re do all that work, I would rather use more accurate rims! So several Craigslist ads of buying and selling and trading, along with taking a saws-all to the underside of the van’s front wheel wells, I finally got 4 tires and rims on the van! Also it’s hard to see in this photo, but there are three antenna along the top, a CB radio, Car phone antenna, and police scanner antenna.
Is it done? Well one thing that any custom car owner will tell you, is that it’s never done! There are always details to do and I am continuing to tweak, replace and improve items when I feel the urge to do some more upgrades. Final upholstery, DVD player for the roof, finding old style “square” speaker covers, running boards with fake exhausts ports – upgrading the walls to the “correct” coin top gray rubber are all on the list. But now Star Car Central.com has an A-team van for appearances for charity events, and more importantly a place to get out of the elements and haul stuff to events in style! As Hannibal always said, “I love it when a VAN comes together!”
Great stunt with a replica van, but you won’t see me doing this EVER!!!!
The A-Team was the original Wild boys in the 80’s! Why was it popular? Comedy, action, car crashes, blowing stuff up and shooting guns! What’s not to like?
Now I have to go tear around in my van and look for a damsel in distress who needs to hire…. THE A-TEAM!
OK star car fans, I have been asked to post more info on where we will be appearing so here ya go! Here’s the line up for the rest of August!
This Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 join Nate Truman and a big chunk of the Star Car Central gang for a FUND RAISER for a youth center in Montery Park.
Show Time: 3pm to 9pm
Location: Praise Alive Worship Center 201 S. New Ave., Monterey Park, Ca. 91755
Star Cars Confirmed so far:
1) Paul – BTTF DeLorean
2) Jason – Ratchett
3) Brian – Herbie or Bond
4) Oscar – Magnum PI
5) Jason – Herbie
6) Jon – Bumblebee
7) Sue – Get Smart
7) Ari – Jurasic Park Jeep
8) Mark – Adam 12
9) Alex – KITT
10) Nate in Batmobile! He’s actually going to bring it out of the garage, even after getting the right rims on his A-Team van! (I’ll believe it when I see it!)
So join us for some music and star car fun this Saturday!
Bikini Contests, star cars and great San Diego weather, what more do you want? Check it out!Aug 28th SUNDAY this yr. 9-4 ANIMAL ADOPTION EVENT
Ventura County Animal shelter. event is on August 28.At the shelter in the Camerillo Airport.This will be our 7th year and anywhere from 150-200 animals find homes that day. Event is located at: 600 aviation drive in Camarillo.
The shelter is located on the property of the Camarillo Airport.There will be signs that will be posted they will say adoptathon.Off ramp off the fwy is Los Posas. Starcars attending as of today: Jon’s Transformer BUMBLEBEE Camaro and Brian’s Die Another Day
007 JAMES BOND CAR! If you want to adopt a pet and can’t make it, send my pal Craig Nadel an email!
What exactly is “starcarcentral.com”? that’s a question I get all the time. Well, basically it’s a moving event/charity/party I have been putting on since 2003!
This video was shot at the Monster Jam truck show, where the star car owners met the fans, then took to the mud in the arena at Anaheim Stadium! Special thanks to Charger Steve (he’s in the cowboy hat and was too busy to pose with his Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am or General Lee that day) and to all the great guys and gals who came out to the party! We appear as an attraction at many charity events around So. Cal., on TV shows and videos, commercials and the freeways! Check this blog and starcarcentral.com international on facebook for updates on future appearances. Contact me at info@starcarcentral.com if you want to join up!
Starcar fans are all around the world, and starcarcentral.com is trying to keep up with all of our members and chapters so you can find the famous movie and TV car events near you!
One of the most active groups outside of Nate Truman’s Hollywood division is run by Dee up in the upper left corner of the USA! He has even started a “starcar Concourse”. After searching for star cars all over the U.S. Dee and Nate found several owners and they all started hanging out together up north! So heres the info on their upcoming event!
Its time for the big 5th Annual ‘Star Car Concourse Classic” show at the Americas Car Museum.
The show is always the last Saturday in August, this year the 27th, and is held at the LeMay Museum’s Marymount location in the Tacoma/Spanaway area. This will be a ‘sanctioned’ AMCA event, hosted by the International Movie & TV Vehicle Owners Association and madmaxcars.com. The larger event, the LeMay/Americas Car Museum’s “Openhouse” that we are featured at, is a VERY COOL annual event even if it were not for the moviecars contribution, so it is well worth the trip. You can find the basic details on our events page here: http://www.madmaxcars.com/events.shtml
Then out in the middle of the USA Michael Knight has a great group that is now doing Comic cons and features one of the two original Monkeemobiles! Here’s a few shots of them sharing the star cars with fans of all shapes and sizes at a recent con!
"Robin, you seem.... Different?"
Original Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson showed up to see and sign the Ghostbuster tribute car (Hey, before you point out it’s not the right body style, not everyone can find a 1959 Mercury Meteor Ambulance, ok? )
Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson and SCC chapter leader Mike Knight!
Everyone had a great time chatting up Ernie about his time as a ghostbuster, and he even signed their car!
"To StarCarCentral.com, thanks for the cool car... what? I don't get to keep it?"
Like I mentioned before, They also have one of the two Monkeemobiles from the old TV series, and it showed up at a live Monkee show!
Well what did you expect them to be rolling in?
Meanwhile, over in Europe, France specifically, Claude has been hosting a great star car get together each year, and it keeps getting bigger each time!
And an article in the french mag “La Vie de l’Auto” The N°1 for the collectors in France! 🙂
Thanks to guys like Michael, Dee, and Claude – fan boys and girls around the US and the world have opportunities to see and get up close to their favorite movie and TV cars!
Where ever there are two or more starcars gathered in the SCC name, you are sure to have a party with some fun loving people! So to all those who are lovers of cool creations for the screen,
thanks for being part of the star car movement in your neck of the woods! TO THE BATMOBILE! Transformers, ROLL OUT! If you see a star car, or better yet, a bunch of them together,
Make sure you say “HI” and tell them you saw them here first!
Star Car Central is made up of quite of collection of cool cars and just as cool and varied owners/drivers! If you had told me a few years back that I would have so many starcars that I would find and connect cars like Transformer owners, I would have laughed! But now off shoots are going to events that are just for their type of car. Back on June 3-5,2011 (I know, I am trying to catch up!) Bumblebee owner Jon Merker and Jason Ybarra with his Ratchet Medic van decided to display their transformer autobots at the annual BOTCON Convention held this year at the Pasadena convention center. The robot fans flipped out when they saw the cars.
Friday morning BOTCON held their annual fan film festival screening. There were 16 short films shown and that night at 10pm the winners were announced. “Trampsformers” won 3rd place.
Photoshopped? Well, yes, but they were all there! From left to right , Writer/Director : Hahnah Jackson, Laundryman: David Bear, Tramp: Jason Ybarra, Thug: Jon Merker, Editor: Alex Wong, not shown was Scott Bradlee :the music composer.
Congrats to the Transformer SCC team who won third place for their movie “Trampsformers!”
Then on Saturday Alex Wong brought his KITT to be displayed too. Possible new members to SCC were on hand as well. Paul from Pomona brought his Ironhide and Shannon from Arizona brought his Trailbreaker to be on display too. Stay tuned to see Paul with SCC, soon a whole set of Transformers!!! (video down below of all ratchets features!)
"Transformers, ROLL OU.... hey, where's optimus and who's that new guy?" "Hey Guys, I'm KITT. Optimus went out with Goliath and left me in charge."
A fun weekend in all, with Bumblebee,Ratchet, and Ironhide even taking a cruise to IN N OUT on Saturday night! and then a theater in Santa Monica showed the original 1986 Transformers cartoon movie Sunday night where Ratchet and Bumblebee were displayed outside the theater as well, many of the voice actors were in house too!
THE ORIGINAL TRANSFORMER FEATURE FILM BACK ON THE BIG SCREEN!
"I've never seen this movie, nothing happens to Optimus Prime, right? Right? Hey Guys..."
You can find many more photos from BOTCON as well as a link to watch “Trampsformers” Ratchet on page 2 of Ratchets website : http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3897880
watch the video, and see what his licence plate reads out! NICE, JASON! The boys and bots have found each other, and there is no turning back! Great job everyone!
Television and Movie cars batmobile, Delorean, Ghostbusters exto-1, Knight Rider KITT, General Lee, Herbie, the love bug, scooby doo, the A-Team and many more all gather here!
At that point blowing the car up and smoking a cigar was a brief option! But I still wanted to drive it all put together! 
Star Car Central - Famous Movie & TV car news! 