JULY 4TH HACIENDA HEIGHTS PARADE MAGNUM P.I. FERRARI KNIGHT RIDER SUPER PURSUIT MODE KITT BACK TO THE FUTURE DELOREAN TIME MACHINE THE A-TEAM VAN JURASSIC PARK EXPLORER KNIGHT RIDER KITT PEE WEE HERMAN BIKE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE VAN JAMES BOND DB5 BMW JAMES BOND CAR HERBIE THE LOVE BUG TRANSFORMER’S BUMBLEBEE
The Hacienda Heights 4th of July Parade takes place on July 4th at 9:00 am in Hacienda Heights, CA on Stimson Avenue starting at Colima Road and ends at Steinmetz Park. The Parade consists of bands, floats, equestrian, drill teams, VIPs, local school and church groups AND FAMOUS MOVIE CARS!!!!.
Come out and show your Hacienda Heights support on July 4th at 9:00am.
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!
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!
Here is Jim’s list of his favorites, and his reasons for choosing them!
My favorite TV and movie cars: It’s not KITT and the Batmobile
Lists of great movie vehicles are pretty boring because they usually list the same blockbuster choices. Here’s a few from off the beaten path.
YEE-HAW: The General Lee (a ’69 Dodge Charger) takes a ride. (Photo courtesy of CBS)
The next episode of “Hollywood’s Top Ten” (Friday night at 11:30 p.m. Pacific on ReelzChannel) features viewers’ choices for the coolest movie/TV cars, and you know what they’re going to pick: the Batmobiles, the custom Cadillac Ecto-1 from “Ghostbusters,” the jalopy on “The Beverly Hillbillies,” James Bond’s Aston-Martin, KITT from “Knight Rider.”
They wouldn’t give me the whole list — that’s why you tune in — but here are a few of the winners:
The Trans Am from “Smokey and the Bandit”
The ’69 Charger from “The Dukes of Hazzard”
The ’56 Thunderbird from “American Graffiti”
Ho-hum. But there are some less-heralded cars out in movie and TV land, and here are my five, very personal, favorites:
The Saint’s Volvo: The Saint, played by Roger Moore on the 1962-1969 TV show, drove a Volvo 1800S, just like me. Mine was even the same color as his. The Saint was a low-rent James Bond, and the car — a sporty version of the 122S, with nearly identical mechanicals — was no Aston-Martin. The Saint could pursue criminals, but not if they were moving too fast. Switching into “overdrive” provided a powerful visual, but the 1800 topped off around 100 mph. And zero to 60? Well, maybe 11 seconds.
The Alfa-Romeo Duetto from “The Graduate”: Another personal connection because I owned that car’s linear descendant, a 1976 Alfa Spider (with a cut-off Kamm tail instead of the Duetto’s rounded example). Alfa even created a “Graduate” model because of the popularity of the movie and the car’s starring role in pursuit of a stopped wedding, with Dustin Hoffman at the wheel. The exposure garnered by this ’66 Duetto 1600 didn’t save Alfa’s fortunes in the U.S., but it probably postponed the departure for a number of years.
The “Bad Timing” Mercedes: Admittedly not a star movie car, this circa 1959 Mercedes 220S from Nicholas Roeg’s 1980 “Bad Timing”again duplicates one of my own cars — my all-time favorite. It was probably the scene with Denholm Elliot and Teresa Russell, captured in the video below, that stimulated my interest in the car in the first place. Alas, I let mine get away, and now I couldn’t touch a nice one for less than $10,000. If you get a chance, it’s a really good movie (forget what the blurb says) — from the director of “Walkabout” and “Performance.” Kind of hard to find, though.
The “Julie & Julia”Buick: I’d love to own one, but they’re worth $40,000, so it’s not likely anytime soon. The movie’s production designer describes the car as “a 1947 wooded blue Buick station wagon.” It was nicknamed the Blue Flash, and found in France where they filmed much of the movie. Sorry to disagree with Mark Ricker, but I think it’s actually a later car than 1947. Can I suggest that it was actually a 1950 Roadmaster with a 1949-style two-piece windshield? “It could have been Paul and Julia’s original car, as far as we knew,” said Ricker. Maybe.
The 1962 Cadillac Coupe de Ville from “Mad Men”: Don Draper (John Hamm) brings home this beauty in the second season, at his boss’ urging. It’s interesting that there was no product placement here — instead, it’s exactly the right car for the character at that time. It’s the car Don thinks he wants, even though it turns out all wrong for him. This is the pinnacle of “Standard of Excellence” Cadillacs, for a guy on top of the Madison Avenue nest of snakes. There were some great Cadillac ads in National Geographic around this time. The Draper-type owner was shown heading into a country club with his fur-bearing wife, looking back at the car that his power and prestige had secured for him.
There’s actually an Internet Movie Car Database you can search by make. Have fun with it. Make up your own list and post your choices below in the comments — I’d love to see what you come up with.
Who can refuse the “HOFF”? Certainly not StarCarCentral! Super fan and owner/builder of her own Super Pursuit Mode KITT Knight Rider Car, Jennifer got a call from David’s body guard, and he asked if star cars could show up for an event that was close to David’s heart – an event for the retirement complex where the Hoff’s dad lives.
Well when you say “the Hoff will be there” that’s all Jenn needed! Star car connections were called in, and Nate (that’s me) Jenn and Charger Steve sent out the call! In record time the “instant car show” was born!
Jenn showed up with her KITT that was a hit with all the Knight Rider fans, Gary brought his Herbie The Love Bug,
Mike had Towmater,
John transformed his Bumblebee Camaro,
Mark scrambled his Adam-12 Patrol car
and Tony with the help of “snowman” got past the troopers in his Bandit Trans am!
To think that when I started starcarcentral, 4 star cars in one place was a huge event! Now 6 show up with just an email and the promise of free food!
David Haselhoff put on a great show and performed with his Dad who was obviously proud of his boy, and everyone enjoyed good food and drinks provided by the facility!
Awards were given out and even though Star Car Central usually asks to NOT get awards, when it’s the Hoff’s show, well, KITT has to win the “People’s Choice” Award! Congrats Jenn!
It was a fun day of food, entertainment, cool cars and the Hoff! For star car fans, that’s just about as good as it gets! I don’t need to congratulate Jenn for putting on a great fast and trouble free show, she got her reward – a day with the Hoff and a chance to get her dash signed, and most importantly the photo of him and her sitting on her hood! KITT is even smiling!
KITT - "Hey, I can't see! Jennifer, is that Michael Knight?"
It wouldn’t be a star car event without at least one of the cars having some sort of trouble, but this time it made for a once of a lifetime event, a Bandit Trans am helping out a KITT trans am, or is it the other way around? Star Cars showing some Pontiac love for each other!
That’s a different type of “jump” for both of these cars! This may be the only shot of Bandit and KITT “jumping” together!
Now you may be asking, “Hey, Nate and Alex have KITT cars, and Paul goes to everything with his Back to the Future Delorean, where were they?” Well you are right, we all would have been out to support Jenn and the Hoff, but we were at another three day show at the time, the Wizard World Comic Con in Anahiem with Adam West and Burt Ward and other cast members of the Batman show! But that’s another blog….
Yes I know I am behind on my blogging! We are having too much fun playing with our toys lately to stop and write about it! So let’s catch up a bit! On April 9th, 2011 a BIG group of the ever changing line up of cars at Star Car Central.com showed up to drive in the Burbank Parade! For the second time in a row, we won our category! Novelty, Non Commercial! Not sure if we had any competition, but we won!
We had a few new members, some Burbank locals that rarely come out and a bunch of the “regulars” all lined up once again for a fun parade on a beautiful day!
Our “Banner Girls” lead the way out in front with Sue in Her Get Smart Sunbeam and machine gun! After a long wait on a beautiful tree lined street we finally got started and the crowd loved seeing all their old “four wheeled friends” from TV and movies from the past!
Here’s a nice shot of Sue with our award banner at the end of the parade!
Paul brought out his “MAD MAX” Interceptor for a rare look at his very rare replicar with right hand drive and meanest looking police car around!
New to our group this year is Stephen and his Jurassic Park Explorer! He is actually more into rock climbing than star cars, but his truck is a crowd pleaser! We have yet to get Stephen and Ari together, who has a Jurassic park Jeep!
Transformers, assemble! and then turn off your engines and wait for a bit longer! John’s BumbleBee Camaro from Transformers is followed by Jason’s “Ratchet” Transformer ambulance from the cartoons! You can also see Tony’s top notch Smokey and the Bandit Trans am and Lou’s Torino from Starsky and Hutch bringing up the rear in the above photo.
Behind Tony is Nate Truman in his new “A-Team” van – this is the last shot of the van before the front push bar and even MORE front lights were added! “I pity the fool” who doesn’t love Mr. T and his van!
Alex put on his light and sound show with his amazing KITT car from Knight Rider!
Cliff and his son are behind the wheel of their NASCAR inspired Herbie, like in “Herbie, fully loaded”
Oscar’s 308 GTSi Ferrari decked out like in the Magnum P.I. TV show is pretty at any angle!
Charlie brought his Green fastback Mustang like the one Steve McQueen drove in “Bullitt” the dream car of many men in the crowd!
Lou turned on his sirens and police lights and delighted all the “Starsky and Hutch” fans. His “stripped tomato” is a fan favorite!
Paul drove his Back to the Future Delorean with gull wing doors open, and sounds from the movie blaring! Reba, get that leg back in the car!
Dave and his family tooted out the familiar sounds of “DIXIE” as they displayed their Dukes of Hazzard General Lee Charger!
A few times a year we are always happy to see “the other” batmobile! Tom’s car is sweet and he’s one of the few guys Nate has to chat with about after burners!
You are not seeing double, this is Jason’s “classic” Herbie as the lovable Bug appeared in the early movies! Jason also was running through the cars to get all these photos and did all the paperwork and phone calls so we could all play with our cars down the middle of the street! Thanks Jason and “Dad” Dave!
Mark with his Adam-12 Cruiser gets extra “good guy” points for coming despite being in terrible pain! His “reward” for his troubles? He started overheating due to the slow speed of the parade! So he switched on his police lights and sirens and tore to the end of the parade to let the car cool down! Thanks for putting yourself through all that! The crowd loved seeing the car tear down the street and I thought it was the “real” cops behind me – not the “REEL” ones!
I saved Brian’s car for last, as we all were amazed at his latest “upgrade” to his James Bond BMW from Tomorrow Never Dies. He brought along a pal dressed as Super Spy James Bond, and he pretended to drive the car by remote control, just like in the movie. No one can accuse Brian of wanting the spotlight, his friend was cool and collected walking down the road while Brian was well, it’s easier to just look at the photo!
Look closely, that seat has HANDS! That’s brian behind his seat disguise driving the car and looking through the headrest! He truly suffered the heat and uncomfortable ride to delight the parade goers! Too cool Brian, Aka “Q”! We never know what gadget he’s going to build next!
True to form, after the parade my “cats” all scrambled off, some went home to get their “meds” others went to “in and out” but most of us made it to dinner to swap stories and catch up on the latest break downs and upgrades to our cars.
Ari couldn’t make it, and a new “mystery” batmobile almost made it in the parade with us but lost his keys to his electrical shut off switch – and by “lost” I mean a fan took the key! But “G.I. Joe”mobile may be at an event soon! Thanks to all who came and all the fans who yelled out each theme or show title as they recognized their favorite old car star!
Last Friday night in the worst rain and traffic I have been a part of in years, three intreped StarCarCentral.com members braved the weather and conditions to support GAMERS UNITED.
Harvey Levin’s TMZ TV show had a camera crew at the Beverly Hills event for the first L.A. ComiKaze Comic Con party where three SCC members came to support the cause of the night, giving out comic books and video games to sick kids! Michele Rodriguez was a celebrity guest and was really sweet to all three of us, she loved the cars!
Nate and Paul caught by TMZ
Jon Bumblebee, Paul BTTF, and Nate Knight Rider all braved the rain and REDONKULOUS traffic but all got there before the party and the rain started. Various camera crews were on hand to cover the party thrown by Regina Carpinelli CEO Comikaze Expo and was held at her art gallery “The Celebrity Vault” at 345 North Canon Drive Beverly Hills,Ca 90210 that specializes in celebrity and rock and roll star limited edition photography.
A donation of comic books or cash and an invitation got you into the party, but there was only room for three stars outside: Bumblebee from the Transformers, Back to the future Delorean and KITT from Kinght Rider were parked out in the elements! The buzz and photography around the cars was non stop through the night, but after a few turns in front of the camera we went next door and the three of us had a New York Style Pizza and caught up on a few stories! After some more rain and a few more times lighting up KITT for the cameras I decided it was time to go home, as Monster Jam was the next day. Kitt had other ideas! It let out a terrible sound and the starter decided it didn’t want to play any more! So what does every good Knight Rider do in that situation? TURBOBOOST!!!!
"TURBO BOOST? I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE START BUTTON!"
Actually, I just called AAA and they sent out a tow truck to take KITT back to the Knight Industries repair truck.
Paul and Jon stayed a while longer while the paparazzi never stopped taking photos of KITT even while being loaded on the truck!
I got KITT safely home, dropped him in the driveway and got the A-Team van out for Monster Jam the next day. (see previous blog!)
Sadly it was Paul’s turn next to have some bad star car incident, he made it fine to the Monster jam the next day, but on the drive home hit a stalled truck in the road and tore up the side of his BTTF car!
When you play with your toys, stuff like this happens! Luckily the F.L.A.G. mechanic was over on Monday (aka Alex!) and had a new starter in KITT in no time flat and we went out for a nice lunch all before noon! That man has skills and connections! But I don’t think he can get Delorean stainless panels.
Here’s a look at Pauls car before the accident. I am not sure I want to see what it looks like now! 😦
Paul vows to be all back together and rolling by our next event! Many of your favorite star cars will be on display in November at www.comikazeexpo.com
TMZ was also at another SCC event but didn’t get any of the Knights of the West Coast on Camera on Valentines day. A few fans of the Hoff showed up with Knight Rider stories for a new series where stars trade places with celebrities who have their same name!
David Hasselhoff looks different! (click the link to watch the TMZ video)
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! 
YEE-HAW: The General Lee (a ’69 Dodge Charger) takes a ride. (Photo courtesy of CBS)
The Saint’s Volvo: The Saint, played by Roger Moore on the 1962-1969 TV show, 
The Alfa-Romeo Duetto from “The Graduate”: Another personal connection because I owned that car’s linear descendant, a 1976 Alfa Spider (with a cut-off Kamm tail instead of the Duetto’s rounded example). Alfa even created a “Graduate” model because of the popularity of the movie and
The “Bad Timing” Mercedes: Admittedly not a star movie car, this circa 1959 Mercedes 220S from Nicholas Roeg’s 1980 “Bad Timing” again duplicates one of my own cars — my all-time favorite. It was probably the scene with Denholm Elliot and Teresa Russell, captured in the video below, that stimulated my interest in the car in the first place. Alas, I let mine get away, and now I couldn’t touch a nice one for less than $10,000. If you get a chance, 
The “Julie & Julia” Buick: I’d love to own one, but they’re worth $40,000, so it’s not likely anytime soon. 
The 1962 Cadillac Coupe de Ville from “Mad Men”: Don Draper (John Hamm) brings home this beauty in the second season, at his boss’ urging. It’s interesting that there 
Hey Star Car Fans!
Our “Banner Girls” lead the way out in front with Sue in Her Get Smart Sunbeam and machine gun! After a long wait on a beautiful tree lined street we finally got started and the crowd loved seeing all their old “four wheeled friends” from TV and movies from the past!
Here’s a nice shot of Sue with our award banner at the end of the parade!
Paul brought out his “MAD MAX” Interceptor for a rare look at his very rare replicar with right hand drive and meanest looking police car around!
New to our group this year is Stephen and his Jurassic Park Explorer! He is actually more into rock climbing than star cars, but his truck is a crowd pleaser! We have yet to get Stephen and Ari together, who has a Jurassic park Jeep!
Transformers, assemble! and then turn off your engines and wait for a bit longer! John’s BumbleBee Camaro from Transformers is followed by Jason’s “Ratchet” Transformer ambulance from the cartoons! You can also see Tony’s top notch Smokey and the Bandit Trans am and Lou’s Torino from Starsky and Hutch bringing up the rear in the above photo.
Behind Tony is Nate Truman in his new “A-Team” van – this is the last shot of the van before the front push bar and even MORE front lights were added! “I pity the fool” who doesn’t love Mr. T and his van!
Alex put on his light and sound show with his amazing KITT car from Knight Rider!
Cliff and his son are behind the wheel of their NASCAR inspired Herbie, like in “Herbie, fully loaded”
Oscar’s 308 GTSi Ferrari decked out like in the Magnum P.I. TV show is pretty at any angle!
Charlie brought his Green fastback Mustang like the one Steve McQueen drove in “Bullitt” the dream car of many men in the crowd!
Paul drove his Back to the Future Delorean with gull wing doors open, and sounds from the movie blaring! Reba, get that leg back in the car!
Dave and his family tooted out the familiar sounds of “DIXIE” as they displayed their Dukes of Hazzard General Lee Charger!
A few times a year we are always happy to see “the other” batmobile! Tom’s car is sweet and he’s one of the few guys Nate has to chat with about after burners!
You are not seeing double, this is Jason’s “classic” Herbie as the lovable Bug appeared in the early movies! Jason also was running through the cars to get all these photos and did all the paperwork and phone calls so we could all play with our cars down the middle of the street! Thanks Jason and “Dad” Dave!
Mark with his Adam-12 Cruiser gets extra “good guy” points for coming despite being in terrible pain! His “reward” for his troubles? He started overheating due to the slow speed of the parade! So he switched on his police lights and sirens and tore to the end of the parade to let the car cool down! Thanks for putting yourself through all that! The crowd loved seeing the car tear down the street and I thought it was the “real” cops behind me – not the “REEL” ones!
I saved Brian’s car for last, as we all were amazed at his latest “upgrade” to his James Bond BMW from Tomorrow Never Dies. He brought along a pal dressed as Super Spy James Bond, and he pretended to drive the car by remote control, just like in the movie. No one can accuse Brian of wanting the spotlight, his friend was cool and collected walking down the road while Brian was well, it’s easier to just look at the photo!
Star Car Central - Famous Movie & TV car news! 