1940 Batmobile N8mobile, part 6

Life happens, and in the middle of me having lots of fun, I got Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and stopped all my fun projects cold in their tracks in Jan. of 2020! You thought your year was bad? But I did actually make some progress on my bat car so here’s a long over due update on my tribute to the bat cars of the 1940’s.

Added the Bat-eye lights and tried them out! Used to terrify cowardly criminals!

Hopefully as my health returns and help arrives, I will have more updates to share. It’s registered and street legal, but I still have the big fin to add, and figure out how I get into my trunk! To the Batmobile, Robin, we haven’t a moment to lose!

Ford vs. Ferrari

Ford GT40 from Ford v Ferrari

Ford GT40 from Ford v Ferrari

by Jim Suva

The movie Ford v Ferrari opened in November, 2019. It stars Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. The movie tells the story of how Ford beat Ferrari in the 1966 “24 Hours of Le Mans” road race in France.

This story is about one of the screen-used Ford GT40s from the movie, and how Volo Auto Museum got ownership of it.

Opportunity Comes Calling

Brian Grams, Museum Director at Volo, was in his office chatting with his father, Greg Grams, Founder and CEO of Volo Auto Museum and Auto Sales. Greg had seen Ford v Ferrari the night before and was commenting about how great it was, and how Brian had to go and see it. Ironically, at that exact moment Brian received a text message from one of his contacts who works in the Entertainment industry. He was asking if Volo Auto Museum wanted any cars from the movie. Brian knew they would not be bargain autos by any means, and he figured there would be little interest on Volo’s behalf, considering they did not have any space to display an additional movie car at that moment. But he still brought it up to his father, whose eyes lit up with excitement. Brian thinks the adrenaline from seeing the movie was still racing in his veins, because Greg was definitely interested.

The offer was pretty wide open as far as the pick of the litter. They had their choice of cars, from the Ken Miles family’s woody wagon, to partially assembled Ford Falcons from the Ford factory scene, to Corvettes, Porches, Ferraris and of course, the GT40s. Not having seen the movie, Brian gravitated to the Ferraris, whereas his dad loved both the Ferraris and GT40s. They knew there was a limited window on this opportunity, because the cars were released that day, and were offered up to museums and collectors. They knew that the best ones would be the ones to disappear first. Brian and Greg narrowed their choices down to the #21 Ferrari or the Green #95 GT40. Greg suggested Brian and his brother Jay, go to see the movie. This would help them to decide which would be the right car. They could then make a more informed decision the following morning. Jay went to see the movie, but Brian was unable to go.

The next morning Jay said, “Get the GT before its gone! The whole movie is about the GT40!” Brian tried calling his father, but could not reach him. He called his mother and asked her to get in touch with Greg, but she had no luck either. Not wanting to miss out on the car, Brian decided to pull the trigger on the green #95 GT40. The purchase was done sight-unseen, and with little to no information about the car. He knew it had an LS3 engine and he had seen a few photos of the car, sandwiched between other cars, and it showed a lot of scrapes and scratches. Brian at this point had no idea how the car was built. Was it built quickly, just so that it would look good on film, like so many Movie/TV cars? Was the car built with quality in mind? What was he going to get for the premium price he was about to pay? He also knew in the back of his mind, that no matter the car’s condition, it would be timeless. Ford v Ferrari is the first true car movie to have been released for many years. Even the Fast and Furious franchise, that features a lot of cars is not a true car lovers movie. So here he had a real car from a true car movie.

After making the commitment to purchase the car, Greg reached out to Brian (the adrenaline of the movie having since left his veins), and decided that Volo did not need the car, did not have the space, and felt the funds could be better used elsewhere. When Brian told him he already bought the car, Greg was angry that Brian did not wait to discuss the purchase with him, but Brian also thinks he was secretly pretty happy and excited.

Inspection and History of Volo’s Ford GT40

The deal was completed and the car picked up. Upon delivery Brian noticed that the many scrapes and scratches that were on the car were actually studio effects! They were painted on, including dirt and brake dust, to give the car that race-track-used look. There was no actual damage to the car! He was happy to learn the car was not the typical movie car that was cheaply built just to look good on screen. It was an incredible build.

This is where Brian’s research began, which wasn’t too difficult, because the movie’s recent release. The first thing he did was a Google search, and picked bits and pieces out of articles. During that process he learned that two companies, Superformance and Race Car Replicas had supplied a majority of the cars to the film. Brian reached out to both Superformance and RCR. RCR replied that it was one of the cars they had built. They supplied the production company with over 100 cars, from the Ferraris to Porsches, GT40s, etc. All the cars used the same driveline per request by the production company. All the cars were powered by LS3, for ease of repairs and maintenance on the set. This was much easier than having a variety of different drivelines. There were a total of twelve GT40s and RCR supplied 10 of them. Superformance supplied the other two.

The cars all featured an RCR custom built aluminum chassis, designed after the original GT40 chassis. The body is made of fiberglass from a mold that was taken off an original GT40. It is a very close replica to an original GT40, unlike other replicas that have mis-proportioned bodies and use existing chassis, from a Fiero, for example. The RCR GT40 has the same chassis design, but is a few hundred pounds lighter because of its use of aluminum instead of steel. It handles and performs much like an original GT40. RCR sent the cars to the production company complete, with exception of one thing, the paint. All the cars were sent in bare gel coat, ready to be painted by the production company.

Another discovery Brian made was a few sheets of paper in the car, which depicted the Daytona race scene. This was an outline so the drivers knew where they needed to be positioned and when. It was essentially the race choreography. There was also a GPS transponder likely to be used by production to monitor everyone’s position and speed. One last thing he found in the car was a tag labeled Paul Dallenbach. With a Google search he discovered that Paul is a professional stunt and race car driver. Paul is the one who drove this GT40 in the movie. Paul said the car handled great, like a true race car, with the exception of the tires, which were chosen for looks instead of performance. They had a hard time sticking. Paul drove the car on average 130 mph for filming. Ironically, the #95 car that Paul was driving was in the 24 Hours of Daytona race scene, where car #95 had come in 2^nd place. In real life, Paul actually raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona race, and placed 2^nd in his racing career!

In the movie there are far more than twelve GT40s shown. Since the production company had only twelve cars, how was that possible? The cars were recycled and painted to look like different cars for different scenes. Through a friend, Brian was able to get a few images from the production “key list” of cars. He learned before Volo’s car was the green #95, it was the red #3 Dan Gurney car, that was used in the Le Mans race scene, as well as a yellow #8 car that was used in one of the pit scenes of the Le Mans race.

In addition, the key list showed a scene where the green #95 car hits a 66 Mustang, in which the Mustang ends up exploding. Unfortunately this scene must have ended up on the cutting room floor.

One last discovery was the paint scheme of the #95 car, the real Moody and Holman #95 car that raced the 24 hours of Daytona was white with some green accents. So why was this car not painted the same? The production company did this intentionally, to help the audience more easily identify cars that would otherwise look too similar and could be confusing to movie goers.

Final comment

I went to see this movie and I can’t wait for it to come out in digital format. In my opinion, it is one of the best racing movies ever made. If you get a chance, go see the movie and then come to the Volo Auto Museum to see this piece of movie history. You will not be disappointed!

Nate Truman’s StarCarCentral.com gang at the Long Beach Comic Con Nov. 23 2013!

November 23 (Saturday) – “Long Beach Comic/Horror Con”

Just a quick post to let all the star car fans know that we will have a big group on display this Saturday in Long Beach!

Come on down and get your photos with the star cars, meet the SCC team members and enjoy a great comic-con!

Lots of great places to eat near by, and cool comic fans and creators everywhere you turn! 

 Show starts at 10 am, 
http://www.longbeachcc.com/

What’s the show about? Go to this link
http://www.longbeachcomiccon.com/

 
We will be out in front of the main entrance to the Long Beach Convention Center.  

• NATE – JURASSIC PARK EXPLORER!
• EVAN – MACH 5
• OSCAR-  MAGNUM PI FERRARI
• JASON – TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE VAN
• MARTIN – CHRISTINE
• ARI – JURASSIC PARK JEEP
• GARY G – HIGHWAY PATROL
• PAUL – BACK TO THE FUTURE DELOREAN
• BRYAN – ECTO-1! YEAH BABY!
• ALEX – KITT FROM KNIGHT RIDER
• OBISHAWN – STAR WARS
• FLOR – POLICE ISETTA

xXx GTO screen used Pontiac has all the gadgets you would want!

 

This highly-modified 1967 GTO is readily recognized as Vin Diesel’s hero car from the blockbuster film “xXx.”  It is one of five screen-used Pontiacs that Hollywood star car builder Eddie Paul originally built. 

To further prepare it for on-screen use, the studio’s Special Effects crew outfitted this particular car with all sorts of unique hardware to perform the various “gags” seen in the movie. Nicknamed the “Flame Car” for its flame-throwing capabilities (notice the scorched hood scoop!), it also features special spy gadgets in the dashboard, functional rocket launchers behind the upper headlights, a patriotic American flag parachute packed into the passenger seat, and a flipping rear seat that reveals a high-powered arsenal for Diesel’s “Xander Cage” secret agent duties.

The Flame Car began life as a GTO hardtop coupe, but its metal roof is now forever gone.

“The roof was ejected — like a fighter jet’s canopy — during a crucial action sequence near the film’s finale,” says film historian and Pontiac enthusiast Thom Sherwood of Tucson, AZ. He has been the car’s proud owner since 2005, and enjoys sharing all the unique stories he has collected from the film’s crew and craftsmen.

“I have interviewed over 75 people associated with “xXx” — from the director to the stunt drivers and everyone in-between — to document the cars built for the film and their fascinating stories.”

While he has produced a one-hour slide presentation covering his efforts entitled “Secret Agent GTO: The Pontiacs of xXx,” his ultimate goal is to publish a book which showcases these stories and the amazing behind-the-scenes photography that he has amassed.

Meanwhile, he welcomes the opportunity to display his roaring, rolling piece of genuine Hollywood wizardry.

“Most people, when they see my car in-person, can’t believe it is the actual car from the movie,” Sherwood continues. “They are mesmerized by all the high-tech dials and switches and blinking lights inside. Unlike K.I.T.T. from “Knight Rider,” or the DeLorean from “Back to the Future,” the dashboard purposely has a haphazard look to it. It was made — according to the film’s storyline — to appear as though it was hastily assembled overnight!”

 

Outside, the car is painted a unique color-shifting shade called Indigo Blasberry Prizm. But look closely, and you can tell this GTO has been driven through multiple fireball explosions and has seen some hard action while the cameras rolled. “For the most part, it remains in the exact same condition as it returned stateside from filming in the Czech Republic with scrapes and bumps and all,” according to Sherwood. “It only adds to the car’s provenance.”

 

Today, the Flame Car may get “fired-up” occasionally to terrorize the streets of Tucson, but it also makes appearances at out-of-state enthusiast gatherings and promotions. Arrangements to have the Flame Car attend your event can be made through Star Car Central.

 

Star Car Central update! See famous movie and TV cars in August 2011~ to the batmobile!

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!

Then on Sunday

AUG 21ST SUNDAY  SCC-SD CHARGER STEVE’S WILD RIDES AND CLASSIC CARS 6AM  
 This Sunday, if you are in the San Diego area, check out these SCC member’s cool movie and TV car rides!

http://www.chargersteve.com/pb/wp_8ca66bb4.html?0.31193643528426784
   BRIAN HERBIE OR BOND
JENNIFER KITT
LEE GENERAL LEE
STEVE SCOOBY DOO
MIKE TOWMATER
ARI JURRASIC PARK

TONY BANDIT

RICHARD PETTY CAR

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!

Craig Nadel

ruffbarber@yahoo.com
Thank you for choosing to adopt a special orphan in need of a loving home.
http://www.rescuemeinc.petfinder.com

Aug  31 wednesday SCC-SD Cajon Classic Cruise Star Car Event (The Wed night show) http://downtownelcajon.com/event_ccc.shtml
Back down in San Diego, Charger Steve is lining up some star cars Mid week for all to enjoy!

Gary’s  herbie
Steve Scooby Doo Van
Michael towmater tow truck
Lee      general Lee from Dukes of Hazzard will all be on display!

There are lots of events for the Cajon Cruise, but only this one has star cars!

So come on out and say “HOWDY!”  and bring your camera and friends!

STAR CAR NEWS FROM AROUND THE USA AND THE WORLD! GO TEAM SCC! (THAT’S STAR CAR CENTRAL!)

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!

KITT and Batmobile NOT everyone’s top movie cars! Here’s some rarely talked about star cars!

 

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.

Wizard World Comic Convention and Star Car Central.com in Anaheim 3 day eventorama!

Wizard World Conventions are all over the U.S. and Canada and over the last few years I have sent a few area chapter members out to appear with their movie or TV car, mostly on the East Coast and Canada.  But when Adam West and Burt Ward, the original Batman and Robin make a rare appearance here in nearby Anaheim, well the batsignal goes up, and starcars roll out!   More of the original Bat cast was in attendance as well, Lee Meriweather who was catwoman in the Batman Feature film, Malichi Throne who played the villain “False Face” as well as a host of celebrities and artists from all walks of fandom!

Nateman (That’s me!) and my Natemobile were up near the entrance, and right in front of Batman and Robin! Even though I was a bit lonely without my star car pals, it was a fun time meeting all the batfans and helping to raise money for the “Friends of Angels” Autism Camp.  We are in our eighth year and going strong!

Meanwhile, in the back, the rest of the peanut gallery were putting on their own show, and having fun talking to the press and fans!

Paul agreed to a rare interview about his car.... 🙂

When it comes to any comic con, you never know what “crossgeeking” surprises you  will see. (Crossgeeking means a fanatical pursuit or interest in two divergent areas of traditional geekyness, Such as owning a Herbie the Love bug, and also speaking klingon – copyright Nate Truman 2001! Go ahead and google it!) Here is an example that popped up, a Flux Capacitor in a Magnum P.I. Ferrari!

The fans crowded in to see the star cars we had on display, and lots of interviews for various media outlets, both TV and online sites were constantly quizzing the star car owners in front of the cameras.

The crowds were non stop all day long, and everyone had a great time checking out costumes, artists and celebrities that they got to spend time chatting with in person.  Hey, I got to talk with the 80’s Captain America about the release of the new one. Reb Brown is still in great shape and could pick up the shield!

But you can’t see the cars, so here is a shot of the set up before the doors opened up.

Rockin' the 80's... well Herbie spans several decades!

My A-Team van was on display for Friday only, then we swapped out the van for Brian’s James Bond BMW Saturday and Sunday along with three day attenders Oscar and his Ferrari from Magnum P.I. Paul’s BTTF Delorean, Alex’s KITT from Knight Rider and Brian’s Robo-Herbie. (Also there were two classic “Snake and Mongoose” funny cars! )

Being inside with fans who “get” our cars is always a treat. Plus, the fans are a lot more interesting to talk to and people watch at a comic con too!

Even Kermit the Frog came by to do some interviews!

Lots of dinner’s out and buying stuff we just had to have as well as meeting old friends made for a great weekend of fun fandom!

Look for us in November at the Los Angeles Comic Con, Danny’s BTTF Delorean inside at the San Diego Comic Con!  When this many fans line up to see us, well, we are always glad to share our famous movie and TV cars!

Burbank on Parade StarCarCentral.com wins again!

Hey Star Car Fans!

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!

A new Batmobile in London?

He is the iconic Caped Crusader who has starred in comic books, television series and film franchises for the last 70 years.

Now Batman is making his stage debut in one of the most lavish theatrical productions ever to appear in London, at The O2 arena. Gotham City will be brought to life in Batman Live, with a huge stage lit up by a dazzling display of pyrotechnics and special effects.

Today the villains that Batman and sidekick Robin will face during the show were unveiled as the Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Catwoman. Creative director Anthony Van Laast, who has worked on West End shows and Hollywood movies including the latest Harry Potter, said: “It’s got stunts, it’s got Batman flying, it’s a big lavish spectacular – this is going to be a really good piece of theatre.”

The Dark Knight will be helped by a brand new Batmobile created by Formula One designer Professor Gordon Murray, which will drive on to the stage before skidding to a halt.

A 100ft screen shaped like a bat will act as a backdrop for the special effects, and characters will be able to fly around the set thanks to a grid suspended above the stage. It will also include an action sequence where the Joker tries to escape in a hot air balloon, only to be shot down in flames.

The story of Batman Live follows the young Dick Grayson, a circus performer whose parents are murdered, and how he becomes Batman’s sidekick
Robin.

It will tour the world for five years!

For more details go to batmanlive.com.

But batman the musical idea has been around a while, and even was featured in one of the Batman:The animated series episodes!

Take a look! One of my favorite clips!