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May '07 News
Archive
5/31/07 - Go Speed Racer,
Go!
USA Today has revealed a pic of
the Mach 5 from the upcoming Wachkowski-directed film. It's good to
see they haven't messed with the classic design. Rumors of Keanu
Reeves playing Speed Racer proved unfounded. Emile Hirsch (right) has
landed the role of Speed and Christina Ricci will appear as Trixie.
John Goodman has been cast as Pops and Matthew Fox will don the mask of
Racer X. Click
HERE to read a USA Today online article on Speed Racer.
Johnny Lightning will
be re-releasing their Speed Racer line in 2007. They may be
shipping as early as June. If you missed out on these, now is your
chance to catch up:
  
  
5/31/07 - For Your Eyes
Only
Longtime contributor Craig Mueller
sent me a link to an eBay auction featuring a James Bond car I've never seen
before. Apparently, a company called Norev released an exclusive in
France in the 80's. The Citroen 2 Cv (pictured above) is 1:64 scale
and was featured in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
Pics have been added to the Bond gallery. To see every 1:64 scale
die-cast car from all the Bond flicks, click HERE.
5/26/07 - A Long Time
Ago...
May 25th marked the 30th anniversary
of the release of Star Wars in theaters. I celebrated by
watching the original, unaltered version on DVD. It brings back a lot
of fond memories of growing up with that movie. I still remember
seeing it for the first time like it happened yesterday. It was at
Beacon East theater in Harper Woods, Michigan. I was 10 years old and
I remember pulling into the parking lot and seeing Star Wars on the
marquee and I was giddy with excitement. I wish I could be at
Celebration 4 in Los Angeles right now, but I just couldn't pull it off.
While browsing the coverage of C4 at
www.rebelscum.com I spotted a very cool display of Hasbro's Titanium
vehicles, old and new. Check it out by clicking
HERE.
5/25/07 - Our Fine Four-Fendered
Friend!
I wish I had a million dollars.
One of my all-time favorite cars, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is going up for
auction on June 2nd. My friend Denver sent me a link to a Detroit Free
Press article. Click
HERE to read it.
6/5 UPDATE:
AUBURN, Ind. - The red-and-yellow winged roadster that starred in the film
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang sold at auction for $505,000 to a Florida
collector Ralph Spencer of Jacksonville, Fla., bought the car during a
sale Saturday at 16th annual Auburn Spring Motorfair at Kruse Auction
Park. Spencer, owner of Mulch Manufacturing Inc., already owns a 1966
Batmobile and said he had his eyes on the winged car for the past few
years. "I've always liked this car," Spencer said. "I was a fan of the
movie." The car was previously displayed in a Chicago restaurant formerly
known as JR's Retreat. Jim Rich sold the car to help pay off a bankruptcy
debt, according to postings at the auction. Auction company President Dean
Kruse appraised the car in 1998 at $980,000.
5/23/07 - Another Cool Custom!
I like this current trend of people
imagining what certain famous cars would look like done in the style of
Cars. There's a very cool thread going on right now in the
Forum featuring some nifty artwork. Bill Jenkins of Germany took
it one step further and created the Dodge Charger from Joe Dirt.
He writes:
Howdy,
I enjoy checking your site for updates on available cars. Great resource!!
Here's a fun project I did. Note: The King was not sacrificed to make this
car, although a Snot rod did have it's wheels stolen. I started with a
Hot wheels caricature which was short, narrow, and had a large "Zinger"
style engine up front. It was disassembled and cut into eight pieces;
lengthened and widened to the proportions of the King. A new hood area was
molded using auto body filler. This was a cool diversion from my
normal model building.
Cheers!
  
5/19/07 - Cool Custom!
Wow, this ranks among the coolest
customs I've ever seen. Do you remember seeing this car featured on
the Pink Panther Show on Saturday mornings? Well, the only toy
version I'm aware of was a plastic version made by Dinky. No one has
ever tackled this beauty in die-cast, UNTIL NOW! Huw Eastwood of Wales
decided to craft his very own version. Here is his story:
"Up until a week ago I had spent the last 3 months or so working on a small
1:64 metal alloy replica of the Pink Panther Show Rod - That was until a
serious dig-in on the milling machine wrote off about 250 hours work, at a
stage when 99% complete and working on details that if I hadn't been so
clever/fussy I could have settled for and left. Totally gutted to say the
least, the reason I started it in the first place being that it seems a
die-cast model of this wild car has NEVER been produced anywhere in the
world!!! I had previously spent about 120- 150 hours having a go
on a #1 trial model and that turned out complete, but was quite limited in
shape/details by the methods I machined it from solid- Hence #2 to get it
better and which, at the time of destruction was as close to perfect as I
could get. The thought of starting all over again doesn't really appeal at
the moment so please tell me there is a 1:64 or 1:43 METAL one out
there!!!!! I've attached a picture of my #1 effort. In some ways it
looks the part but there's plenty of faults. The #2 car was almost perfect-
cant believe this one is all I got left!!!
Beautiful work, Huw!
Sadly, I'm not aware of a die-cast version of this car. Maybe someone
out there can correct me. We'll have to depend on companies like Reel
Rides to correct this oversight!
  
5/19/07 - Recent Finds
Found a few of the newest releases
from latest Cars wave. Toys R Us had just filled up their pegs
when I discovered Dinoco Chick Hicks, Ferrari F430 and Hydraulic Ramone
(above.) I also spotted the single-carded Snot Rod, but passed on it,
since I already have him in the two-pack. The helpful stocker at TRU
told me they haven't received the other new releases yet, including Tex
Dinoco, Bling Bling McQueen and RPM #64 (pictured at right.) I also
couldn't find the Fabulous Hudson Hornet with red rims.
"Kim" sent me an
e-mail about an interesting find. She said she found a Hydraulic
Ramone with no eyes. I told her it's probably an error and not
necessarily a variant, but it does kinda look like he's sleeping (below.)
   
   
5/8/07 - This Just In!
Thanks to Rodney of Movie Car Mania
for the above pics. Here is your first look at the second release of
Johnny Lightning's The Dukes of Hazzard series. Starting at the
top left we have General Lee, Gray Ghost, Hughie Hogg's VW Convertible, Enos'
Cruiser, Sheriff Little's Cruiser, Daisy's Jeep (dirty), General Lee (black)
and General Lee (Zinger.)
5/4/07 - POW! That
THAT Batmobile!
A replica of the General Lee auctioned
off by John Schneider himself went for nearly $10 MILLION DOLLARS on eBay.
If it wasn't some sort of hoax, that figure is astronomical. Even if I
had that kind of money, I can't imagine spending it on a car, not even the
Batmobile! (Well, MAYBE the Batmobile.) But who am I to judge?
Click
HERE to read the story on CNN.com.
5/10/07
UPDATE: Apparently, it WAS a hoax:
The General Lee's owner — actor
John Schneider, who played the blond heartthrob Bo Duke in the 1980s
television series — is upset that the $9,900,500 winning bid appears to be a
hoax. The bid set an eBay record last week. "If this guy was just
doing it as a prank or to ruin someone else's chances, he deserves to be hit
in the pocketbook," said Stockman, who gave the winning bidder a negative
rating in eBay's feedback forum.
5/3/07 - Collectors'
Collections
Pascal Salgado of Germany sent me
photos of his collection of 1:18 scale cars and impressive assortment of
Eagle Transporters from Space: 1999. Click
HERE to see his collection and scroll down to
view past submissions.
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