December 2005

Each month I go through the most recent e-mails I've received and pick a few to share with you. I try to personally respond to every e-mail I receive, but I also post a few here in my Q&A column.

It would be tough to get it under the Christmas tree.
I hope you and yours has a good one, too, Rob.

Last I heard, Johnny Lightning will be producing vehicle(s) from Halo, and judging by the e-mails I've received, there seems to be interest in these. As I get new info and pics, you can be sure you'll get the latest news right here. Pics will probably get added under the "Other Famous Cars" gallery.

Hey Joe,
First of great site. I take a look every couple of days to see if there's anything new. But one thing always bugs me. Jurassic Park Ford Explorer in your wish list? There are so many cars to pick from, but that one? (but hey, it's your site)

One car it seem nobody but me wants to see (next to the obvious) is the BMW 503 conv. from the movie 'The Final Run' (above right.) If you've never seen it it's worth cheking out. Anyway those are my two cents!

Thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike,
Jurassic Park is one of my all-time favorite movies, and the Explorer played such a prominent role in the film. Considering the merchandising that came out of that film, I'm stunned no one ever produced a die-cast version of that vehicle. As for The Final Run, I never even heard of it.... lol. I get a lot of suggestions for additions to my lists, but if a movie is obscure, chances are a die-cast car from that film wouldn't sell well.

Hi Joe,

My name is Chris Woodside. I'm the owner of a TV Batmobile Replica. I saw your website as it relates to the Andy Perillo car you did a photo shoot on and enjoyed the article. As I strive to make my own replica as close to the #1 as possible, I was wondering if by chance you might have more detailed photos of the interior of this car as I strive to improve mine? Any you might have would be great!
Here are a few photos of my own effort.

Thank you.

Chris A. Woodside

Chris,
I think owning a Batmobile repllica would probably be the coolest thing in the world. I envy you. Unfortunately, I only have a few exterior pics of the Perillo replica you're referring to. I would recommend

http://www.1966batmobile.com/

which is the most thorough and comprehensive Batmobile reference website I've ever seen.

Love your site. Found some long lost vehicles with lots of memories, & new vehicles to pique my interest again. I was trying to find ANY of the vehicles from the 1975 Roger Corman classic, Death Race 2000, designed by James Powers and constructed by Dean Jeffries. (also known for "Monkee Mobile" & Green Hornet's "Black Beauty". Which I'm sure you know.) Any pics or info on names of the cars & cars' origins (real names) BEFORE they were re-constructed for the movie, would be grateful.

Thank you,
Sven in Denver

I've always wondered how a limited edition set of cars from Death Race 2000 would sell. I saw the movie once and I cringed at the movie's ultra-violence. Although the movie does have a cult following, I'm not sure it's large enough to justify even a limited edition of cars from this film. If anyone has any info on the origins of these real-life cars, send me an e-mail and I'll pass it along.

Hi Joe,

I recently came upon some rare TV and Movie toys up for auction on eBay. The seller (wotnotoys), has some toys that I have never seen before, and I thought I'd share them with you.

First, they have a couple of pics of some cars from the Grease 2 set put out by Tough Wheels.

Second, they have a set of cars from the TV show "Dempsey and Makepeace". I have never seen these before either. I did a little more searching on the internet, and found a photo of a 4 car set from that show also.

And finally, they have a jeep from the Mr. T cartoon series. I'm not sure if it's die cast or not, but I found it to be an interesting find.

It's always fun to find TV and Movie toys that you never knew existed. I hope you and your readers find this interesting too.

Metro P.

Metro,
You're always a great source of obscure and interesting toy cars. Dempsey & Makepeace? I vaguely remember this short-lived series, and I'm STUNNED anyone would make toy vehicles. I wonder what scale those cars are. If anyone is curious, visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088503/ for more info about this series.

It looks like the Mr. T buggy is made of plastic, so I don't think I'll include it in my gallery, but thanks for sharing the pics.

You missed Ronin. Ever seen it? It has some great Audi car chases in it.

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Hey Joe,
Just out of curiosity and shock, why didn't you have the Ronin car chase scene in the top 10 and also the last car chase scene in The Bourne Supremacy?! The latter was definitely worth of your top 10 and at worst an honorable mention. Just curious, thanks!

- Josh

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"To Live and Die in LA " has THE best car chase ever.

- Mike

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Have you ever seen To Live and Die in L.A.?
That car chase should have definitly been somewhere on your list!
And by somewhere I mean #1!

If you haven't seen that movie I definitely think you should see it!
Its a very under-appreciated movie from 1985!

Starring William L. Petersen (CSI:), Willem Defoe (Spider Man), John Pankow (Mad About You), John Turturro (Mr. Deeds), and Robert Downey Sr. (Boogie Nights).

As well as many others. So please... update your list and include this movie!

- Alex Leone

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To Live & Die in L.A.?????
Dude, c'mon...! What are you nuts?! It's on DVD! William Friedkin, same director as The French Connection. Watch it and then please get back at me.

-John

I've only recently seen Ronin (like, within the past year or so) and I thought the movie was mediocre at best. I do realize, however, that when a conversation comes up about great movie car chases, Ronin is usually brought up. But since it's my list, and I didn't care much for the movie, it doesn't merit a Top 10 inclusion....so there.

As for To Live & Die in L.A., I'm embarrassed to admit I still haven't seen it. I have gotten e-mails regarding this film in the past, and I really need to get around to seeing it. I'll post my review when I do.

I love how these topics bring out such PASSION in movie-car-buffs.

Well Joe, I downloaded one more copy of your list. It's great. Thanks for all your hard work for us hollywood-diecast-groupies. Just curious about Captain Scarlet's pursuit vehicle. I picked one up but couldn't find it on your list.

-oz

Thanks for helping to support Hollywood Die-Cast by downloading my checklist/price guide. Captain Scarlet's vehicle is listed under the Charawheels section. Maybe I'll add it under it's own title, so it will be easier to find.

While searching for Captain Scarlet on eBay, I discovered that a company called Vivid Imaginations produced some die-cast vehicles from the series:

Hi,

Finally, it is finished. Here are some pics of my Mad Max V8 Falcon Interceptor.

Now it is a slot car for Tyco, Tomy or Faller tracks. I made a resin, so it is not the metal die-cast.

Thanks

Marco

Wow, that turned out SWEET Marco. I would love to see more TV and movie-related slot cars.

Hi, as I was looking at your webpage I remembered a car I'll never forget, and a movie, well, if you remember, "Tales from the Crypt" or "Amazing Stories" you'll remember a chapter called "King of the Road" where the main actor was Brad Pitt. He was the bad guy there, and drives a red Dodge Charger against a Chevy Bel Air black with flames (I think). Well, the chapter ends when he crashes like in the movie Vanishing Point. Ok, can you help me find photos of those cars in the movie or something related to this? Because I can't find anything, and that was a great film that I saw many years ago. Thanks. BTW, I have never found a good scale Chevy Bel Air '57, black with flames. Even photos of real cars, there are few of this cars with flames!. I'll appreciate your help thanks.

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with this. I did some Googling and discovered that King of the Road was an episode of Tales from the Crypt in 1992. Here is the synopsis:

A courageous drag racer challenges a cop who used to be a racer. When the cop refuses, the racer decides to make him change his mind and kidnaps his teenage daughter. Iceman proves that he hasn't lost his talent by tricking the racer into changing the course, sending him to his doom.

Dear Joe,
I often frequent your web site and always check for news and updates from other people's collections. I recently found myself desiring a car that has yet to be marketed -- the Corvette from The A-Team. So I found a Corvette that matched the year and model from the show, completely dismantled it, and began the customizing process. I have attached a few pictures with this e-mail should you like to share this with your other readers; one is a screen cap from the show, the others are of my finished piece.

Best regards,
David

What can I say, David? Beautiful work. ERTL did produce a 1:64 scale version of Face's Corvette from The A-Team back in the 80's, but it leaves a little something to be desired. I really wish RC2 or some other die-cast manufacturer will re-visit the A-Team license.

Hi I'm a big fan of your website and some questions for your Talking Cars segment.

1. Do you know if the company that made the 1:18 Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters be repainting it and putting out a Ecto-1A like in Ghostbusters 2?

2. I heard talk of a 4th 1:18 scale Back to the Future car based on the car at the end of the movie with the train wheels on it, have you heard anything on this?

Keep up the great work on your website

Brian

Thanks for the kind words Brian. I haven't heard any news about RC2 re-releasing the 1:18 scale Ecto-1 to appear as it did in Ghostbusters 2. I wouldn't be surprised if they did, knowing that RC2 could milk that particular casting for another release.

As for the Delorean from Back to the Future III, I recently received word that it WILL be released in 1:18 scale by Sun Star:

Your e-mails really make my day. Please keep them coming. Click on the e-mail link in the left column and I'll do my best to find the answer for you.

Q&A Archive:
9/03 10/03 11/03 12/03 1/04 2/04 3/04 4/04 5/04
6/04 7/04 8/04 9/04 10/04 1/05 2/05 3/05 4/05
5&6/05 7/05 8/05 9/05 10/05