Mad Max: The Pursuit Special

The Pursuit Special (also known erroneously as Interceptor) is the fictional model of car driven by Max Rockatansky, the main character of the films Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. It is a Ford Falcon XB GT coupe customized to become a police interceptor of the Main Force Patrol. The same car was used in both films.

The car started out as a standard 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe. And for the first few years of its life this is how it stayed.

Then in 1976, film makers Byron Kennedy and George Miller began pre-production on Mad Max. Murray Smith was hired on as part of the film crew, and one of his tasks was to put together the Interceptor. He started by acquiring the XB Falcon, and along with Peter Arcadipane, Ray Beckerley, and various others, proceeded to modify the car to what was needed for the film. The main modification is the front nosecone, made of fibreglass and designed by Arcadipane (marketed as the "Concorde" style, and strongly influenced by the slightly earlier HPF Firenza), and the supercharger protruding through the bonnet which is for looks only, as a supercharger at the time of the movie was not able to be toggled on and off. Visit www.madmaxmovies.com to see replicas of the movie car.

In the meantime, the low budget Australian film had gained worldwide success, prompting a sequel, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. The Pursuit Special was reacquired by Kennedy and Miller for use once more.

The rear wheels, supercharger and pipes were changed. The car was further modified to fit the setting of the new film, with large petrol tanks fitted in the back, and its general appearance given a more used and stressed look. The front end was also modified by removing the bottom section, probably to give more clearance at the front in the outback locations it was required to be driven in for the second film. As well as modifying the original car, a duplicate car was also put together for Mad Max 2. It seems that the duplicate car was used for most of the driving sequences, while the original car was used for all the close ups and interior shots.

When eventually the story required for the car to be destroyed by rolling down a ditch and then blown up, the duplicate car was used, leaving the original car to be scrapped. Luckily, someone rescued the car, and fully restored it.

This car was shipped to England and now resides in Cars of the Stars Motor Museum with other famous cars like The Batmobile, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Munsters' Koach.

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Car club keeps thumping, jumping

Tulsa World:

A Tulsa group works for a positive image for lowrider cars and owners.

The music was thumping with the rap song, 'This Is Why It's Hot.'

The car was jumping.

It's a bright-green 1984 El Camino with enough hydraulics in the back to lift its long body more than a foot off the ground and enough boom-boom in its speakers to lift the hairs on your neck.

What's that? Oh, that's the Sprite Can, said some bystanders.

And it does look like a Sprite can, all the way down to the thin white-and-yellow stripes cascading across its sleek, glittery sides.

It's the first lowrider Kelvin Reynolds has owned. He dug the car from a salvage yard four or five years ago and turned a jalopy into the envy of lowriders and lowrider wannabes.

There's a difference.

Wannabes aren't members of Individuals, a lowrider car club of which Reynolds is a member.

In Individuals, you must have a car. And a four-door Ford straight off the lot won't cut it.

The car has to have hydraulics, a hip speaker system and enough character to pass muster during inspections done on the cars every other week when the local group meets. "

technorati tags: low rider ,hot rod,custom car

Knight Rider: KITT

KITT was designed by customizer Michael Scheffe. The convertible and super-pursuit KITTs were designed and built by George Barris.

KITT (an acronym for Knight Industries Two Thousand) is the name of a fictional computer that controls the high-tech Knight 2000, a black Pontiac Trans Am T-top automobile in the science fiction television series Knight Rider. The voice for KITT was provided by St. Elsewhere and 1776 star William Daniels, who requested that he not be credited for his work.

In the television show's fictional history, KITT was said to have been designed by the late Wilton Knight, a brilliant but eccentric billionaire and founder of the Foundation for Law and Government, (commonly shortened to "FLAG"), and its parent the Knight Foundation.

KITT's main cybernetic processor was first installed in a mainframe computer used by the United States government in Washington D.C.However, Wilton saw better use for "him" in the Foundation's crime-fighting crusade and eventually the system was installed in the vehicle. KITT was in fact the second vehicle built by Knight Industries with artificial intelligence. His predecessor was KARR, the Knight Automated Roving Robot. KARR was programmed for self-preservation, but this proved to be dangerous to the Foundation's interests. KARR was later deactivated and placed in storage while KITT was given to his new operator, Michael Knight (the new identity of Michael Long).

Unlike KARR, KITT is programmed primarily to protect Michael at all cost as well as all human life (referring to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics). This is made clear in the pilot episode where Michael asks Devon Miles if KITT will protect anyone driving it. Devon's answer is that KITT's primary function is the preservation of human life, and Michael's in particular.

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Custom Car: Banacek's 1970 American Motors AMX

Made by George Barris from the 1970 American Motors AMX for 70's TV show "Banacek" starring George Peppard. The first major modification was to lower the overall silhouette by chopping 4.5" out of the top section with a 2" slant on the windshield posts. To further the extreme fastback image, long tapering windsplits are streamlined louvers extending f rom the roof line to the lower panel. A courtesy safety lighting system was installed utilizing the louvers, with full red taillight and stop lights, full amber lights for deceleration and caution, and a full green light for forward motion.

All four wheel wells have been re-radiuses with the top portion of the radius flared and extended into the center of the door in front. The rear extends to the rear of the fender. The frontal area has been lengthened fifteen inches with a matching lower pan and louvered grille installation. The rear fenders were also extended to follow the streamlined windsplits. The hood has twin canted tunneled forced air scoops molded into the hood panel conforming with the fender line. Saddle antique and walnut was used with color combination in the interior.

The exterior finish consists of Murano Pearl uppertone with coordinated Rustic Orange along the lower section. The interior sports twin bucket seats with head rests and safety belts. The rear compartment has been completely carpeted and the dash has matched naugahyde crash padding. The louvers front and rear have been chrome plated along the leading edge with textured paint effect. SS Cragar wheels with chrome outer rims support the Firestone Wide Ovals sporting white lettering on the black sidewall.

technorati tags: custom cars,hot rods, hot rods: tuners, cars

Custom Car: Starsky and Hutch (Ford Gran Torino)

Starsky and Hutch (Ford Gran Torino),
Stunt cars, camera cars, tow cars, dolly cars, and cars used for "beauty" shots varied in model year from 1974 to 1976, since the bodystyle of the Gran Torino was unchanged. Obviously, no 1976 models were used in the pilot or the first season. The cars, on lease from Ford, were custom painted by Spelling-Goldberg Productions (on top of the factory red paint color)with the distinctive single white stripe (running from the front fender, across the doors, up and over the roof, and then symmetrically back down the other side), but in the 3rd and 4th season the producers leased one of the 1000 Limited Edition "Starsky & Hutch" PS 122 units painted to match the show's car, produced by Ford Motor Company in 1976, as a backup vehicle for the cars they were leasing at the time. The '75 models that were used during the first season had cloth bench seats and 'Bright Red' paint(code 2B). In '76, they were replaced by 3 new Torinos that had vinyl benches and were specially painted the previous year's 'Bright Red' because Ford used a different shade of red for the new models; the cars can be identified by their silver 'sight shields'(bumper filler panels)which Ford used on specially painted cars.

Ford never manufactured a Gran Torino painted in this fashion for the 1974 or 1975 model year. However, due to the success of the television series, Ford did release a limited edition (only 1000 units) "Starsky & Hutch" replica Gran Torino in 1976 (the final model year for the Torino line). Manufactured at the Chicago plant, one of these code "PS 122" units was used in the 3rd and 4th seasons of the show. This car was originally equipped with a 400 CID V8; however, one of the stuntmen damaged the engine beyond repair, and Spelling-Goldberg replaced it with a 429 CID V8. This car still resides in California.

technorati tags: custom cars, hot rods, hot rods: tuners, cars

Custom Car: Mannix's Roadster

Mannix was one of the most violent shows of the sixties and it featured a special George Barris custom Oldsmobile Toronado. "

"For the series, Barris was asked to create an adventurous, sophisticated automobile that would suit a man of action. After looking over a series of scripts, he decided that a convertible Oldsmobile Toronado would do the job. He presented his Mannix Roadster concept to producer Bruce Geller and series star Mike Connors, who both gave it their approval."

"Barris transformed an Oldsmobile coupe into a roadster with a leather-covered tonneau cover installed over the rear seat area. This tonneau wrapped around the seats and formed a type of storage container for crime fighting and survival equipment. The interior also contained other amenities, including hidden gun compartments, radio-telephone, short-wave transceiver, and a tape recorder."

"To create this Toronado Roadster, Barris fabricated a sub-framed X-member and installed it in the floor for strength. A sectional roll bar was also built which sat under the new tonneau cover. This new design followed much of what Oldsmobile had done with the Toronado’s production bodywork. However, Barris created a clean, new look for the front and rear end of the vehicle by using many custom touches."

"The nose was redone with new fenders, grille and lights. The fenders were extended and remolded with chrome caps on the tip. A new grille opening was fabricated and extended to blend in with the fenders. The grille was installed with a mesh backing topped with a fine tube grille and custom oval Cibie head-lights. A special fiberglass hood was built with a pair of wind-splitter ridges that flowed back into the cowl."

http://www.jmannix.net/roadster.htm

custom car

Custom Car: The Monkeemobile

The Monkeemobile is a modified Pontiac GTO that was built for the Monkees TV show. The car features a tall split windshield, a T-bucket convertible top, modified rear quarter panels, exaggerated tail lamps and an extra row of seats where the rear deck should have been. The front grille sported the GTO emblem. The engine was a 389 cubic inch Pontiac engine with Edelbrock valve covers and manifold. Dean Jeffries was contracted to build the car in 1966, and there are now three versions of the car. Two of these fronted the TV series, and one is a recently created replica. The drag racing type parachute to stop the car provide for amusement on the show. Jeffries also converted the Lincoln Futura into the Batmobile as he was contracted to do by George Barris. Note the similarities between the Batmobile and Monkeemobile: both are equipped with parachutes, and both have a split front grille with a vertical blade projecting. In effect, the cars share many of the same styling themes, including bladed edges. It can be surmised then, that the existing styling of the Futura laid the ground work for that of the Monkeemobile.

The first version of the engine originally sported a 6-71 supercharger. Because the car had too much power and was difficult to drive with the original blower, a dummy blower was fitted to all the models. This version of the car was used on the first season of the show and in only one episode of the second season. It has a backwards logo on the passenger side of the door.

The second car was used as a touring car for shows and events. It did eventually get into the second season a few times. The only notable difference was the logo. This logo also changed a few times after the series ended. This version is currently owned by George Barris. The third version was recently built from a 1966 Pontiac Le Mans instead of a GTO but carries the same features as the original. This creation was by Dick Dean for Barris' East Coast promotions to be used at car shows and other events.

The Monkeemobile has been used by other rock bands such as The Sisters of Mercy ("Black Planet" video) and The Missing Links (a Monkees tribute band).