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October 10, 2013 zoomvroom Car Culture, Movie Cars, World News

Want to Own a Star Car From Two Very Famous Movies?

For those car aficionados among you, and/or movie fans, you know that some cars that made appearances in movies, have an almost cult-like status nowadays. For example, the Audi S8 from Ronin, the Jeep or Ford Explorer from Jurassic Park, the Aston Martin DB5 from Thunderball and Goldfinger, the #46 City Chevrolet Lumina from Days of Thunder, the 2003 Mini Coopers from The Italian Job, the 2008 Audi R8 from Iron Man, the 1970 Porsche 911S from Le Mans, the 1970 Dodge Challenger from Vanishing Point. The list could go on for a few paragraphs, but, okay, I’ll stop now and get to the point. All of the cars mentioned above have people who literally kiss the ground these cars drove over. I’m not kidding. But, two very iconic cars are going up for sale.

The submersible Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me went up for sale, and was bought for $966,560 at an RM Auctions auction block. Here’s the interesting history of the car after the movie: After the movie was over, the filming company put the car under wraps, and shoved into a storage unit in Long Island for about 10 years. When the storage contract expired, the filming company decided to put it up for “blind sale.” At a public auction, a local couple paid a small fee for the car, not knowing that they would soon own one of the most iconic cars in history. The couple ran the VIN of the car, hired a private automotive detective, and positively identified the car. It was occasionally shown, but it was mostly kept under wraps. The couple had the car restored by the same company that originally built it, and it can still function as a submarine.

The replica Ferrari 250 GT Spyder from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off also went up for auction. It sold for a steep price of $230,000. Three cars were built for the movie, but one was wrecked (no spoiler alert here), and the other knocked off about half of the engine block in the joyride scene with the valets. Its last owner was Neil Glassmoyer, one of the men who built the car. It is powered by a Ford 427 V8 that makes somewhere around 500 horsepower, and it is probably a hoot to drive, as it only weighs 2,650 pounds. While it’s not an actual Ferrari, it is faster than any Ferrari of the 1980s, and more iconic than any. It was lovingly restored in 1997 by Glassmoyer and his son to Concours-levels of restoration.

Here are some pictures of a stock Esprit and the movie car:

Here are some pictures of the Ferrari replica from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and a stock Ferrari 250 GT:

I’ve also been kind enough to include the iconic movie cars mentioned in the first paragraph.

Ronin Audi S8:

Jurassic Park Jeep and Ford Explorer:

Thunderball and Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5:

Days of Thunder #46 City Chevrolet Lumina:

The Italian Job 2003 Mini Coopers:

Iron Man 2008 Audi R8:

Le Mans 1970 Porsche 911S:

Vanishing Point 1970 Dodge Challenger:

And, just for the heck of it, the 1970 Porsche 917 from Le Mans, which is now owned by Jerry Seinfeld:

Note to my faithful, car-obsessed readers: I will do a post soon on famous movie cars, complete with a brief description of each car, and pictures of them. Stay tuned.

June 14, 2013 zoomvroom Car Culture, Field Trips, Out N' About, The History of Autos, Website Reccomendation

Coverage from the 11th Annual Peggy Sue All-American Cruise!

Every year, the Peggy Sue All-American Cruise and its related events take over sunny Santa Rosa, CA. Restored cars, hot rods, low riders, raised Jeeps, and antique American cars are all part of the mix. We have entered our 1950 GMC 100, “Betsy” twice. It’s always been a lot of fun for me to see all of the classic cars in the parade or the massive parking lot where they are displayed! This year, one of my good friends joined me in watching the classic American cars cruise around downtown Santa Rosa. Revving engines? Check. Drunk people yelling at drivers to “Step it up, dude!”? Check. Squealing tires? Check? The smell of burnt brakes? Check. Annoyed and overworked event staff? Right on. I know that you are getting bored reading my words about what was going on. I’ll cut to the chase: It was a LOT of fun, and you should join me next year. Enjoy the pictures.

I don’t know what this Chevy Nova had under the hood, but it sounded NASTY! Many of the cars at the parade were either restored to Concours-levels or were built for the drag strip. This one was built to rule the streets.

This 1959 Chevrolet Corvette is a rare “Fuelie.” Instead of a carburetor, it has a primitive version of fuel injection. This particular example was restored to a “Level 1.” Level 1 means that it is virtually perfect. That it is.

This 1966 Chevrolet Biscayne is a powerful, efficient, and stylish family sedan from the muscle car era. It has a 327 cubic-inch V8 engine and a two-speed automatic Powerglide transmission. It’s lovely.

I find it nice that the interior of the same Biscayne matches the exterior of the car. Even the steering wheel has chrome on it!

Same car. This is the model designation. The car is a barn find from somewhere around Redwood City, according to the owner. He restored it himself, and he did a very good job of it!

For those of you old enough, you should remember the aero-wars days, when big engines and aerodynamics were all the rage. The 1971 Plymouth Roadrunners and Superbirds were the car of choice for many famous NASCAR drivers. Richard Petty left Ford in 1969 to go to Plymouth. He did so much better in a Plymouth Superbird that Ford built the Torino Talladega as a response. This particular Roadrunner has the 440 Six Pack (a 440 cubic-inch V8 with THREE two-barrel carburetors!), which was just one step below the mighty 426 Hemi engine. It is painted in the iconic Lime Green that is popular with automotive restorers.

This Corvette is one of the nicest Corvettes that I’ve seen in a LONG time! It is painted Aqua Blue and Snow White, with a matching interior. It has the 283 cubic-inch V8 and a four-speed manual. It is a 1956 Corvette. The only shame? That it’s far too nice to tour Route 66 in.

Sorry about the fingertip on the top of the camera view. The sun was shining and I REALLY wanted to tell you about this truck! It’s a 1965 Chevy K10 with the optional 327 cubic-inch engine and a three-speed manual. It is built to tackle any trail, and take anything that you want with it. It may not be stock, but it looks like it will outrun just about any Jeep from the same era off-road.

Remember the Chevy Vega? If you don’t, it’s okay. The Vega was powered by a 305 cubic-inch V8. It was relatively powerful and fast, but it was a minor disaster for Chevy. This Vega is a 1974 model. It wasn’t the nicest car there, but it was one of the newer cars there.

The best part about this 1969 Chevrolet C30 is that it is used a lot. I don’t know how much, but I have seen it at Sonoma Raceway’s Wednesday Night Drags as a tow vehicle. It’s the perfect tow vehicle. It’s got a 350 cubic-inch engine that’s all-original. So is most of the truck.

This rare 1971 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is one speedy car. It’s all stock, and plenty fast that way. It’s got the 350 cubic-inch V8 engine found in many GM vehicles from 1969-1999. The top speed is 130 mph. This car means business. The lucky driver had to keep the car in first gear. he also kept touching the brakes because the car wants to leap forward. Lucky him.

I’m going to apologize in advance for the direction of the photo. This 1951 Dodge cab-over semi has been so heavily customized that the only thing original about it is the cab. That’s it. The rest of it is custom-built. The truck is a heavy-duty car-hauler with three axles. The engine is a brand-new 6.7-liter Cummins Diesel engine that has two turbos instead of one. Wow!

While motorcycles aren’t as common in the parade as cars, there were still a good three or four. This 1946 Indian Roadmaster has the iconic “shovelhead” engine that many motorcycle enthusiasts favor. This Indian Roadmaster is banana yellow with the “caramel cream” seat. I like old motorcycles like this. Maybe some readers will buy me one…

The Indian logo is still in the original chrome, almost 65 years later. The gas tank can hold 10 gallons. It says that on the chrome gas cap.

I like the way that Indian made the front wheel cover so stylish. I was talking to the owner for a minute, and I found out that he drove it all the way down to Santa Rosa from Healdsburg. That’s not a lot of fun on an old motorcycle, yet Indian motorcycles are built to cruise. I’m guessing that it was probably a comfortable ride down to Santa Rosa.

This 1932 Ford Roadster is a sick hot rod. The lady standing by the car is the owner. The car has a Ford 351 Windsor V8 engine. It has a Jaguar rear end, and a five-speed manual. This car means business. I don’t know what I like more: The mechanical parts of the car, or the exterior? That’s a decision that YOU will let me know in the comments section…

This Ford Bronco looks like it came out of some post-apocalyptic movie. It’s got aggressive tires, a six-inch lift kit, and a 302 cubic inch V8. I don’t know the exact year, but it looks like it’s from around 1967-8. This is one nice Bronco.

This is one of the coolest, most amazing Jeep CJs that I’ve ever seen. And that’s saying a lot. This CJ is stock, and is a 1947 model. Between the drivers seat and the passengers seat, there is a metal rifle/shotgun holder for two high-powered guns. Not that it would be used for that!

How often do you see a stock 1932 Ford roadster? Not at all often! This is a stock 1932 Ford roadster that could sell for upwards of $150,000 in its current condition. It even has the rumble seat and the original interior! It’s beautiful!

That’s all, folks!

If you would like to check out the Peggy Sue’s Cruise website, it is http://www.peggysuescruise.com/home/

June 11, 2013 zoomvroom Car Culture, Humor, World News

Truly, Only in Dubai!

I’m sure most of you know of this already, but the, er, unfortunate, uneducated soul on CNN a few weeks ago called the latest addition to the Dubai Police Force the Lamborghini AvenTadoor. Not the Aventadoor, the AvenTadoor. Sounds like something out of Star Wars, right? Well, let’s try and forgive her (I can’t, but somebody might…)…Anyhow, the Dubai Police Force is just itching to pull some of those Saudi Midsize Hooners (YouTube “Saudi Midsize Hooners” to see what I’m talking about!)!

It’s true. The Dubai Police Force has gone and done it. They went out and bought a Lamborghini Aventadoor LP 700-4. While it has a top speed of 217 mph, don’t expect for them to go cruising around at those speeds while eating donuts (or whatever Middle-Eastern cops eat by the ton)! The Aventadoor is going to be used to deter owners of high-powered supercars and/or promote tourist areas in Dubai. This probably means that there are going to be pictures of friends in Dubai. Sitting in the car that you wish you drive next to some Saudi Arabian cop who’s the same size as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but who cares, anyways?

While no changes have been made mechanically to the car (it’s so powerful and cop-ready that it doesn’t need to have any mechanical upgrades), there are some regulatory changes made to the interior. Inside, there is an advanced video monitoring system, a GPS data logger, a radar gun, and other necessary police equipment. A set of flashing lights has been added to the roof that’s less than 3 feet off of the ground!

This is not the first time that a Lamborghini has been enlisted for police duty. The first Lamborghini to be used for police service was a 2008 Gallardo LP 560-4 that was bought by the Italian State Police.

Until now, the fastest police car in the Middle East was a 2011 Nissan GT-R used by the Abu Dhabi police force. Now, they’ve got a Lamborghini Aventadoor, a Chevrolet Camaro SS, a Ferrari FF, and a 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302. Those are some spoiled cops!

November 7, 2012 zoomvroom Car Reviews, Uncategorized

If This Car Goes Into Production, I’ve Got Dibs!

Chevy is feeling a mite bit jealous of Subaru and Scion’s joint success of the Subaru BRZ and the Scion FR-S, so at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, Chevy came out with two concept cars: The Code 130R and the Tru 140S. Chevy threw the Code 130R and the Tru 140S into mock battle on Facebook and Twitter to see which car would win. I am going to focus on the Code 130R, as it has a stronger chance of going into production.

The Code 130R is based on a shortened Cadillac ATS platform. For some people, the car may remind you of an everyday man’s (or woman’s) BMW 1 Series coupe. To me, it looks like a cross between a 1967 Chevy Camaro/BMW 1 Series. It is just a bit bigger than the FR-S/BRZ, and has less horsepower. But, it has a similar mission: To introduce those new to the automobile to the joys of driving. The concept has a 1.4 liter turbo four putting out a somewhat measly 150 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque. However, the concept does have GM’s eAssist, which would give the tiny 1.4 about 15 more horsepower. The gigantic 20-inch tires are going to need a bit more than 163 horsepower to break into a drift. Car & Driver has heard that if the car makes it to production (very likely), it will likely have these three engines: a direct-injected 2.0 liter four cylinder as the base engine, the 1.4 liter in the Eco model, and for those who enjoy high-powered drifts, the potent 2.0 liter turbo from the Cadillac ATS (270 horsepower). That power will get to the wheels via a standard six-speed automatic or an optional six-speed manual.

Here’s a picture for you to drool over.