As the Speed Racer’s Mach 5 receives plenty of gawking in Detroit one of his opponents cars gets it’s own staging area at the Tokyo Auto Salon. The futuristic racing car pictured above is actually a fine product placement from an winning racing team in Japan. The Autobac’s Racing Team Arguri (ARTA) were the team and drivers champions of the 2007 series in the GT500 Class of the Japanese Super GT series. Ofcourse their actual racing car differs a great deal (obviously), the movie car does share the race teams colors, sponsors and car number.
While in person and in photos the car may appear to be a living cartoon I am sure it will seem much faster beneath the magical lights and CGI effects that the Wachowski Bros. and Warner Brothers will put it through.
Warner Bros. has announced that the “Powerful” Mach 5 will be on display for all to see at the Detroit Auto Show in preparation for the movies debut this coming May. The car will be introduced during media week January 13-17th and then during the public showing January 19-21st. So if you hope to get a glimpse of the movie car and you are not in the media be sure to get there that first weekend of the public showing.
The movie Speed Racer, filmed by the creators of the Matrix Trilogy Larry and Andy Wachowski, will reach theatres nationwide on May 9th of this year. Which ofcourse for fans of the Speed Racer series and fans of the Wachowski brothers that might just seem like too long to wait.
Speaking as a fan I know that I cannot wait to see both the movie in May and the Mach 5 in Detroit.
It seems the brain-trust at NBC has worked out the deal with Ford to use the 2008 Shelby GT500KR as the new car for the rebirth of the Knight Rider TV series in the coming year. The revival of the Knight Rider series has been in talks for a little while now, but the speculation on the car was always left lingering. So for all of those complaining that there are already too many Specialty Mustangs on the market you may have just received the empirical evidence you needed that Ford has gone too far and that NBC has just alienated a partial fanbase. But maybe we are being too negative here?
We will post the official NBC Press Release below for those interested in learning more about the stars and the plot for the 2-hour TV Premier movie that will set the show off. Most of us here though are more curious about the car choice and the adornments that have cluttered the skin of of the GT500KR.
For most movie fans the Ford Mustang Bullitt requires little introduction. Steven McQueen did all the talking when driving the badgeless beauty down the streets of San Francisco in the movie Bullitt. The latest version of the Bullitt Mustang comes closer to that classic movie car than the previous attempt, but we will let you judge for yourself with some video footage of the 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt on those very same San Francisco streets from the movie.
With the release of this Summer’s Transformer Movie taking place today it seemed appropriate to spotlight all those videos out there that pay tribute in some respect to the phenomenon that is Transformers. It is truly amazing the time and detail that goes into some of these. Not so much in video quality but in the imaginitive costumes that many fans have created.
The first video is from a costume party that is completely laden with Transformers that really transform. Take a look at these fans as they put their costumes to the test.
Aston Martin unveiled its new DBS luxury sports car at this weeks Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California. The DBS is designed to bridge the gap between the DB9 and the DBPR9 race car. And as loaded with a 510-hp V12 engine the DBS is sure to bridge many gaps swiftly and with James Bond-esque style.
Do not think however that just because you are driving the DBS that you are James Bond. The new Aston Martin does not come stocked with little rockets or an ejection-rigged passenger seat. What it does come stocked with is a stout 6 liter that has a top speed of 191 and reaches 0-to-62 in 4.3 seconds. With ceramic break pads for stopping and a 5-setting Adaptive Dampening System to keep your 20inch wheels snug to the road the driver of a DBS has plenty of technology to allow him or her to feel comfortable in the drivers seat.
In a country embroiled with fast cars, fast food, microwave-ovens and express ways, there is a growing number of people who are looking to step back and slow down. While we often brag about how making the trip from South Carolina to West Virginia was accomplished in 9 hours there are certain times where the adventure should be in the travel and the scenes along the way and not about just the speed with which we reached our destination. The slow road as it is called is where some bring the humanity back into the travel and remove themselves from the impersonal blur that is the Fast Food Nation.
The are a number of scenic routes of Historic significance here in the United States and many of them are finding a resurgence in popularity. Route 66 is one of The premiere Historic highways that has finally been seeing a bit of a revival. Not only is there federal money coming in to maintain and preserve the old highway, but even some of the old motels have been restored and reopened along the route.
If you have been waiting all your life to snatch up some Automotive Hollywood memorabilia now is your chance. On August 2nd through the 3rd there will be 1000 items of prized Hollywood history on the auction block. The live auction will begin at Noon and phone bids and ebayliveauction bids will be accepted.
Among the items being auctioned are some automotive gems such as:
The General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard
Tony Soprano’s Suburban from HBO’s Soprano’s
Tom Cruise’s Mello-Yello stock car from Days of Thunder
Uncle Rico’s van from Napoleon Dynamite
The Original Energizer Bunny (okay, not so automotive, but it is mechanical!)
A sample of the not-so-automotive items being auctioned include:
Chewbacca’s head (the mask, not the actors head) from Star Wars
Elvis Presley’s Karati gi
Catwoman’s costume from Batman and Robin
Johnny Five “Number Five Alive” from the film Short Circuit
The Statue of Liberty’s head from Planet of the Apes
Harry Houdini’s hand cuffs
To follow the news from the 2-day auction or to see photos of some of the items up for auction go to Wizard Universe. If you would like to download a full list of all the items to be auctioned off go to Profiles in History.
As more and more cars are seeking major movie roles you may see a new style of Hollywood Agent catering to the needs of their high profile auto clients. The latest auto maker to make the leap to movie stardom is Audi and the R8 inparticularly.
For the upcoming Iron Man film the production team was seeking out a line of cars that fit in with the visual theme of the movie. Few cars on the market today could compliment the opulance of the Tony Stark character and the sleek metal body of Iron Man like the Audi R8.
Other Audi’s that will be making appearances in the Iron Man movie set for release on May 2nd, 2008 will be the A6, the Q7 and the new S5. However, unlike most Hollywood actors these professionals actual pay to be in the movies. For their prominent product placement Audi will be pitching in a hefty wads of cash toward marketing and promotions for the film. But do not get your hopes up that you will see a banner advertising “The Great Iron Man Audi R8 Give-Away.” Those things only happen in the movies.
The Audi R8 is a fantastic fit for the duplicity that is the lead character of the film (added to even more by the man playing that lead role, the multi-faceted Robert Downey Jr.). The car is a melding of both heart-pounding performance and sophisticated, luxury accommodations. Both lead roles will be sharing equal strengths in might and intelligence.
Now what is the agents cut from the actors salary?
Fresh from the wrenches of WETA in Wellington, New Zealand comes a one-off, fully functioning Warthog built to scale and ready to rumble. The four-wheel steering green monster is built directly from the designs of the vehicles in the Halo series of games from Bungie. This particular Wartbog will be used in one of the short films to come out in preperation for Halo 3’s release in September.
.jpg "2008 Austin Martin DBS")
In a country embroiled with fast cars, fast food, microwave-ovens and express ways, there is a growing number of people who are looking to step back and slow down. While we often brag about how making the trip from South Carolina to West Virginia was accomplished in 9 hours there are certain times where the adventure should be in the travel and the scenes along the way and not about just the speed with which we reached our destination. The slow road as it is called is where some bring the humanity back into the travel and remove themselves from the impersonal blur that is the Fast Food Nation.
