There is something about animated automotive flicks that just gets the blood pumping. I’m not talking about movies like Disney’s “Cars“, but more along the lines of the Japanese movie “Akira“. Granted that was more motorcycle based, but if you’ve ever seen it then you get the idea. A few years ago we got our first glimpse of the DRIVER, the animated short that pits a Nissan 350z against a Nissan GT-R. Not only is the animation and attention to detail great, but the story just leaves us wanting more. Following in the footsteps of “The Wraith“, the Driver pits a mysterious wheel-man behind the wheel of the mighty Nissan GT-R. Does he fight crime? Does he cause crime? Honestly, we don’t know. What we do know however is that we want to find out and unfortunately this little trailer only scratches the surface.

Source: TheDriver.com

For the last two years I have been taking still photographs for a personal project entitled ‘It’s Better In The Wind,’ all the while collecting video footage from each ride as we traveled around the Western United States together. I have been slowly editing the footage into a visual scrapbook of sorts for those who partook, and those who followed us via the web. No preaching the triumphs and failures of the motorcycle industry, no divisive commentary between manufacturers and styles…just a collection of imagery that will hopefully inspire more people to take to the road and discover what there is outside of our respective communities. Chuck Ragan was kind enough to collaborate with me to write an original soundtrack for the film, to give me some anthemic tunes to edit with, and I can’t thank him enough for the kind gesture towards a fellow traveler. Please, enjoy the film, everybody who took part in it is family, we are all grateful for your support these past two years while we tried to build a concept around the positive nature of motorcycling.

- Chuck Ragan

Source: chromjuwelen.com

Ronin, Bullit, The Road Warrior and hell, even the Dukes of Hazzard all have one thing in common; the car chase. As enthusiasts we love to see them, hear them and then, when the moment arises, pick them apart. Movie directors and sound editors go through great lengths to make sure that our experience is as close to the real thing as they can make it. However there are those who deem to take a slightly different approach. Drive, starring Ryan Gosling recently hit theaters, and although the film is packed with tire roasting action, supervising sound editor Lon Bender decided to take a slightly different approach when it came to bringing the films 4-wheels stars to life. Although primarily character driven, the way in which Drive uses sound is something that is vastly different from what we’ve seen in the past. Click through to see what I’m talking about.

Source: Vimeo.com

Image: Profiles In History

If you’re a fan of the Back to the Future movies and have a sizable bank account, here’s an opportunity you won’t want to pass up. Profiles In History has one of three surviving DeLoreans built for the Back to the Future movies, and it will hit the block at one of the company’s auctions later this year.

Up for grabs is a car actually used in the filming of the third BTTF movie, complete with white wall tires, chrome hubcaps and assorted, tacked on bits from the 1950s (it IS a time machine, after all). Sadly, it’s not a functional time machine, so you can’t go back to 1984 and buy up all the available shares in Microsoft and Apple.

While seven DeLoreans were built for the three BTTF movies, only three are known to survive today. That’s the nice way of saying that this guaranteed-authentic example won’t be inexpensive to buy, but you probably won’t lose money on it either.

Whoever buys the car, which was previously on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, will also help support the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is the world’s largest private funding source for research into Parkinson’s disease.

What would Batman be without the Batmobile, or Max Rockatansky without the Last Interceptor? Some of our favorite fictional automotive hero’s were made famous not because of who they are or what they did, but because of what they drove. Think about this for a minute; can you picture the Bandit driving anything but a black Trans Am or the Blues Brothers outrunning the cops in a car other than a 1974 Dodge Monaco? The answer is easy – NO. Automobiles have played a significant role in movies since they came into being. They can have a strong persona and sometimes take on lives of their own, thus outshining the stars themselves. Sometimes they’re hero’s, other times they’re sidekicks, whatever they’re roles though we’ll continue to love them no matter what. Click through for the list and enjoy.

• The Green Hornet: Britt Reid & Kato

*Image Credit: Adam Withers

• Captain Chaos: Victor Princey

• Batman: Bruce Wayne

*Image Credit: Warren-23

• Blade

*Image Credit: MSNAutos

• Mad Max: Max Rockatansky

*Image Credit: WolfieArtGuy

• The Wraith: Jake Kesey

• Smokey & the Bandit: Bo Darvell

• The Blues Brothers: Jake and Elwood Blues

*Image Credit: superkingkite

• Ghostbusters: Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler & Winston Zeddmore

*Image Credit: Robisher

• Iron Man: Tony Stark

There good car movies, and then there are GOOD car movies and just so you know, 1975′s “Death Race 2000″ is neither of those. Most people born after 1990 only know about 2008′s “Death Race” starring Jason Statham. For those of you into automotive movie trivia though, you’re probably well aware that the original is the real gem. Starring a very young David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone, “Death Race 2000″ follows the cheesy antics of poorly dressed drivers as they race across the country in cars made from old Volkswagen Beetles and discarded paper-mache. The special effects are terrible, the filming atrocious, but I’ve got to tell you that if you’re looking for a fun, low-budget car flick to watch on a Monday night when absolutely nothing else is on, then “Death Race 2000″ is the one for you.

There are some movies and movie characters that will forever be timeless. There’s Al Pacino in “Scareface“, Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” and of course, Christopher Lloyd’s perfect portrayal of the brilliantly insane mad scientist Doctor Emmit Brown in “Back to the Future“. Now while Lloyd and co-star Michael J. Fox got most of the credit, we all know that the 1981 DeLorean was the real star of the film. Since the movies release in 1985, the DeLorean time machine has become one of the most recognized cars on the planet Earth, and is in fact still used from time-to-time for certain cameo appearances. This can most recently be seen in a commercial for the Argentine electronics store Garbarino. I’ve got to say that while Christopher Lloyd is looking a bit aged, that priceless DeLorean is looking better than ever.

Source: Devour.com

Tire smoke, drifting through corners, guns and drugs. These are the things that help make up a good car movie. Ryan Gosling stars opposite Carey Mulligan, and bad dude Albert Brooks in this new high octane thriller where Gosling plays a movie stuntman by day, and a getaway driver by night. The concept here is not new, however after watching the trailer I have to say that I’m pretty stoked about this movie. And what about Albert Brooks as the bad guy, hell… who would’ve thunk that one? As for the vehicles, so far I’m seeing a 2010 Mustang 5.0, a previous gen Chrysler 300 and what looks to be a 1974–1976 Chevrolet Laguna (wicked!). Drive opens on September 16 so make sure to check it out.

Thirty-two years ago a low budget Australian film called Mad Max hit theaters and became an instant cult classic. It was the story of Max, a post-apocalyptic law man whose job was to rid the deserted highways of fuel stealing murders and bandits. His patrol car dubbed, the Last Interceptor was a 600 hp 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe that was modified with a massive Weiand blower, custom zoomies and a wicked front end. The movies opening scene contains one of the best car chases in all of movie history and features two 1974 Ford Falcons and a hopped up 1972 Holden Monaro. Over the years this chase scene has been recreated, picked apart and duplicated in everything from TV commercials to music videos and rightly so as it truly is amazing to watch. The following video is a compilation of the Twelve Dolls song Mockba, set to the opening scene of Mad Max. It’s raw, gritty and flat out awesome…

Twelve Dolls – Mockba from Kwisatz Haderach on Vimeo.

Motion pictures have been providing audiences the world over with different ways for people to die for over 100 years. We’ve seen people blown up, decapitated and disemboweled in all sorts of ways and the kicker is, we actually pay to see this. Obviously as car enthusiasts our favorite ways to see people slam into the great beyond is via our four-wheeled friends. Sure we love them and take care of them, but even so, our prized possessions can sometimes be used for bad deeds. The following five videos are just simple examples of how the movies have used our vehicular friends for doom and gloom, while at the same time entertaining the crap out of us at every turn. Enjoy.

• Pineapple Express – Daewoo Lanos Mutha’ F*cker!

First off, any movie out there with Danny McBride in it is bound to be frickin’ hilarious, however this scene from Pineapple Express takes it to a whole new level. Not only does he flatten poor Craig Robinson, but he then proceeds to blow the top of his foot clean off with a shotgun. This ladies and gentlemen, is movie magic at its best.

• Bullitt Car Chase: Charger Demise

The poor 1968 Dodge Charger R/T from Steve McQueen’s Bullitt ended up meeting its demise in a stunt that went horribly wrong. You see originally the Charger was supposed to slam into the fuel tanks in this clip and explode, but if you watch closely you’ll see it misses them completely at the chases conclusion. Either way, blowing up in a classic muscle car wouldn’t be the worst way to go.

• The Road Warrior – Death for Everybody

Hmm… not really sure where to start with this one because people dye everywhere in this mofo’. In no particular order we’ve got the guy with the gimpy legs that gets pulled over the side of the running tanker truck, the hot warrior chick that gets shot with arrows, poor Pappagallo gets an axe in his back and then off course Vernon Wells who played the mohawk wearing Wez, gets flatten upon impact with the Lord Humungous. No joke, this is 11 minutes and 38 seconds of pure vehicular carnage.

• Christine – The Death of Buddy Reperton

Let’s see, we’ve got a pissed off 1958 Plymouth Fury, a bad boy in a 1969 Camaro and a gas station full of fuel. Yep… this is a total recipe for disaster. As most of you know Christine was possessed by the devil from day one and swathed a path of death and destruction over her entire four-wheeled career. I have a feeling though that Buddy Reperton, the films resident bad guy, was a nice feather in the old Fury’s cap when it made fried calamari out of him.

• Thelma & Louise – Return to Meat Patty Canyon

Here’s a quick synopsis of Thelma & Louise. Two chicks leave crappy relationships when they hit the road in a 1964 Ford Thunderbird. They then proceed to take a road trip where one of them (Thelma) almost gets raped outside of a bar. She then gets mad, shoots the guy (and rightly so) and then goes on the lamb with her friend Louise. They get chased by the cops, rob a gas station and then, as opposed to telling their story to the cops, simply sail off into the great abyss that is the Grand Canyon… it’s a foofy ending I know, but moviegoers seemed to dig it.