Comments on: What are you doing to my Camaro?

What are you doing to my Camaro?

kirkaracha — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:50:49 -0800

Better Off Dead Camaro. Finding and fixing the 1967 Camaro SS-350 from Better Off Dead.

By: dios

dios — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:58:07 -0800

Awesome. Just awesome. I wonder if this guy snorts spray or where I could score some of that.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:01:56 -0800

Cool. I bet it definitely cost more than $2.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:03:46 -0800

Bitchin'.

By: dios

dios — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:04:29 -0800

I meant nasal spray, of course.

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:04:37 -0800

He kept putting his testicles all over me!

By: phaedon

phaedon — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:07:36 -0800

Gurgle of 5.7L V8 + Muddy Waters = heaven.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:08:58 -0800

Neato.

By: peewinkle

peewinkle — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:09:16 -0800

This is almost as cool as the guy in Illinois that built the Mad Max Clone

By: Alex404

Alex404 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:15:23 -0800

For the record, everyone needs to see that movie. It's amazing.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:16:53 -0800

One has to admire this guy's resolve, even if one questions the object of desire. Too bad he didn't have a hot french exchange student help him restore it in a musical montage.

By: jonson

jonson — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:19:46 -0800

"Language... Lessons"

By: Midnight Creeper

Midnight Creeper — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:23:01 -0800

Holy cow. That guy is, like...some kind of semi-wealthy uber-nerd. Crossed with a total gearhead. I'm not sure I can even classify such a person, but I know that I both fear and admire him.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:26:19 -0800

The humbling continues. I despise bodywork. Others seem to love it. Ack!

By: jjg

jjg — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:32:45 -0800

I want my two dollars!

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:37:41 -0800

Damn shame when folks be wastin' a perfectly good Camaro.

By: absalom

absalom — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:38:17 -0800

Burhanistan: But, without Howard-Cosell-Speaking-Immigrants to race, what is the point?

By: gurple

gurple — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:38:47 -0800

It's good sometimes to be reminded that pursuits that I normally consider pointless and crazy like old-car-restoring can occasionally produce results that I consider completely freaking awesome.

By: Western Infidels

Western Infidels — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:40:45 -0800

Cool. But Flash? Why, why, why?

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:41:21 -0800

I used to work with someone who collected movie cars. Lordy, he was insufferable. Always drove one to work and then of course he had to make sure his car was in the most visible parking spot so he could walk out to it a few times a day, lean on it and publicly bask in his own awesomeness.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:43:31 -0800

I'm gonna miss Vincent Schiavelli.

By: headspace

headspace — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:49:55 -0800

This is so cool. Thank you for sharing!

By: fusinski

fusinski — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:50:45 -0800

Truly, a sight to behold!

By: quin

quin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:04:07 -0800

What's great about the Mad Max car is that one of my friends saw it once in the wild, and tried for weeks to convince us that he wasn't crazy. We never believed him. And I've always loved the Better Off Dead Camaro. It inspired me to get my own busted, unfinished muscle car, in the hopes that one day a sexy French chick will use it to help me build confidence in myself. The wife is hoping that I forgo this step, and just fix the damn car so it stops taking up half our garage.

By: scody

scody — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:04:43 -0800

Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky. (And this? is awesome.)

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:08:42 -0800

...after the olympics everything looked so damn easy.....

By: sharpener

sharpener — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:10:37 -0800

This was a great post. I loved that movie, was hot for Monique, and hotter for the car.

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:11:07 -0800

Recent John Cuzack interview where he says "I actually get ... "Better Off Dead" a lot, which is weird 'cause ... it was two months of my life when I was, you know, 18 years old. And I don't really even remember the movie. ... I remember people coming up and talking about that movie kind of obsessively. I have more knowledge of that than I do of actually making the film."

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:11:36 -0800

Cusack.... sigh

By: quin

quin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:14:30 -0800

miss lynnster : I used to work with someone who collected movie cars. I have often said, that if I got stupid rich, one of the things I would spend money on would be building replicas of movie cars. And not even the obvious sexy ones, no Bond Aston Martins or anything obvious like that. No I want ecto 1. (the Ghostbuster's hearse), and the BTtF Delorean, Mad Max's truck from Beyond Thunderdome, and the Bluesmobile. Stuff that is either a nerdifact or just a really cool old car. Lordy, he was insufferable. Thankfully I already have this going for me. So getting rich and building a bunch of weird old cars would only help me refine this as a personality trait.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:17:17 -0800

If you look close enough, you can see some Camaros in their natural environment here.

By: Methylviolet

Methylviolet — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:21:40 -0800

Practically the whole movie (except the ski resort scenes) was filmed in my ineffably boring little hometown corner of LA -- Sierra Madre. Oooh, drag racing on Baldwin Ave! (Speed limit: 25) The idea of anything even a little interesting happening in Sierra Madre made this movie waaay funnier than it should have been.

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:29:44 -0800

What? No batshitinsane tag for this? This guy went to great and questionable (he lied about the reasons for his interest in the car to the owner) lengths to get a completely forgettable car for an equally forgettable film.

By: Brak

Brak — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:41:59 -0800

What? No batshitinsane tag for this? This guy went to great and questionable (he lied about the reasons for his interest in the car to the owner) lengths to get a completely forgettable car for an equally forgettable film.

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

By: Brak

Brak — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:45:11 -0800

By the way, thanks, kirakacha. It was really cool to see the Better Off Dead camaro in action again.

By: YoBananaBoy

YoBananaBoy — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:07:57 -0800

I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:08:20 -0800

I fell in love with this Camaro because of this movie. I wish I'd thought to go looking for the original one, but I guess I just decided that it would be impossible to find. And then this guy (with whom I've conversed via email) actually finds the real one that was in the movie and restores it! Amazing. Happily, I also found my own '67 SS/RS 350 (with a 4-speed) hardtop, so I don't feel so bad. Oddly, it's about the same color as MeFi blue! :) "If you look close enough, you can see some Camaros in their natural environment here." Hey, the one Camaro on that page is a 4th Gen, dude. Just not the same as the '67 thru '69 models, and lacking "classic" status. :) As far as I'm concerned, the natural environment of the Camaro is the Pacific Coast Highway (and maybe a cruise or two up Ventura Blvd... heh)!

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:10:01 -0800

Ms. Franklin is still lookin' good. What? No batshitinsane tag for this? Done and done.

By: revmitcz

revmitcz — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:11:10 -0800

This guy went to great and questionable (he lied about the reasons for his interest in the car to the owner)

Well, of course he lied. If he said "I want that car because it was one of the focal points of a cult-comedy flick from the 80s called Better Off Dead", the then-owner would've immediately realized that the car was worth a great deal more than it would've otherwise been.

completely forgettable car for an equally forgettable film.

what Brak said.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:14:59 -0800

On the rare occasions I date someone long enough to get to the First Stay-In Movie Night point, Better Off Dead is *always* the movie I choose first. I can usually tell how long the relationship will last based on my date's reaction to that movie. wfrgms would be calling a cab home (if I swung that way.) Seeing Diane Franklin's boobies in The Last American Virgin almost made up for it being one of the biggest downer films in movie history.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:20:20 -0800

This guy went to great and questionable (he lied about the reasons for his interest in the car to the owner) lengths to get a completely forgettable car for an equally forgettable film. Are you fucking kidding me? That guy did the world a fucking service by restoring that fine automobile.

By: dorian

dorian — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:27:54 -0800

do you have any idea what the street value of this camaro is? excellent post kirkaracha, excellent.

By: adamrice

adamrice — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:56:30 -0800

Oh sure. The Camaro gets all the love. What about that orange Falcon? It had frikkin' loudspeakers on the roof! With loudspeakers, you don't just bask in your own awesomeness, you project it.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:57:41 -0800

You know what "FORD" stands for, right? :D

By: quin

quin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:01:03 -0800

First On Race Day? Or Fucked Over Rebuilt Dodge. Depends what company you are in.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:05:17 -0800

Found On Road Dead... Fix Or Repair Daily... Flip Over Read Directions... Ford Owner Really Dumb... For Only Retarded Drivers... Ford Owners Recommend Dodge... and a personal favorite: Failure Of Research & Development

By: blaneyphoto

blaneyphoto — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:05:34 -0800

Bitchin'. posted by Greg Nog My thoughts exactly.

By: deanc

deanc — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:20:22 -0800

No I want ecto 1. (the Ghostbuster's hearse) It was not a hearse. It was an old-style ambulance. Now, the Jaguar hearse from Harold & Maude-- that would be something. Failure Of Research & Development I need to tell that one to my friend who just left Ford R&D for another company.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:24:22 -0800

I could be wrong, but in that model, wasn't the hearse and the ambulance basically the same vehicle? I thought it was only after it rolled off the line and the task specific parts were added that it became one or the other. (Though the fact that it's white would definitely put it in the ambulance catagory.)

By: adamrice

adamrice — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:43:35 -0800

My father always said of the hospital across the street when I was growing up "They bring you there in a white Cadillac, and you leave in a black one."

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:44:11 -0800

Oh man, that's a honey of a car. My mother had a cherry red '68 Camaro with an awesome black and white custom interior and she sold it when she had me to buy a family friendly station wagon. To this day I think she resents me just a tiny bit for that. I resent myself actually. It could have been mine! *cries*

By: adamrice

adamrice — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:44:12 -0800

Sheesh, I just realized that I dated myself by pointing out that ambulances were made on Cadillac chassis when I was a kid.

By: ZakDaddy

ZakDaddy — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:51:06 -0800

Go that way really, really fast. If anything gets in your way, turn. Thanks, Coach.

By: jrossi4r

jrossi4r — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:24:04 -0800

Now, the Jaguar hearse from Harold & Maude-- that would be something. Bad news, deanc.

By: steef

steef — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:28:42 -0800

'Now that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that.' Best. Movie. Ever (starring John Cusack but lacking Jeremy Piven).

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:56:06 -0800

Shit, that's a great movie and a great car.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:25:04 -0800

Feh, It looked cooler with a ski rack.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:09:20 -0800

Nifty

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:47:29 -0800

Diane Franklin was teh hot. But not quite so much as that car. Nice post.

By: donkeymon

donkeymon — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:02:13 -0800

psmealey are you joking? The car is hot and all, but Monique wins in my book every time. A girl that can fix cars is much hotter than any car. Teach a man to fish, and all that. That car would be nothing without her.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:58:12 -0800

Sort of. That car was my favorite of all time before I saw that movie on VHS in 1980-whatever. I always dug Diane Franklin, though. She only did a handful of movies, unfortunately... I think Jennifer Grey stole her career (in the same way that Brittany Murphy stole Alicia Silverstone's). I actually saw this movie recently on cable. The opening suicide scenes (intentional nods to Harold and Maude, I think), are still pretty funny. Don't really get the whole newspaper boy stalker thing, that didn't quite work.

By: Spatch

Spatch — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:30:06 -0800

I sure hope this fellow includes a driver's instruction manual in the glovebox that reads "1: Go that way really fast. 2: If something gets in your way, turn." These directions were easily adapted from two well-known ski instructors.

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:49:45 -0800

Almost completely unrelated, but my grandmother had a '68 Camaro SS. Once in a while I remind my dad, who convinced her to buy it when he was a rakish young man, that he sold it, when he was a sensible older man, but before I turned 16. And that it would be worth a lot more than the couple of grand he got for it. On the other hand, I'd have died a long time ago, most likely impaled on the steering wheel while trying to decelerate from 10mph to 0. It had some serious brakes.

By: donkeymon

donkeymon — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:29:42 -0800

Okay, I just finished downloading and re-watching this movie. It's still great! And although both are hot, Monique still beats the car.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:53:19 -0800

The car is hot and all, but Monique wins in my book every time. A girl that can fix cars is much hotter than any car. Imagine another timeline where they still made Better Off Dead, but it had Michelle Meyrink in it. Not that Diane Franklin is chopped liver or nuthin', but still.

By: Fezboy!

Fezboy! — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:00:52 -0800

Cameros are for troglodyte, jocko homo, letter jacket fanboys. The fact that Beth convinced Lane to purchase a Camero instead of a '70 Chevelle LS6 is actually a character development device employed by the writers to further establish her character as a shallow twit not worthy of Lane's affection. The fact that some guy sought the car and restored it is pretty cool though.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:32:03 -0800

Having just watched it for the first time ever, uninterrupted and in a generous mood, I'm here to tell you that it's a crappy movie. Embarrassingly bad. Cringeworthy.

By: dios

dios — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:43:25 -0800

LIES.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:44:48 -0800

"Cameros are for troglodyte, jocko homo, letter jacket fanboys." I can't even tell you how little I resemble that description. But then, I own a Camaro, not a Camero. :) You may be right about the Chevelle, though. That's one badass car.

By: blueberry

blueberry — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:53:56 -0800

Now, if only he could track down Karate Kid, Part II's Chozen and enter into some sort of speed race...

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:59:16 -0800

Having just watched it for the first time ever, uninterrupted and in a generous mood, I'm here to tell you that it's a crappy movie. Embarrassingly bad. Cringeworthy. I'm here to tell you that NortonDC is void of all truth, father of lies, with a desolate soul incapable of joy.

By: Dantien

Dantien — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:17:42 -0800

Dem's fightin words Norton! Monique, why wont you return my calls?!

By: quin

quin — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:25:13 -0800

Not only that, I've heard that he is an eater of puppies and drinker of salt water. He once shot a man in Reno just to see if his blood made an in interesting pattern on the ground. Given half a chance, he would burn the bridge rather than cross it. He once had sex with... *checks paper* You know what? I'm sorry, this is my resume... I'm so embarrassed. Hang on, ok, *digs out 'Dirt on NortonDC' file* Here we go... NortonDC believes with all his heart that Batman and Robin was the finest movie ever made. I rest my case.

By: erikharmon

erikharmon — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:06:37 -0800

John Cusack HATED the movie and thought it was going to ruin his career. Supposedly he cussed out the director and said he was going to never talk to him again. Holland thought it was really good and didn't understand Cusack's reaction.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:18:17 -0800

John Cusack HATED the movie and thought it was going to ruin his career. What a tool. He didn't ruin his career until Serendipity.