Joe Handley

Was probably a whole different interior color from the factory and didn’t bother repainting it. My parents had 2 window vans from that time period, a ‘78 in black with red vinyl, carpet, and plastics/plaid cloth inserts/perforated white headliner and an ‘87, also in black, but had a barely 2 tone grey interior, other than colors, perforations in head liner, 3pt belts for the front seats, head units (the ‘87 had a tape player), steering wheel and column, and power switches vs hand cranks for windows and door locks, the insides were otherwise the same.

Here’s the Jalopnik article and the pic they show of the van in question. https://jalopnik.com/heres-your-chance-to-finally-be-b-a-baracus-1845908264

From what I had read on Jalopnik, the auction van was a licensed replica for the show circuit, like World of Wheels, which would explain the differences in that van, sounds like who ever built it also started with a ‘79, which would have had a different grill as marker lights that would need to be swapped out for then correct appearance. Not sure if the lighting is bleaching out the stripe and spoiler or if some left over General Lee Orange was used to paint that though

Realistically, they may not even be all that good at it with the app too?

That’s what I liked about the Bolt’s set up, the cameras have dedicated washer nozzles for window solvent from the rear window washer/wiper system and it uses the center mirror as a screen as well as the head unit for those cameras.

I’m still taking the customer service calls from home, but due to the time of year, our cal volume is low. I’m between calls today and get a call from somebody claiming to be with our phone provider with some special holiday discount. I told him I was not the person to talk to (that would be Dad) and that I was using that line for work and needed to end the call. He then asked me “Well, who the h—l are you then?!” I reiterated that I was a resident of this house then went to rip into him (he really p-s-ed me off), but he hung up before I could!

I think Rick has a great point, many of these features should really just be used as tools to get the job done. The TPMS system in my 200 and Sister’s Challenger will tell us what tire is low and about what the pressures should be on each corner (just not the spares, which can be helpful AND annoying both?). Dad’s new van has a back up camera in the head unit, and the couple time Little Sis and I needed loaners, this had them too, mostly in the head unit, though I did get a Journey SE-V6/AWD that had a tiny screen built into the rear view mirror since it had a more basic head unit and preferred that since my eyes would already be there. GM and LandRover also have a neat mirror set up that uses what appears to be a conventional inside mirror, but when you flip what appears to be a dimmer lever, that mirror becomes a screen that gets a direct feed from either tailgate or roof mounted cameras, GM even used the squirted system for the back window wiper on the Chevy Bolt to clean the camera with when dirty! My 200 is the only vehicle I have spent much time behind the wheel of that has ABS, Traction Control, and Stability Control (which may be similar in function to what Dad’s new van has, since has the same drivetrain, just dragging about 1/2 ton more weight behind it), but I try to drive as though I don’t have them and turn off the traction control in dry conditions since I think it aggregates the torque steer. Traction control, unfortunately, seems to step in when I could use some wheel spin to get moving and have had stability control get involved when I felt it was at best, not needed. The problem with the T/C and S/C in all 3 vehicles is that it just cuts power and maybe plays with the braking, where at least getting a little power to the ground may be needed.

He had been wanting to teach for a while now, he’s also probably one of the younger teachers at this campus and is maybe only 10-15 years older than most of the students and has a lot of the same automotive interests as them, which probably helps. He’s also modified almost every late model vehicle he’s owned. He was fed up with the dealer he worked for as it was just getting toxic there, though he is building a shop to move his stuff into that will have room for a lift or two, but it’s more of a roomier place. For him to work on his cars when he’s not teaching.

A good friend of mine just shot me a text a little bit ago. Early in the 2019 he went from being a tech at a GM dealer to teaching at a major auto tech school with campuses in multiple states and has generally loved this new job. The text he sent this morning was that he has received an award from the school for “Best Student Experience”! It was great to see this, especially after hearing how miserable that dealership’s work environment was to be in and general attitude of the people that ran the service department compared to how this school has been to work for and how his students have been to work with as well, now he gets this award stating how much the students liked being in his classes!

How about these two, AWD and V-TEC then RWD with a supercharged Honda V-6?

I know, the R/C ones have done well too and the real 1/1 XJs have been getting more expensive on the used market of late too.

I still want a XJ Cherokee in styrene, about the only thing older that the XJ I’d be interested in at this point would be a Tucker 48.

That’s what I was thinking, the R2 issue of KITT has a bunch if the GTA parts in the box too

Isn't that AMT Firebird GTA kit the same as the Knight Rider KITT..........um.......kit?!

Is this going to be a radio control boat too?

Love this little ad for this on their Instagram account too. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CIgZCZDhW3k/?igshid=11xj1ri0fsykl

Lol? I thought that was cool, especially since it looked like he was using that as an elevator during the flights. Had to laugh at the constant “Oh ————!!!!” Look on his face during the whole run too, usually Block has this “Just another day in the office.” look when he did them.

This was last night on another R/C, this time it was cleaning up the wiring on the Lunchbox Monster Tradesman Van and installing an AMPro Transmission Brace, which controls axle wrap on this and the Midnight Pumpkin 50’s F-100 Monster Truck on this same chassis. Here’s the pics! Here’s how it looks now, with the unfinished body on. And one last with the Clod, both of which I now have ready for primer and paint as of Sunday. I do need to find the AMPro lense kit for the truck that I lost, or order a new set??

They should now be about ready for primer after a good cleaning. I managed to lose the AMPro lens kit for the van though

This is what I’m thinking too, I’ve already seeing more lights than normal by Thanksgiving this year and I wouldn’t be shocked if some folks have gone overboard due to how the rest of 2020 had been.

Wouldn’t those have been AMT/ERTL promos?

How big is it going to be?!

Nice, I was thinking about cutting the grill out and make a billet or tube style grill from styrene or aluminum strip glued to a sheet of styrene!

Not sure, I can see it in your post, but not his?!

Looks good, like what you did with the character on the decals too Any pics of the grill?