Detective's cars build-off anyone?

[FujimiLover]

Hello there. I was watching the Jim Rockford Firebird take shape and it gave me an idea for a new build-off.

How about we start a detective's cars build-off?

This can be ANY "DETECTIVE" from any TV show and/or movie. This will give plenty of cars to choose from and there for should be a nice wide playing field for everybody to join.

Detective's can range from Pink Panther, classic/new. Inspector Gadget, real or cartoon. Charlie's Angel's, TV show/movie. Hardcastel and Mcormick, Knight Rider, A-Team, Colombo, the list go's on and on and on.

Remember, has to be detective-related and pictures of the real deal included with your "application" request.

I might like to do the H.M. car if I can find it, the Coyote?

Who's in?

[Guest Mustang3.8]

You forgot Starsky and Hutch. I have a '76 Gran Torino.

Edited August 26, 2009 by Mustang3.8

[diymirage]

im not in, i am just too darn busy

if i were in however...this would be my entry

mustang you punk...you musta posted that when i was looking for a pick of this 1974 grand torino

Edited August 26, 2009 by diymirage

[Guest Mustang3.8]

Sorry about that. Oh, that's a '76 Torino. Not a '74.

[diymirage]

Sorry about that. Oh, that's a '76 Torino. Not a '74.

lol, its no biggy

i always thought it should have been a 75 anyway

wikipedia, here i come

[diymirage]

wiki on the car :

Originally, Blinn was to have Starsky drive a Chevrolet Camaro convertible because he fondly remembered a green and white one that he owned. However, when production started on the pilot episode, Ford Motor Company's Studio-TV Car Loan Program was the lease supplier for Spelling-Goldberg. They looked at lease stock and chose two 1975 351 Windsor V8-powered (VIN code "H") "Bright Red" (paint code 2B) 2-door Gran Torinos. Both cars had a 'role' in the pilot movie, one being "Starsky's" car, and the other being a similar car which is mistaken for Starsky's car by the film's villains. They each had body-side moldings along with a black interior with vinyl bench seats. Interestingly, one of the 'pilot' cars had the 'luxury' remote-control chrome mirrors installed, while the other 'pilot' car had the cheaper, entry-level manual chrome mirrors installed. Unfortunately, in editing the film, Starsky and Hutch are shown to be driving around in each of the two cars at different times during the film. The cars were also custom painted (on top of the factory red paint color) with the distinctive white "vector" stripe designed by Spelling-Goldberg's transportation coordinator George Grenier. The rear ends were lifted by air shocks, and had "U.S." brand 5-slot mag wheels added with larger rear tires. While the tires were mounted so that only the blackwall side would show, thus hiding any unauthorized brand-name display, in one first season episode ("Kill Huggy Bear"), a close-up shot of the villain cutting the rear brake lines shows the letters on the inside-facing side of the tires to say 'Firestone'. It is reported that the original 2.75:1 ratio rear axle gearing (standard on non-police Torinos from 1975 onward) was replaced with numerically higher ratio gears for better acceleration during stunt driving scenes; in the 1999 interview, Glaser said that "We finally had to get a new rear end put in it so that at zero to sixty it had some pop." At least one of the second-season cars was known to have a Dymo label prominently attached to the dashboard which read "DO NOT EXCEED 50 MPH"; this was probably due to the fact that the revised gearing would cause the engine revolutions per minute (RPM) to go to a higher level, possibly leading to engine damage.

For the start of the second season, these were replaced by three 1976 Gran Torinos that had vinyl split-bench seats like the pilot episode cars. The new cars were ordered under Ford's fleet program, which is what was required to get them painted in the previous year's 'Bright Red'(2B), as Ford used a different shade of red for new standard-order Torinos by this point. These newer cars can be identified by their silver 'sight shields' (bumper filler panels) which Ford used on specially painted fleet-ordered cars. They also had the luxury chrome mirrors like one of the pilot cars. Even though the body-colored 'sport' mirrors were still a Torino option in 1976, they could not be installed on a fleet-ordered specialty-painted car, as Ford had no provision for producing those mirrors in anything other than the regular production colors listed for that year. And since the 2B bright red was a special fleet-ordered color for the '76 model year, the cars came equipped with the chrome mirrors. The body-side moldings were installed on these cars and the stripe was, unlike the pilot cars, integrated with the moldings. They were powered by 460 Lima V8s (VIN code "A") , and Spelling-Goldberg kept these Torinos until production ceased. While these were the biggest, most powerful engines available from Ford at the time, they were still woefully underpowered at 202 net horsepower.

cliff notes:

the origenal cars were 1975 models

by the second season these were replaced by 76ers

Edited August 26, 2009 by diymirage

[Nick Winter]

could I enter jim rockford firebird even though It has been started? Also could I enter Jim's dad's truck.

[FujimiLover]

could I enter jim rockford firebird even though It has been started? Also could I enter Jim's dad's truck.

It was your project that gave me the idea, so yea sure!

Any kit of a car that belongs to a detective that has already been started is free to join.

I did not forget Starsky and Hutch I was nearly giving examples. ANY detective's car can join.

Oh, and unlike the Cannonball Run build-off where numerous builders can do the same car, I'm limiting this one to where as soon as somebody has chosen a car, that's it. Nobody else can copy/do the same car. If your in, post a picture of the car, tell us a brief history on it, what movie/show it's roll is, who the driver is both actor/character, and a picture of the kit that your starting out with.

That's it, pretty much any detective! So start building!

One quick change, to make it fair, if the same car has changed in different season's of a show, then it can be done more than once. You have to show the sample of the change from TV clip, and you have to describe what the changes were. Basically, same car can be done, as long as it's from different season.

Example, KITT from Knight Rider had different voice-box readout in Season One than he had rest of the series. Plus, I think he also had KNIGHT instead of KITT, and had one monitor instead of two in the dash. Stuff like that, then surely more than one person can do the same car.

Edited August 26, 2009 by FujimiLover

[Guest Mustang3.8]

Sorry about that. In that case, I will be entering the '76 Gran Torino from Starsky and Hutch.

[dwc43]

Too late, you done started another build off .... lol.

I'm working on something. Could I stick in one black and white truck from a TV show ??

I also want to put in a Daytona I am working on. It's Dee Dee McCalls car from "Hunter"

http://imcdb.org/movie_86734-Hunter.html?P...50995813067e98b

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_12843-Dodge-Daytona-1987.html

Edited August 26, 2009 by dwc43

[FujimiLover]

Sure that can be done as long as the car belonged to a main character. Or in case of Charlies Angels where we had three main characters, each of their cars can be done.

I'm going to do the Coyote from Hard Castle and Mccormick if I can find the kit.

The Kit:

Taken from Wikipedia

The Show:

Hardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Columbia Pictures Television, shown on ABC from 1983-1986, starring Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.

The show's premise involves the retirement of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Milton C. "Hardcase" Hardcastle. With file drawers filled with 200 criminals who got off on technicalities, he takes a page from his childhood hero, the Lone Ranger, and makes plans to go after these criminals. Mark McCormick is a smart-mouthed, streetwise car thief who is looking at hard time for his latest theft, a prototype sports car designed by his murdered best friend. Together they strike a deal: Hardcastle helps Mark catch the murderer; Mark agrees to be the Judge's right hand man.

The car:

The car that McCormick drove, the Coyote X, was not built from a Manta Montage kit car, as is the popular belief, but was based on a McLaren M6BGT, though the Montage itself was an M6 replica as well[1]. The nose, windshield doors and lower body are faithful representations of the McLaren[2], the rear deck however, was a custom component, that became a feature on many Montages with damaged rear windows. Most of the cars for the show, were molded and assembled by Mike Fennel. Like many kit cars of the time, the car uses a chassis from a VW Beetle and its engine from a Porsche 914.[3] For the second and third seasons, producers used a different Coyote which was based on a De Lorean DMC-12, as Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original Coyote.[4] One significant difference is that the car's appearance no longer resembles the Manta, as the front is larger than the original, making the car resemble a front engined car. A season one car that was used in the production of Hardcastle and McCormick is currently owned by a private owner in Southern New Jersey. There seems to be only two remaining season 1 cars in existence, while the DeLorean based cars are represented by at least three examples.[3] The Delorean based Coyote can be seen in the background during the Married...With Children episode "Kelly Bounces Back", sans its Coyote rocker panel graphics. The jump car used for season 1 was re-bodied and used for the remaining two seasons of the show. It was displayed at Universal Studios Theme Park in Orlando, Florida. It has since been sold, restored and sold again to a private owner.

That is pretty much how your applicant's should look. Thank you! I'll have to check my LHS for this kit.

Edited August 26, 2009 by FujimiLover

[dwc43]

Sure that can be done as long as the car belonged to a main character. Or in case of Charlies Angels where we had three main characters, each of their cars can be done.

I'm going to do the Coyote from Hard Castle and Mccormick if I can find the kit.

I have what's left of one that I built when I was a kid that I am going to try to put back together. It don't look nothing like the real car, and it's built as the stunt car so to speak. If you remember it sounds like a V12 sports car reved up in the show. The actual car had a 350 4bbl and trans axle. All of the cars engine sounds were dubbed in. IT was built on a VW chassis as well. They used a Manta and one other kit car body. They changed the car up for the second season so the passenger side doors could open and made it bigger for Brain Keith to get in and out of.

[RodneyBad]

Too late, you done started another build off .... lol.

I'm working on something. Could I stick in one black and white truck from a TV show ??

I also want to put in a Daytona I am working on. It's Dee Dee McCalls car from "Hunter"

http://imcdb.org/movie_86734-Hunter.html?P...50995813067e98b

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_12843-Dodge-Daytona-1987.html

O Ya, She made the show worth watching.

Nah, I aint got no car to Enter, I already made a hunter mobile..

Probley too much Chrome trim.

And a Roscoe P Coltrane Cruiser (of sorts) that caught those Darn Duke boys

Never mind, that aint no Detective car. LOL....

Carry on...

Maybe I'll look into it tho.

[FujimiLover]

LOL! Nice models, however I wouldn't exactly call The Dukes Of Hazzard's detectives so I doubt they would be considered. Keep searching!

[Guest Mustang3.8]

I will be entering the 1976 Ford Gran Torino from Starsky and Hutch. Starsky and Hutch was a Television show about two police detectives which ran from 1975 to 1979. the show starred David Soul, Paul Micheal Glaser, Antonio Fargas, and Bernie Hamilton. A movie re-make was made starring Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilson.

The Car:

The car was a '76 Ford Gran Torino characterized by it's iconic red paint job and broad whit side tripe. For released a limited editon '76 Gran Torino in this very scheme to the public. I will be using Model Car World's resin kit for this build. "you did'nt hear it from me".

[Nick Winter]

LOL! Nice models, however I wouldn't exactly call The Dukes Of Hazzard's detectives so I doubt they would be considered. Keep searching!

As Mr .T would say "Watcha talkin' 'bout Fool" I would consider them detectives of sorts, after all they allways solved crimes and such.

I will be entering the 1976 Ford Gran Torino from Starsky and Hutch. Starsky and Hutch was a Television show about two police detectives which ran from 1975 to 1979. the show starred David Soul, Paul Micheal Glaser, Antonio Fargas, and Bernie Hamilton. A movie re-make was made starring Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilson.

The Car:

The car was a '76 Ford Gran Torino characterized by it's iconic red paint job and broad whit side tripe. For released a limited editon '76 Gran Torino in this very scheme to the public. I will be using Model Car World's resin kit for this build. "you did'nt hear it from me".

Cool, nice back round.

[FujimiLover]

All right, Duke-boy's can join in.

[Nick Winter]

Ok here's my back round on "The Rockford Files",

It starred James Garner as James "Jim or Jimmy" Scott Rockford — An easygoing low-budget private eye who works by his own code — and, of course, for $200 a day (plus expenses).

and Noah Beery, Jr. as Joseph "Rocky" Rockford – Jim's father, a retired truck driver.

aswell as

Joe Santos as Sgt. Dennis Becker — Jim's friend in the LAPD (promoted to Lieutenant in season 5)

and

Stuart Margolin as Evelyn "Angel" Martin – Jim's former cellmate / con artist friend

Gretchen Corbett as Elizabeth "Beth" Davenport – Jim's lawyer / girlfriend (seasons 1–4)

What made The Rockford Files a huge success was in the stories told each week. After a while many of the synopses sound familiar, but it was always the unique way the story was told and the characters in the story that made for a long run television series. With 1970?s Los Angeles as the background, the stories had enough grittiness to make you believe these events were happening, and just enough action and sexual innuendo to make it past the network censors.

"The Rockford Files" was the original Must See TV, back in the days when NBC was the perennially distant third network. Winner of five Emmys, including Best Actor (Garner), and Best Dramatic Series (1978)

When it came to private eyes - at least, the ones on movies and TV - Jim Rockford (James Garner) stood out like a slow curve in a world of fast balls.

Oh, he might have looked a little like Jack Lord, and dressed the same as Mike Connors, but he sure didn't act like any other gumshoe we'd ever seen. When Rockford threw a punch, he was more likely to inflict damage on himself.

He rarely carried a gun (he didn't have a permit), and never fired it whenever he did ("I just point it," he explained in one episode). Our man Jimbo hated trouble, wasn't above quitting a case if it got too rough, and had no problem telling you why ("Damned right, I'm scared!") But he did like money - he charged $200 a day, plus expenses, so he'd hang in there no matter what if he could smell a fat check down the road. "I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it," he once said. "Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."

September 13, 1974-July 25, 1980

No hard-boiled mean streets for Jimbo. He lived in a house trailer by the sun-dappled shores of Malibu and had a beat-up answering machine instead of a sultry secretary. He liked to tool around in the Southern California sunlight in his Pontiac and had his own small printing press in the rear seat to print up a business card for whatever identity he felt the moment required.

Rockford's inclination was to talk his way out of trouble instead of meeting it with fists flying. Hardly a lonely knight errant, he accumulated some of the most fascinating-- and troublesome-- friends and acquaintances ever to come down the beach.

The show's original gimmick set up Rockford as an ex-con (five years served for a crime he didn't commit) who would only take on cases which were already closed by the police. That faded away after the early episodes, and The Rockford Files quickly developed and nurtured some of the most unforgettable supporting characters in television history. They in turn did more than their share to keep the hero in hot water. While Rockford's penchant for a wisecrack ("Does your mother know what you do for a living?" he asked one thug in a classic TV moment) led to some of his problems, most of them he ultimately owed to friends and family.

From the beginning there was Rocky, Jim's old man, a semi-retired truck driver forever spouting empty dictums and hovering worriedly around his son. His presence alone took Rockford out of the basic PI setting and the various scrapes he managed to get into provided the impetus for several episodes. Attorney Beth Davenport provided a recurring love interest for the first four seasons, as well as serving as a conduit for many cases Rockford would have run screaming from had she not been there to cajole him. Beth was introduced in the program's second episode, "The Dark and Bloody Ground" (Sept. 20, 1974),

Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Dennis Becker was the requisite police contact, but he was not exactly the traditional friendly nemesis usually found on PI shows. Becker periodically got into unfortunate situations of his own from which Rockford had to extricate him. The most notable of these was "The Becker Connection" (Feb. 11, 1977), wherein Becker was set up as the fall guy for the theft of confiscated heroin from a police evidence room.

The show's writers used Rockford's prison background to introduce several ex-cons he had known in prison as catalysts for stories. Isaac Hayes, for example, appeared three times as tough-talking Gandolph Fitch, who never could get Rockford's name right. The undisputed pick of that particular litter was Jim's ex-cellmate, Angel Martin. Angel was not half as clever as he thought he was and never met a crazy scheme he didn't embrace. The character eventually became a semi-regular cast member, appearing in more than 30 episodes after his debut in "Counter Gambit" (Jan. 24, 1975). Many of the best shows centered around an unwitting and often befuddled Rockford caught up in one of Angel's get rich schemes and having to extricate himself before getting shot.

Another notable recurring guest was prostitute Rita Capkovic, who came to Rockford for help three times. Actress Rita Moreno won an Emmy for the character's first appearance, "The Paper Palace" (Jan. 20, 1978). Also, a goodly number of fellow private eyes, each one of them stranger than the last, kept crossing Rockford's path. As Maverick had done for the classic western, The Rockford Files regularly turned and twisted the conventions of the PI story back upon themselves to point up some of the absurdities behind the genre's assumptions. These guest investigators were ideal for just that purpose.

The most prominent of this bunch was Richie Brockelman, played by Dennis Dugan. Brockelman was an eager novice investigator and the character actually took over the Rockford time slot for his own five-episode series in the spring of 1978. That show wasn't strictly a Rockford spin-off, however, since Richie was first introduced in a 1976 two-hour movie. His first appearance on The Rockford Files, "The House on Willis Avenue" (Feb. 1978), was primarily intended to build an audience for the Richie Brockelman, Private Eye series. Obviously, that didn't work out, but Brockelman returned for a second appearance, "Never Send a Boy King To Do a Man's Job" (March 3, 1979).

Among the other PIs who visited the show was Lance White, rich, elegant, and flawless, a walking cliche who drove Rockford crazy. White debuted in "White on White and Nearly Perfect" (Oct. 20, 1978) and made a comeback in "Nice Guys Finish Dead" (Nov. 16, 1979). This latter show, set at a private eyes' awards dinner, is one of the funniest Rockfords ever. The relatively unknown actor who did such a fine comic turn as White proved to have a future in the TV PI business-- his name was Tom Selleck.

CAST

Jim Rockford ...........................................James Garner

Joseph "Rocky" Rockford....................... Noah Beery Jr.

Detective Dennis Becker ..............................Joe Santos

Beth Davenport(1974-1978).................. Gretchen Corbett

Evelyn "Angel" Martin............................. Stuart Margolin

John Cooper (1978-1979)............................. Bo Hopkins

Lieutenant Alex Diehl (1974-1976) .................Tom Atkins

Lieutenant Doug Chapman (1976-1980)..........James Luisi

Lance White (1979-1980) ............................Tom Selleck

PRODUCERS Meta Rosenberg, Stephen J. Cannell, Chas. Floyd Johnson, Juanita Bartlett, David Chase

PROGRAMMING HISTORY 114 Episodes

NBC

September 1974-May 1977 Friday 9:00-10:00

June 1977 Friday 8:30-9:30

July 1977-January 1979 Friday 9:00-10:00

February 1979-March 1979 Saturday 10:00-11:00

April 1979-December 1979 Friday 9:00-10:00

March 1980-April 1980 Thursday 10:00-11:00

June 1980-July 1980 Friday 9:00-10:00

[FujimiLover]

Nice write up on Jim, but you forgot his car, and the kit you started out with. Other than that, thanks' for sharing!

Let's keep going!

[Aaronw]

Perhaps you should go with crime fighters instead of detectives. That would open it up to many action shows including some where the heroes are "criminals" who right wrongs, the A-team is one that comes to mind. It would also open it up to the vehicles of comic characters like Batman and the Green Hornet who are not exactly detectives but should probably qualify and the Fall Guy is another, not a detective but as he worked as a bounty hunter in many episodes. I guess Ghost Busters are not really detectives or crime fighters, too bad I have a couple of Ecto-1s.

I'd like to do Rick Simon's truck, but I wouldn't have the time for all that work. Maybe the Magnum PI Ferrari if I can find the right Ferrari kit. I think it was re-issued recently.

The Coyote and Rockford's Firebird are great subjects.

[RodneyBad]

Perhaps you should go with crime fighters instead of detectives. That would open it up to many action shows including some where the heroes are "criminals" who right wrongs, the A-team is one that comes to mind. It would also open it up to the vehicles of comic characters like Batman and the Green Hornet who are not exactly detectives but should probably qualify and the Fall Guy is another, not a detective but as he worked as a bounty hunter in many episodes. I guess Ghost Busters are not really detectives or crime fighters, too bad I have a couple of Ecto-1s.

I'd like to do Rick Simon's truck, but I wouldn't have the time for all that work. Maybe the Magnum PI Ferrari if I can find the right Ferrari kit. I think it was re-issued recently.

The Coyote and Rockford's Firebird are great subjects.

Sounds like an Excellent Idea.

I can't really think of another car except Colombos Peugeot 403 convertible

Or Ace Ventura: Pet Detective car

[modeler]

ill do the charger from burn notice

[Terror]

Don't forget the Ford Fairlane from Ford Fairlane(Andrew Dice Clay), Rock and Roll detective.

[FujimiLover]

Mmmmm, I think I'd like to keep this strictly to detectives with the exception of the Dukes. Other wise it would be any movie/tv show car and yes I agree while it will open up the field, it would be too much and I don't think as much challenging and as fun. I think we'll strict it to "detectives" only. I'm not sure about Pet Detectives, but since it has the word detective in it, why not?

Even with strictly detective-related themes, you still have a very wide range to choose from.

Perhaps next build-off can be crime-fighters.

I know I mentioned Knight Rider in there and he is more of a crime-fighter than a detective, but I guess some times in order to fight-crime you have to detect. So, I suppose if you can find an example of both, that will work too. But if it's strictly crime-fighting like Batman, we'll save that for another build-off.

Is that cool for everyone?

I think Ghostbusters can count as crime-fighters more than detectives, so I'll have to say no to them this time around.

Edited August 26, 2009 by FujimiLover

[diymirage]

hows bout nash brigdeses cuda convert ?

what is the name of the guy with the mustache and the warflashbacks ?

he drove a car

oh yeah, magnum PI

hawai five oh

the cop car that archy bunker drove in the heat of the night

the mystery machine