More "Movie" and "TV" cars to avoid....

I spoke in the last post how I know for sure that no one has a "Vanishing Point" Challenger, "Bullitt" Mustang, "Bandit" T/A etc. You really have to be careful when buying because there are schysters everywhere who will try to make a quick buck off an unsuspecting consumer. I have a friend who has been in the movie business for 30+ years and she said most of the time a car used in a movie is crushed after filming because the film makers are afraid of liability claims. For example BMW built a one-off manual transmission 733i for the "Transporter". If someone bought that ( impossible; it was blown up in the film ) and drove it-how would a dealer gets parts to repair it? Would BMW warranty it? It's just too risky financially for the car builders and film companies. Someone buys the car-then crashes it and is injured or injures someone else. A lawyer proves that the wreck was caused by mechanical failure due to parts breakage from the stunt work in the film. The "Deep Pockets" rule is used and the movie company takes it in the shorts because some idiot rolled a car while pretending to be Jason Statham or Vin Diesel. They just won't risk it. If it's something really unique often it ends up on display at the Peterson Automotive museum or at Universal Studios. But that doesn't stop scammers from trying to soak the public. I saw a few advertised just the other day. One was a 1969 Charger. It was yellow with black stripes and Ansen slot mags. It had a 440 and a Torqueflite. The seller didn't say that it was the actual car from "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" ( It couldn't be-we saw that car's demise at the end of the movie and in the opening credits of "The Fall Guy" for 5 years ) but he sure hinted at it. I have seen numerous "Eleanor" Mustangs for sale all over the internet. This one really cracks me up. The original "Gone in 60 Seconds" starred H.B. Halicki and a yellow '73 Mustang Mach 1 nicknamed "Eleanor". The final 40 minutes of automotive mayhem is still entertaining to watch 45 years later. Like Tracie Thoms said in "Death Proof"-several years ago Nicholas Cage, Robert Duvall, and Angelina Jolie were in a stinker re-make that wasn't nearly as good, even though it had a much bigger budget. And the Mustang called "Eleanor" was a '67 Mustang with a body kit on it. It was supposed to be a Shelby GT500 but it was obviously a fake. The car is cool looking no doubt about that; but compare it to a for-real GT500-and you'll see the glaring differences. Plus the cars were not 428CJ models. They had 351W crate engines and C6 automatics!!  All of them were priced over 100K. Huh?  I see for-real, numbers-matching documented with a Marti Report 428 CJ Shelby GT500s for sale all the time-some under 100K, some over.  Think about this. You can buy a fully restored, numbers-matching, for-real 428CJ Shelby GT500 for your $100 grand, or you can buy a 351W powered "kit car" that someone cobbled up that's a copy of a car that never existed!!  Which line do you want to be in?  The original "Batmobile" was built by George Barris on a Lincoln Futura chassis. I don't know anyone who doesn't know this. However there are dozens of "Batmobiles" for sale on the internet every day, and god knows what they are made from! I see all kinds of "Starsky&Hutch" Torinos. Once in a while they'll have something really cool-like a 460 backed by a Tremec 5-speed. Most of the time it's a nothing '74-76 Torino 2 dr painted red with a white stripe, with 14" slot mags, with bench seats and a column-shifted FMX behind a 2bbl 351M!!  Now who could resist that?  Every once in a while you'll see a "Miami Vice" Daytona Spider for sale. Except it's not a Ferarri. Neither was the one on the show driven by Don Johnson. It was a Kit Car based on a 1981 Corvette built by Tom McBurnie. And it was blown to bits in the season 2 opener. However-McBurnie and a company called Rowley Corvette and a few others were selling these kits that used a '68-82 'Vette chassis for a few years in the late '80's. However Ferarri sued NBC and the Producers of "Vice" for copywright infringement for using a fake Ferarri and passing it off as real and won-that's why Sonny Crockett got a White Testa Rossa in season 2. Ferarri supplied that as part of the settlement. They also got an injunction that made Rowley and McBurnie and others stop selling the kits. But anyway-now and then you see one advertised on the 'Net or in Hemmings, usually for some astronomical price like 150K. And these are almost always based on an L48 /TH350 '76 model or something similar. If I wanted a '76 Corvette-I could find one for 3-5 grand in any state in the union!!  I've never seen one with a snarling aluminum-headed 454 and a 5-speed. Not that that would be worth 150K either; I'm just saying these cars are never anything really badass their just a '70's Vette with a different fiberglass body!! You may not be able to buy a Real Daytona Spider for 150 grand, but if you want a real Ferarri-I see 308 / 328 GTS's, 512BBs,Testa Rossas and F430's all the time for between 30 to 100K depending on mileage and condition. The all-time winner for sheer Chutzpah goes to the guy who was selling a gold '78 Firebird. With a 301 with a 2bbl and an automatic. Who wanted $30,000 for it becuase it's "Just Like" the "Rockford Files" car!!  ( James Garner drove several gold '74-78 Formula and Esprit Firebirds on the series that ran from 1974-1980 ). Excuse me?  I've seen 400, 4-speed, 4-wheel disc braked, 10th Anniversary Trans-Am models with low mileage for sale for 15K, and you expect someone to pay 30 grand for a 2bbl 301 base model??  What's next the blue and white Mustang II from "Charlie's Angels?" Farrah has sadly passed away, and even if it came with a barefoot, bikini clad Cheryl Ladd-( She still looks awesome ) who really want's a '76 Mustang II?  Anyhow just remember the old saying-"Buyer Beware".  Mastermind