Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR Dickies 500, 2009... the Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car arrived at a race in style. In a Chinook helicopter. As a salute to US military veterans, the monster double-rotor chopper touched down by the side of track, releasing the Camaro driven by NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, who is not only a US Marine Corps colonel, but also holds a Texas Motor Speedway season ticket and piloted the shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station in July.
Dennis McCarthy is the picture car coordinator (just 6 years of doing this so far) in Hollywood that made the cars used during filming the last two The Fast and the Furious movies, which he had over a $7 million dollar budget on just Tokyo Drift http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/general/hdrp_0607_movie_car_builds/index.html
and now he's building the Green Hornet "Black Beauty" Imperials. 29 of them.
GM has 42 SUVs and trucks, 18 sedans, 8 coupes, 4 convertibles, 2 wagons and 1 hatchback.
.... little choice of American hatches in a sea of VW GTI's/Golfs/Beetles, Mazda 3's, Honda Civic Si's and Mini Coopers.
As much as I like the Camaro, I probably would never buy one because of the price and sheer principal. The day of the muscle car was over 30 years ago. If I want a muscle car I'll go buy a '69 Camaro for the same price and have a piece of automotive history.
Within my price range I had the Mustang, Camaro, and Soltice/Sky to choose from in the American market. Get ready for the competition now...Audi TT(Germany), VW Eos(Germany), BMW 1-series(Germany), Honda Accord coupe/Civic coupe/S2000(Japan), Nissan Z/Altima coupe(Japan), Hyundia Tiburon/Genesis coupe(Korea), Mazda Miata/RX-8(Japan), Mitsubishi Eclipse(Japan), Scion tc(Japan).....If you increase the budget by $5k there are a mess load of other imported cars to choose from.
Why doesn't GM or Ford offer sporty little sedans?
From "If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger,There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats" a blog about all pre-1970 American culture via photography http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/
Premiering in 1965, what may be the strangest sitcom of all time is a reminder that borderline brain-dead TV executives have been with us for decades — and deserve no say in the big-budget boardroom. Jerry Van Dyke played a man who discovers that his mother's soul has been reincarnated in his automobile, enabling him to hear her voice through the radio http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/worst-tv-shows-100109
Hot Rod Deluxe, May 2010 issue page 69 says Norm made it, and it was owned by Kaye Trapp, Hollywood studio photographer who used it as a push car for the Zueschel, Fuller, and Moody dragster
But according to http://local.aaca.org/junior/starcars/mother.htm Barris built the car; The car's body (finished in Metalflake carnation red with a white top) was made up from various vehicles including a Model T Ford, a Maxwell (precursor to the Chrysler), a Hudson, and pieces of a Chevrolet, including drive train. The car had a custom-made hood and radiator shell. 2 were made, one is at http://starcarstn.com/index.html in Tennessee along with a lot of other cool cars like the Munsters Dragula, and a collection of Barris customs
The video is badly editted news shorts from a local tv station perhaps... it seems like it once had commercials, only the first half is really worth watching
Nov 2011 update, Carlustblog.com states that The no.1 car, or "hero" car was built by Craig Breedlove. The no.2 car or "stunt" car was built by George Barris. The cars was 1923-25 model t touring cars which is a different body style than the 1927.
Since I asked Norm Grabowski through email, and didn't get a reply, I don't have an answer, but I will ask George Barris about it next time I see him, probably at the Jan 2012 Grand Natioanl Roadster Show
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