The car that caught the eye.

How many of us remember the film Mad Max? One of the greatest Australian movies of all time. It featured a number of exceptional motor vehicles including Ford Falcon XB, Holden HQ Monaro, Kawasaki 1977, XK Falcon etc. however in this post we focus on the Ford Falcon (XB).

Ford Falcon (XB) played the villain role of a bad cop vehicle and a hero role of Pursuit Special vehicle, however it was its hero role which made this classic car get world recognition. The Ford XB Falcon is a car which was produced by Ford Australia and was built exclusively in Australia. In the film as mentioned previously, the police use yellow XA and XB sedans, and Max later drives a customised black XB hardtop known as the Pursuit Special or the inspector. The cars were modified in the film by Murray Smith, Peter Arcadipane and Ray Beckerley with the main modification being the Concorde frond, the eight individual exhaust side pipes and a non-fictional supercharger protruding through the bonnet. Imagine cops driving badass cars like those nowadays!


How was a normal XB Falcon in the 70s? Well, beside the film modification, the XB Falcon was unique in its own ways, it was one of the first 4 doors performance car and it boasted more aggressive styling than any other previous Falcons. It also included new multi-function control stalk such as indicators, high beam and horn – most of which were relatively new at the time. The XB also included four-wheel Servo assisted disc brakes; independent angle poised ball joint, coil springs front suspension, semi elliptic leaf springs, shock absorbers rear suspension; and optional re-circulating ball power assistance steering. Moreover, the vehicle was 189.3 inches in length and 77.5 inches in width and could hit a top speed of 193 km/h - pretty special for a car at that time. Currently in most markets, this iconic vehicle is worth up to 50 thousand dollars at average, but hey if you have a passion for iconic cars this is a must have!

Car with an evil mind

We all love horror movies, or do we?! Well, I for one absolutely love horror movies. I recently just watched Annabelle although not as good as The Conjuring it still inspired me to do a post on a haunted car. Wait whaaaaat? Haunted car? Yes! The following post will be about the 1958 Plymouth Fury which was seen the 80’s horror classic Christine – “Hell hath no Fury … like a 1958 Plymouth” (1983).


Firstly, what is Christine about? Christine is basically about a nerdish boy who buys a strange car with an evil mind, seductive, passionate and possessive Christine mows down and kills anyone who torment her owner, the dorky Arnie Cunningham. Christine also possesses the power of regeneration, allowing her to repair any damage sustained in her independent rampages – once she lures you behind her wheel… you’re all hers. So how do you kill someone that can’t possibly be alive or is it still roaming around the streets somewhere looking for another owner to seduce? Pffft, sounds like another fake story – I hope so anyway!

Well, the movie may or may not be fake but the car is all real! The Plymouth Fury was produced by the Plymouth Division. A sporty, premium-priced model just like its character in the movie it was a seducer and it was seducing customers in large numbers. The ’58 Fury was a limited-edition Buckskin beige two-door hardtop with a “Sport Tone” mouldings; bumper wing guards; padded interior; front and rear foam seats; back-up lights; dual outside rear-view mirrors and special Dual Fury or Golden Commando V-8.

With a $3032 base price, the 1958 Fury was one of the most expensive Plymouth, however it paid off as it holds record for one of the biggest revenues in the Plymouth Division. Its starring role in “Christine” helped to make the ’58 Fury a cult favourite among car collectors. Due to recession leading to low production of just 5,303, its values remains high to this day due to its “celebrity” status. So, if you had the money, would you own this seductive, passionate and possessive evil vehicle?

Knight Rider

This blog is dedicated to one thing and one thing only. Yes you guessed it, it’s the famous and the iconic Knight Rider car or should I say Pontiac Firebird Trans AM famously driven by the one and only David Hasselhoff. This was one of the coolest and innovative cars ever to be shown in television. For those of you who have either heard and/or watched this crime action TV series in the 80s, I’m sure you would’ve been mesmerized by this creation. The show was created and produced by the legendary Glenn Larson and became an instant megahit as soon as it aired in September 1982 and ran successfully until 1986. So what was it about this car that made it so unique, popular and attracted so much attention? Well for one the car was nearly indestructible and was controlled by a computer with artificial intelligence. That’s right no ordinary weapon could damage this beauty and the car had its own mind; it could talk to the driver just like a human being, it could make rational decisions and in many cases protected Michael Knight (the hero) from various dangers. At the time various TV shows emerged which were highly innovative and creative which challenged the boundary between fantasy and reality. In this day and age you might say well this car can actually be produced and it can function even better than the one on the show.

However that not the point of this; put yourself into the mindset of those early days when having a computer was considered luxury item and internet was not even born. Can you imagine what the reaction would’ve been like when people saw for the first time that car could communicate, interact and make rational decisions and even go as far as save the driver’s life? Come to think of it, it would’ve been absolutely wild. I certainly loved the car with its sleek and innovative design and features, it was quite the catch. Aside from its intelligence capabilities, the car was protected by thermal-resistant coating which could withstand temperatures over 420 degrees Celsius. It also equipped itself with turbo boost which when launched could make the car jump and easily Passover obstacles on the road. On top of that there was also an anamorphic equalizer which was a fiber-optic array of electronic eyes that could scan all wavelengths and different patterns and bars. Amazingly apart from having various cruise modes and other electromagnetic capabilities, the car had the amazing ability to run silently, much like the bat-mobile in batman begins. I could go on and on about the other million feature the car was equipped with by its creators. But the bottom line is that it’s an advanced automobile machine that can much more than what any car in any era in reality can. Trust me if I could I would do anything to get my hands onto one of these.References

Mystery Incorporated

Scooby dooby doo! Wow what a show that was. Who doesn’t remember and love the great teenage comedy/detective show about 4 pesky teenagers with their trusted dog who had the ability to talk? It was such an iconic cartoon for its time and surprisingly at times it also showed various other characters from other shows most notably Batman and Robin. But we’re not here to mumble about the greatness of this show. But instead we’ll be discussing if you like the underdog element of this show which is very often overlooked and underrated. But the fact remains that without it, the Mystery Inc. gang would not be anywhere near as successful as they were in solving the worst crimes in mankind (seriously how is that even possible without ever using any form of weapon of special intelligence operations). Introducing the new 1963 Ford Econoline Custom van, yes that’s right folks it’s a custom made van just for these 5 lunatics. It even has a name called the mystery machine. It has an uncanny ability to adapt to any given situation and the back is filled with all types of equipment and can fit a table and chairs s as well as walls are lined with computer equipment; to put it simply, the van had almost everything other than an area to release your goods.

The strange thing about this van was from one angle it would seem that 3 people can comfortably fit in the front seat area, and yet on another angle all 5 including Scooby doo would easily seat alongside the rest of the gang. But TBH it really did look like a hippie van more than anything else. With its distinguished look being embellished by its color, design and uniqueness, the mystery machine was for many people quite the catch. Personally I always thought this car had something special and I recon it would be very interesting to drive this machine. One thing should be noted that there are several different versions of this cars in accordance to the series as well as the model of the car. But regardless of what model or type the car is, one thing is prevalent, it saved those teenagers lives (and backside) from many death-defying, moments from disaster type situations.

Whoooah, that car that the President drives!

Hello and welcome to our second blog about automotive vehicles. This blog however will not be about a particular vehicle that was featured in a film, but will be about a special type of vehicle that is exclusively used by VIP type personnel’s. Today this blog will be about the discussion of the topic of armored motor vehicles.

 You may wonder what makes armored vehicle used by VIP personnel’s so special other than the obvious ‘it protects the occupants inside the vehicle from any potential attack’. The answer to this rhetorical question would be that in history there have been many successful and unsuccessful attempts by various individuals and groups to obliterate those with the position of power. The most famous example where the AMV is widely used is the case of the president of the United States. That's right his car is completely bulletproof, shatterproof, and bombproof. Not bad for a man in suit whose catchphrase is Yes We Can! So according to our highly regarded and trusted source ‘Wikipedia’ it states that “A civilian armored car is a security vehicle which made by replacing the windows of a standard vehicle (typically a limousine or SUV) with bulletproofand inserting layers of armor plate into the body panels. Unlike a military armored car, which has armor plate mounted on the outside of the vehicle, a civilian armored car typically looks no different from a standard vehicle”.
This means that even in an attack the vehicle isn’t invincible against any object, what would usually happen is for example, if the windows were shot the front element of the windows would be damaged in accordance to the intensity. However, it is often shown the rear of the window is completely neutral and has no apparent damage what so ever. In other words, the occupants inside the vehicle are protected from any attack. But the reason why the bulletproof car became very popular is because of the infamous assassination of JFK in 1963 in Texas. You see before this time, the presidential vehicles were not bulletproof in fact not even shade proof. However, after this historic event, the world and especially the American public became much more aware of safeguarding their national leaders for the goodwill of the country.

 Anyway enough of that. Now let’s talk about the actual car itself. Being the most powerful person/leader/personnel in the world, the man in suit gets to ride in a very nice toy indeed. It’s often referred to Cadillac One. This is a custom model made exclusively for president state car and is heavily inspired from Cadillac DTS and many other model cars. This ain’t a cheap $99,999 car either, as the estimated cost is situated around $300,000; that’s a hefty price tag. But here what the problem is- being a presidential vehicle, most of the information is confidential for security reasons and as you know knowing what engine or chassis the car uses will cause a huge uproar in the black market. With regards to films, any films that had the president in it would at some stage display the car, however the most notable examples include- Air force One, Vantage Point, Deep Impact and several others. 

Anyway so the car is said to weight a whopping 20000 lbs. It has a night vision system in a secret location and special loops can replace the door handles as well as tires made exclusively by Goodyear. The car is also protected from not only weaponry attack, but also from biomechanical attacks. This may sound absurd and hilarious, but the trunk or boot of the car contains blood bank of the president’s blood type and has their own oxygen supply. The car is a little larger than your everyday sedan car, a mini limousine, and can easily take up 7 people. Now if you’re wondering about the fuel efficiency about this vehicle, I suggest you don’t because it runs on diesel fuel as opposed to petrol and is rated at 29L/100KM (it is absolutely ridiculously inefficient).

 Tell me, does a man really need this much protection from outsiders and any forms of criminals? Personally even though I understand some of the reasons behind all this safety precautions, let’s face it, it really does seem a little overboard- I’m just saying!

NaNaNaNaNa Batman!

Daaaaaaaaaayum!

You remember Batman (first the comic books, then the movies), the story about a rich man that has nothing better to do than dress like a bat in the night and fight crime. Who cares about that? I don’t! But hey, the movies are not so bad, there’s some nice action going on, but the cars are great. Batman’s car of course. They look great, they have lots of gadgets and they’re fast. What else do you want from a car?

The most iconic Batmobile to date is the Tumbler which featured in three Batman films – “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises”. This Batmobile with 15 feet 2 inches length, 9 feet 2 inches width with an acceleration of 0-60 in 5.6 seconds was like no other and it provided a simple message don’t mess with batman. The machine was a cross between a Lamborghini and a tank, designed by Wayne Enterprises’ in the movie, it includes weaponry and the ability to boost into a ramp less jump.The tumbler’s armour is strong enough to break through concrete barriers without sustaining significant damages. With more features such as assist brakes, machine guns, rocket launchers, landing stabilization, stealth mode, explosive mines deployed to take out any cars that make contact, this was the greatest batmobile yet.


According to Top Gear it costs about a million dollars and is more expensive than two Lamborghini Aventadors, however there is only 5 replicas of this iconic vehicles. Although street legal it is not yet a daily driver; it may not the Batmobile we deserve but it’s one we could all do it. So would you pay for this deadly machine?

Introduction to Automobile Cinema

This is just an example - Not all this cars will be focused upon! 

Hello and a warm welcome to all of our readers and viewers. My name is Oliver Rozario and this is the start of our new blog titled ‘Automobile Cinema’ which some of may realize by now as vehicles (especially iconic and popular vehicles) that appeared in motion picture in the past. We chose this topic simply because it is of the general interest of all of our members in this blog. Our goal is inform and entertain the readers through this format as well as hopefully create new interests among other people and begin various talks and discussions in order to share our ideas and knowledge with rest of the world. This blog will be monitored by myself, Fahim Asfar, Franco Chan and Fadel Haider. But the one factor to note is that even the title may suggest that the blog is exclusively about movie cars or other vehicles etc. we wish to clarify now than later that there will be some posts which will be about cars or other vehicles, but may not have any allusion to film or franchise.

So movie cars! Anyone with even limited knowledge about cars and/or movies would have some idea that in some films, it may not necessarily be the characters that steal the show, but the props that were used, namely cars and other automotive vehicles. Some of these automotive even became synonymous with the actual film or even franchise and as a result without these no matter how well-developed the script was or may be, without it the film or franchise simply wouldn’t last. I’m intentionally not referring to any specific films or vehicles in this update because they will be discussed quite extensively in the upcoming journals and there simply isn’t any point in talking about them right now.