Autoblog

There was a Robocop 3? Apparently so, it even had theatrical release, but it should have gone directly to video. The most memorable thing from the Robocop franchise, at least for us, were the Taurus police cars. They featured prominently in all of the installments, 3 included. Now for those of us who had the AMT/Ertl kit (I had the SHO cop car, not the Robo 1), you can pick up the real thing. This isn't just a hand-me-down Taurus that got a rattlecan paintjob, either, but the last surviving automotive cast member from the final installment.

A longing for the movie and TV icon cars of the 1980s seems to be a common dork affliction – witness the fact you can buy flux capacitors and KITT, uh, kits. It takes a special breed to consider spending more on this '88 Taurus than it likely cost new. If you have no problem dropping $20,000 of today's dollars on yesterday's prop, the Volo Auto Museum has your ride. The car is fully documented and carries a George Barris signature (George seems to have signed any and everything...) and several other prop items. There's even a Robocop suit for an extra three grand if you want to go all-out.

[Source: Hemmings]

Okay, let's get this straight. Back to the Future movies: cool. Making your DeLorean into a replica of the movie car: incredibly lame. Halfway between would be a reproduction flux capacitor. If you did buy this thing, you could certainly attain full lameness by installing in in your non-DeLorean.

There were talented people working in the entertainment industry to dream up those iconic vehicles of the 1980s like KITT, the BTF DeLorean and the A-Team van. Those cars have staying power with a generation of enthusiasts, but dressing up your car to match a prop is akin to putting on your C-3PO finery to go see Episode III. If you must have it for your '96 Neon, climb the stairs from your basement lair and ask your mom for $220 for what equates to a couple of lights in a box. Hey, Christmas is coming, if you jump up and down and stomp like you did in '85, you'll find this thing under the tree.

[Source: Engadget]

Now here's a Fiero bodykit that's worthwhile. TransFX, a California-based custom car maker responsible for several GM concepts as well as lots and lots of Batman's cars, boats, and planes, built four of these bodies for a Universal Studios project. Designed to be mounted on a stretched Fiero chassis, only a single roadgoing version exists, and the Volo Auto Museum will sell that to you for $65,000. You could spend less than one third that price and pick up this body shell, allowing you to then dream up your own undercarriage. We think it'd be good with a Porsche Boxster plugged in underneath.

What you get for $14,000 is a very cool futuristic bodyshell on casters. The outside might look an awful lot like a car, but climbing underneath tells the whole story. There's nothing to this car, yet. Its just waiting for you to marry your chassis to its bodywork. Then you'll have the task of creating the entire wiring harness, installing all the lights, the interior, and about a quintillion little issues that always crop up with kit cars, which this essentially is. What we want to know is what ever became of the project these props were commissioned for. We also hope that whoever wins the auction at least uses a Fiero GT as a donor. It just wouldn't do to put this car on a 2M4. The Iron Duke is definitely not an engine befitting Batman. Then again, the GT's 2.8 is merely suited to Boy Wonder. Now, a Northstar starts to show promise. Hmm.

Thanks for the tip, Jordan!

Yesterday a fire destroyed a barn at Hill End Farm in High Street, Sandridge in which props were stored for our favorite auto show from the UK, Top Gear. The free standing structure stored grain on one side, but the other was rented out by the BBC to house various props and equipment for Top Gear. There has been no word on Top Gear's website as to what items were destroyed, but we're nervous now that the Stig's list of Power Laps now exists only in our heads (and online).

Police have already concluded the fire is a case of arson and was set deliberately, though no suspects appear to be in custody. The barn itself is in a secluded area, so much so that firefighters had to wait for a long enough hose to arrive that would reach the nearest fire hydrant. There was also two acetylene cylinders and one oxygen cylinder reportedly housed in the barn, though they did not ignite.

[Source: St. Albans Observer]