Be sure to check out next week’s episode of Jay Leno’s Garage! Mike Rowe and Jay take James Garner’s Rockford Files Firebird out for a spin! Wednesday July 8th on CNBC, 10 pm Eastern.
07/02/2020
06/08/2020
02/25/2020
Terminator 3 Hearse
The Terminator 3 Hearse
Reported by Jim Suva
One of the most memorably roles for Arnold Schwarzenegger is that of the Terminator. He has starred in the first three Terminator movies as well as the latest Terminator: Dark Fate. This is a story about the Cadillac Hearse used in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which was released by Warner Brothers in 2003. The Hearse was featured in a big action chase scene, filmed in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.
Terminator Hearse comes to Volo
One of the longest standing movie car displays at the Volo Auto Museum is the Terminator 3 Hearse. At the time the movie came out, Brian Grams, Director of the Volo Auto Museum was buying a lot of cars from Cinema Vehicle Services. Cinema Vehicle Services is the largest supplier of TV/Movie vehicles in the Los Angeles area. An early 1980’s hearse used in the action-packed graveyard chase scene of Terminator 3 was one of the cars offered in a package deal. At that time Volo was very involved with buying and selling movie cars. At the same time Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of California and his last film was Terminator 3. The Volo Museum needed to keep this one for their collection.
Investigating the Terminator Hearse
According to Brian, it was a cool car with a lot of “behind the scenes”, “how was it done” items left in the car. Such as a washer bottle filled with a smoke fluid with lines running into the exhaust instead of the wipers, which would allow smoke to bellow out of the exhaust pipes. This gave the illusion of a car in trouble. The hearse also had several bullet holes, many of which were rigged to explode, but were never detonated, showing how they gave the car the illusion of being shot up. Holes were strategically placed and punched into the car, then filled with a plastic explosive and painted over for a seemingly smooth finish. Behind the sheet metal was an interstate of wires leading to each explosive. The explosives were detonated on command giving the illusion of being shot up. Volo built a life-sized Arnold Schwarzenegger replica, shown carrying a coffin to enhance the display and depicting the scene. The museum had a customer approach them, wishing to buy the car. They were only willing to sell if it could be replaced. Volo had reached out to CVS who had an additional hearse they were willing to part with, and described it as being a nicer car than their current one. Volo made the deal selling their hearse and replacing it with the new and improved one.
Volo Museum gets a surprise
After a long journey from California the enclosed semi from CVS arrived, the door began to lower and Brian’s stomach dropped. The hearse was not better than the one they had just sold, in fact it was incredibly worse! The roof was smashed in, the glass was broken, there were holes cut into it, the vinyl top was destroyed. It was missing hubcaps, just a mess of a car. In the movie the evil Terminator, played by Kristanna Loken, is chasing the hearse, jumps on and crushes the roof and sawed into it trying to get in. It was screen used, but not the car they wanted for display. Brian called CVS upset after receiving such a misrepresented car. They apologized and quickly discovered their mistake of giving the transporter the wrong car! That was an immediate relief for Brian! Because the car was in rough shape and the cost to transport a car from California is so expensive, they allowed Volo to keep the car for the cost of transportation. That way, CVS would not have to pay to have the car sent back. Volo sold the collapsed car and CVS sent Volo the correct hearse.
The Volo Terminator 3 Hearse
The 1981 Terminator 3 Cadillac Hearse is still on display at the museum after approximately 20 years. This car is nicer than the original one they had purchased. It has a 368 V8 engine with a 140 horsepower. That must be enough power to get anyone to their finally rest place! But it was not very fast. It was also equipped with the bullet holes and explosives, but it also had a hand brake installed to lock up the rear wheels for power slides. Inside the hearse Volo also found two cardboard sheets of paper with the car hand drawn with a layout of the bullet holes, each numbered. Brian assumes this is for the firing sequence, a bullet hole build sheet so to speak.
The Volo Museum Terminator Hearse display is one of their best. It is a must see at their museum.
02/06/2020
Rockford Files Replica Firebird used in Sextuplets Movie
Rockford Files Replica Firebird from the Netflix movie Sextuplets, is for sale on Facebook.
Jorge Casillas to The Street Machinery Sales And Service Sunday Swap-A-Rama
Replica “The Rockford Files” Gold exterior, Camel Tan vinyl interior, Pontiac V8 engine, automatic transmission. Esprit-Trans Am being the very rare Gold. Vehicle was used as the hero picture vehicle for a film here in Atlanta. Almost perfect condition, please feel free to call/message.
Serious inquires only please don’t waste my time.
Thank You. 
There were 3 Firebird replicated for the filming. Two are still owned by Jorge. The Hero Firebird below which he is selling for $17,500.00 is a 1977.
The second Stunt Firebird has an LS swapped engine, upgraded suspension and a fuel cell. It does need an interior. It is a 1978 model year. Selling price $18,500.00. Below are a few pictures of the Stunt Firebird.
Unfortunately, I do not have information on the third Firebird that was used in the movie. A number of people have expressed interest in owning a replica of the Rockford Firebird. Here is your chance. It is already painted in the correct color and needs very little work to get it totally correct.
Disclaimer: I have not seen these cars in person and I am just reporting on them.
01/22/2020
Fast and Furious, 1970 Dodge Charger
The Fast and the Furious 1970 Dodge Charger
Reporting by Jim Suva
In 2001, Universal Studio’s released a movie, The Fast and the Furious. It starred Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner. That movie started a franchise of nine movies to date, and is Universal’s largest franchise. Another star of the movie was a 1970 black Dodge Charger, which belonged to Vin Diesel’s character and is one of the most recognizable cars from this franchise.
This story is about one of the screen used 1970 Dodge Chargers and the history of the connection between The Fast and the Furious franchise and the Volo Auto Museum.
Volo Museum history with The Fast and the Furious
Over the years Volo Auto Museum has had numerous cars from The Fast and the Furious franchise, they estimate close to 50-60 cars. The first one Volo purchased was the Red RX7 that Vin Diesel drove in the first movie. Through a friend who dabbled in movie cars, the Director of the Volo Auto Museum, Brian Grams, was able to purchase a green Eclipse, driven by Paul Walker, and Vin Diesel’s stunt Charger, that was rolled over at the end of the first movie. Both purchases were from Cinema Vehicle Services, which is one of the largest suppliers of TV/Movie vehicles in Los Angeles. [On a side note, the rolled over stunt Charger looked a little bit different when they purchased it, because after the The Fast and the Furious movie, it had been used in a junkyard scene in the movie Herbie Fully Loaded.]
Brian received a call from someone who had a relationship with Universal Studios. He had heard of Volo’s reputation buying movie cars, and he had an entire lot of Fast and Furious cars from movies 1, 2 and 3 that he wanted to sell. The deal included approximately 20 cars, multiples of the 70 Dodge Challenger and the Yenko 1969 Chevy, a Camaro from 2 Fast 2 Furious, many of the import cars from the 3rd movie, three Monte Carlos and two Mustangs, one of which had a Skyline performance engine in it! Many of the cars were actually redressed and used in all the movies, cars from first movie were repainted and used in movies 2 and 3, and so on. But the favorite of the bunch was Vin Diesel’s hero Charger from the original The Fast and the Furious movie.
History of the screen used 1970 Dodge Chargers
There were a total of three Chargers built for the first movie plus a buck. A buck is a partial build vehicle, which is attached to another vehicle. The buck is driven by someone else so that the actors can be filmed doing their lines of dialog, with camera and sound equipment attached. Contrary to what rumors say, none of the cars actually had a Hemi engine. The garage scene that showed the blown Hemi, was just set in the car for that scene. The Charger never ran with that engine in it. Of the three cars, two were built for stunt and one for close ups. Volo already had one of the stunt cars, still in its rolled over condition, and now had the hero car. The other stunt car was kept by Cinema Vehicle Services and fully restored. During the restoration they did install a blown Hemi engine in the car. The Buck was also still at Cinema Vehicles at that time. The Hero Charger was kept by Universal and was displayed outside at Universal Studios in CA. Sadly, weather had taken its toll on the car.
The Hero Charger itself was actually built from a 1969 Charger and was made to look like a 1970. Since it was the hero car, there were no real modifications, no crash bracing under the hood, the interior roll bar was strictly cosmetic. The other two stunt cars had a heavier duty roll bar, the roll over cars main hoop was actually doubled up, and the difference can be spotted in the movie. It was a 318 car, and either Cinema Vehicle Services or someone prior, installed the hi performance 440 engine. The blower was a fake blower bolted to a tray that was built into the hood and a “belt guard” was built to hide the lack of a pulley and fan belt. [Side note: The original Fast and Furious movie was low budget and was originally titled Red Line.]
Fast and Furious Hero Charger history with Volo Auto Museum
Volo Auto Museum purchased the hero 1970 Charger and had the car sent to Custom Classics in Island Lake Illinois. There the car was stripped to bare metal and given a fresh show quality paint job. Volo also added a very low plastic bucket seat in passenger side of the car. Everything else was retained for originality, including the bolted-on blower for the engine. Volo’s Charger was the only one of the three to have a big block performance built 440 Magnum engine. This engine is still in the car today. Since Volo had this hero car they ended up selling the rolled over stunt car. [Side note: The person who bought the Volo’s stunt car eventually also obtained the buck from Cinema Vehicle Services.]
The museum displayed the Charger for a quite a long period of time and eventually sold it to someone who was going to open up a car museum in Nevada. Shortly after Volo sold the car, the buyer decided not to open up the car museum, and sold their collection off. Volo bought the Charger back. Then Volo sold it again this time to a customer in Norway. At that time Volo’s business focus was still prioritizing car sales over the museum. As their attendance built they decided to put more focus on the museum as an attraction, instead of solely focusing on sales. As Brian says, “We were keeping more of the movie cars, and only selling them to refine and better the collection”. Looking back at all the cars Volo had bought and sold prior to this point, there were many he wished we could have back, but The Fast and the Furious Charger which was #1 on that list, but knowing it went to Norway, he knew the chances of getting it back were very slim.
Volo finds a replacement Charger and then gets a surprise.
One day Brian received an email from a picture car provider. A picture car provider is a company that supplies vehicles to Movie/TV productions. This provider had a black 69 Charger that was used in the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The car was used as the Ghost Rider’s vehicle. It was black with a blower and was very similar to The Fast and the Furious Charger. They purchased this car because it was as close as they thought they would ever get to replacing the Fast and Furious Charger.
1969 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Charger
Only a few short weeks after buying the Ghost Rider Charger, Brian received an email from someone who was brokering the 1970 The Fast and the Furious Charger for the owner in Norway. He had a buyer, but wanted to confirm the car’s pedigree with Brian. Brian confirmed the pedigree and mentioned if the seller didn’t buy it, Volo would be interested. The next day, the seller said he would like to sell it back to Volo, and Brian excitedly agreed! Volo had the car shipped back from Norway. When it arrived at Volo, 10 years after it left, Brian was very pleased to see it in the same condition as when they had sold it. It even still bore their Volo Museum license plate. The owner from Norway had basically displayed the car and had not driven it.
Now that the car is back and Volo was given their third chance of owning it, they are not going to let it go! It’s almost as if it was destined to be owned by the Volo Auto Museum.
01/03/2020
Ford GT40 from Ford v Ferrari
Ford GT40 from Ford v Ferrari
Reporting by Jim Suva
The movie Ford v Ferrari opened in November, 2019. It stars Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. The movie tells the story of how Ford beat Ferrari in the 1966 “24 Hours of Le Mans” road race in France.
This story is about one of the screen-used Ford GT40s from the movie, and how Volo Auto Museum got ownership of it.
Opportunity Comes Calling
Brian Grams, Museum Director at Volo, was in his office chatting with his father, Greg Grams, Founder and CEO of Volo Auto Museum and Auto Sales. Greg had seen Ford v Ferrari the night before and was commenting about how great it was, and how Brian had to go and see it. Ironically, at that exact moment Brian received a text message from one of his contacts who works in the Entertainment industry. He was asking if Volo Auto Museum wanted any cars from the movie. Brian knew they would not be bargain autos by any means, and he figured there would be little interest on Volo’s behalf, considering they did not have any space to display an additional movie car at that moment. But he still brought it up to his father, whose eyes lit up with excitement. Brian thinks the adrenaline from seeing the movie was still racing in his veins, because Greg was definitely interested.
The offer was pretty wide open as far as the pick of the litter. They had their choice of cars, from the Ken Miles family’s woody wagon, to partially assembled Ford Falcons from the Ford factory scene, to Corvettes, Porches, Ferraris and of course, the GT40s. Not having seen the movie, Brian gravitated to the Ferraris, whereas his dad loved both the Ferraris and GT40s. They knew there was a limited window on this opportunity, because the cars were released that day, and were offered up to museums and collectors. They knew that the best ones would be the ones to disappear first. Brian and Greg narrowed their choices down to the #21 Ferrari or the Green #95 GT40. Greg suggested Brian and his brother Jay, go to see the movie. This would help them to decide which would be the right car. They could then make a more informed decision the following morning. Jay went to see the movie, but Brian was unable to go.
The next morning Jay said, “Get the GT before its gone! The whole movie is about the GT40!” Brian tried calling his father, but could not reach him. He called his mother and asked her to get in touch with Greg, but she had no luck either. Not wanting to miss out on the car, Brian decided to pull the trigger on the green #95 GT40. The purchase was done sight-unseen, and with little to no information about the car. He knew it had an LS3 engine and he had seen a few photos of the car, sandwiched between other cars, and it showed a lot of scrapes and scratches. Brian at this point had no idea how the car was built. Was it built quickly, just so that it would look good on film, like so many Movie/TV cars? Was the car built with quality in mind? What was he going to get for the premium price he was about to pay? He also knew in the back of his mind, that no matter the car’s condition, it would be timeless. Ford v Ferrari is the first true car movie to have been released for many years. Even the Fast and Furious franchise, that features a lot of cars is not a true car lovers movie. So here he had a real car from a true car movie.
After making the commitment to purchase the car, Greg reached out to Brian (the adrenaline of the movie having since left his veins), and decided that Volo did not need the car, did not have the space, and felt the funds could be better used elsewhere. When Brian told him he already bought the car, Greg was angry that Brian did not wait to discuss the purchase with him, but Brian also thinks he was secretly pretty happy and excited.
Inspection and History of Volo’s Ford GT40
The deal was completed and the car picked up. Upon delivery Brian noticed that the many scrapes and scratches that were on the car were actually studio effects! They were painted on, including dirt and brake dust, to give the car that race-track-used look. There was no actual damage to the car! He was happy to learn the car was not the typical movie car that was cheaply built just to look good on screen. It was an incredible build.
This is where Brian’s research began, which wasn’t too difficult, because the movie’s recent release. The first thing he did was a Google search, and picked bits and pieces out of articles. During that process he learned that two companies, Superformance and Race Car Replicas had supplied a majority of the cars to the film. Brian reached out to both Superformance and RCR. RCR replied that it was one of the cars they had built. They supplied the production company with over 100 cars, from the Ferraris to Porsches, GT40s, etc. All the cars used the same driveline per request by the production company. All the cars were powered by LS3, for ease of repairs and maintenance on the set. This was much easier than having a variety of different drivelines. There were a total of twelve GT40s and RCR supplied 10 of them. Superformance supplied the other two.
The cars all featured an RCR custom built aluminum chassis, designed after the original GT40 chassis. The body is made of fiberglass from a mold that was taken off an original GT40. It is a very close replica to an original GT40, unlike other replicas that have mis-proportioned bodies and use existing chassis, from a Fiero, for example. The RCR GT40 has the same chassis design, but is a few hundred pounds lighter because of its use of aluminum instead of steel. It handles and performs much like an original GT40. RCR sent the cars to the production company complete, with exception of one thing, the paint. All the cars were sent in bare gel coat, ready to be painted by the production company.
Another discovery Brian made was a few sheets of paper in the car, which depicted the Daytona race scene. This was an outline so the drivers knew where they needed to be positioned and when. It was essentially the race choreography. There was also a GPS transponder likely to be used by production to monitor everyone’s position and speed. One last thing he found in the car was a tag labeled Paul Dallenbach. With a Google search he discovered that Paul is a professional stunt and race car driver. Paul is the one who drove this GT40 in the movie. Paul said the car handled great, like a true race car, with the exception of the tires, which were chosen for looks instead of performance. They had a hard time sticking. Paul drove the car on average 130 mph for filming. Ironically, the #95 car that Paul was driving was in the 24 Hours of Daytona race scene, where car #95 had come in 2nd place. In real life, Paul actually raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona race, and placed 2nd in his racing career!
In the movie there are far more than twelve GT40s shown. Since the production company had only twelve cars, how was that possible? The cars were recycled and painted to look like different cars for different scenes. Through a friend, Brian was able to get a few images from the production “key list” of cars. He learned before Volo’s car was the green #95, it was the red #3 Dan Gurney car, that was used in the Le Mans race scene, as well as a yellow #8 car that was used in one of the pit scenes of the Le Mans race.
In addition, the key list showed a scene where the green #95 car hits a 66 Mustang, in which the Mustang ends up exploding. Unfortunately this scene must have ended up on the cutting room floor.
One last discovery was the paint scheme of the #95 car, the real Moody and Holman #95 car that raced the 24 hours of Daytona was white with some green accents. So why was this car not painted the same? The production company did this intentionally, to help the audience more easily identify cars that would otherwise look too similar and could be confusing to movie goers.
Final comment
I went to see this movie and I can’t wait for it to come out in digital format. In my opinion, it is one of the best racing movies ever made. If you get a chance, go see the movie and then come to the Volo Auto Museum to see this piece of movie history. You will not be disappointed!
12/10/2019
Last Built General Lee in Georgia
Last Built General Lee in Georgia
Reporting by Jim Suva
In 1978, Warner Brothers Studios had a new TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard. It starred John Schneider as Bo Duke and Tom Wopat as Luke Duke. They were cousins who lived with another cousin, Daisy Duke, played by Catherine Bach. They lived in corrupt Hazzard County and were always in trouble with the law for doing the right thing. Another star of the show was their 1969 Dodge Charger they called the General Lee. The show ran for seven seasons, from 1979 to 1985.
The Start of Filming
Warner Brothers in California built three General Lees and sent them to Georgia for filming in November of 1978. The first five episodes of Dukes of Hazzard were filmed in Georgia, from November to December of that year. Don Schisler was hired as the transportation coordinator for the show and H&H Auto Body, owned by Henry Holman, was the shop that kept the cars in good working order. During that time, they rebuilt the three original General Lees over and over, to the point that they needed to acquire more cars. They built and used two more Chargers during filming for the first five episodes, for a total of five General Lees. After the first five episodes, production went on Christmas break; filming was to continue in January. However, during the Christmas break, Warner Brothers decided it would be better to film in California instead of Georgia, and production never returned to Georgia. The Studio had any usable vehicles in Georgia sent to California. This included three General Lees. The rest of Season 1 and all additional seasons were filmed in California, where it has been said anywhere from 250 – 350 General Lees were used. Of the five General Lees from the Georgia filming, Lee #1 and Lee #2 were scrapped, Lees #3, #4 and #5 were sent to California, used, and eventually scrapped. None of the five screen used Georgia cars remains today.
Volo’s History with The General Lee (#6)
In 2007 Volo Museum Director, Brian Grams, ran across a General Lee for sale. The description was vague, but it appeared to be documented with Warner Brothers paperwork. Volo promoted a “real General Lee” which sparked heated debate in the Dukes of Hazzard Fan community. They were told the car was never used, nor was it built by Warner Brothers. Volo was told it was bought as a parts car and was turned into a replica General Lee much later. At that time, Brian was no expert on the Dukes of Hazzard, so he had to rely on what he was told. But Brian also asked a lot of questions!
Investigation into Volo’s General Lee (#6)
The former president of the now defunct General Lee Fan Club, Travis Bell, visited the museum, suspicious of the validity of the car. He looked the car over and was able to confirm with Volo that their car has the main hoop section of the roll bar in it from Lee #1. Travis has the additional pieces of the roll bar from Lee #1 and was able to match them up, using the cuts and some of the chain links. Travis also supplied Volo with a few pictures of the car in pre-General Lee condition, taken at H&H Auto Body. This is where Brian’s investigation truly began.
Looking at the photos of the car in its original state, it was obvious to him that the car was much too nice to have been a parts car. Brian questioned if they had a car that nice sitting there, then why would they not use it instead of rebuilding the wrecked ones? One thing the photos did prove is that the car was still in its original state after filming had finished in Georgia. Lee #1 was repainted blue and used in the final scene filmed. Lee #1 was sitting next to Volo’s car (gold) in its final state before going to the scrap yard. Brian knew it was not screen used, but still questioned its pedigree based on the fact it was too nice to be a parts car.
He contacted a man by the name of Jon Holland. Jon had written a book called Roads Back to Early Hazzard. He was and still is the devil’s advocate about this car, saying that it is a Warner Brothers owned parts car that was bought by Don Schisler and turned into a General Lee replica years after production. Don gave the car to his son, John Schisler. Jon Holland has talked down the car since day one, which has been one of the greatest resources Brian could have had, because whenever Jon said something about the car, it gave Brian a new direction. For example, Jon said the car was painted several years after production left Georgia. This gave Brian the clue to finding out when the car was painted. If it was painted several years later, then it is a replica, plain and simple. However, if it was painted before Don Schisler bought the car (Dec 1, 1979) then it is a real General Lee and not a replica.
Thus began the quest: when was the car painted orange? No one seemed to know. Jon Holland’s theory is that the car was gold when production left Georgia, as seen in the photos. Brian’s debate on that is that just because the film production went on break, that didn’t mean business at H&H stopped. They had wrecked cars to dispose of, and not knowing at the time that production wouldn’t return, they would have been preparing for the return of production, which was supposed to happen in only a few weeks. Filming stopped, production did not.
The first thing that was proven, thanks to Travis Bell, was that the roll bar was in fact from Lee #1. The next thing discovered was that it was not Larry West who did the graphics on the car. Brian had posted the car to the Volo Auto Museum’s Facebook page which showed a man painting the graphics on it, with the caption “Larry West painting the graphics on our General Lee”. Soon after, someone named Ronnie Edwards left a comment “That’s not Larry West, that’s me”. Brian reached out to Ronnie and asked some questions. Ronnie was hired by Don Schisler to do graphic painting. Ronnie said Don hired him to do two General Lees. Lee #6 was for the show, it was a gold car with a 360 engine, that is Volo’s car. Ronnie said “It’s the real deal and the holy grail of all General Lees out there”. Ronnie could not remember when he did the graphics on the car, but he did supply Brian with more photos of the car when it was at his shop, having the graphics painted. There was an interesting item in one photo, the roof of a General Lee can be seen leaning against his building. This was the roof from Lee #2. They cut it off so Ronnie could copy the graphics.
Lee #1 and Lee #2 went to the scrap yard on Christmas Eve 1978, which raises the thought in Brian’s mind, if the car was built years later and Lee #1 and #2 went to the scrap yard, what is the probability that they would have, without reason, cut out the roll bar from Lee #1 and the roof of Lee #2, and just have them sitting around for years. Common sense says, they cut those parts off because they had immediate use, which tells Brian the photos were taken closer to the filming dates than the claimed built dates. Common sense isn’t proof though. Brian studied the pictures hard, looking to see if he could find something with a date, like a registration sticker, and then he spotted it. In the background of the General Lee is a sign “Bill Hutson for Sheriff”. Bill Hutson became Sheriff in 1980, his campaign was in 1979. The election was the 2nd Tuesday in November of 1979. Ordinance is a campaign sign must be down no later than 10 days after the election. This was a populated town and not a rural area, the ordinance would likely have been enforced. That means the picture was taken no later than November 23rd 1979, and there the car is, as a General Lee. That means the car was turned into a General Lee sometime between December 24th 1978 and November 23rd 1979. Don didn’t buy the car until December 1st of that year, after it was already a General Lee. This also proves Jon’s “Years later” comment was incorrect. Being fair, there could have been a verbal agreement between Warner Brothers and Don and that’s just the paperwork date. So technically, Don could have built it into a replica, just earlier than thought.
Travis Bell, who confirmed the roll bar, had come across more photos of Volo’s General Lee, this time at H&H Auto Body with H&H employee Danny Hobbs behind the wheel of the car. Those photos place the car at H&H proving H&H were the ones to paint the car. So, Brian questioned how he could get in touch with any of the original builders. Ronnie Edwards was able to give him contact info for Don Schisler’s son, John, who was a helping hand during production, as well as the one the car was supposedly built for. Don had passed away several years prior to Brian’s investigations, so he was unable to speak with him. When Brian asked John about the car and brought up the story about the replica built from a parts car for him, he chuckled and said, “There is nothing further from the truth”. They had a discussion, which he later put in writing, that it was the last car they had built for the show. He said he remembered it well because it was the last one built. He said it is the only surviving Georgia era General Lee.
Brian was able to find Henry Holman, owner of H&H Auto Body and speak to him. Henry said, in writing, it was the last car they had built for the show, Lee #6. He also said he remembered it well, because he was the one who found it. Henry was making a beer run to the gas station, when a woman pulled up in the car, he asked her if she wanted to sell it, put her in touch with Don and they made a deal. He said when it was announced that production was moving to California there were four General Lees on set, three of them went to California, and the fourth was given to Don Schisler, to settle money owned to him by Warner brothers. Warner Brothers gave Don Schisler all the unusable wrecked and scrapped cars as partial payment. This showed the car as being built prior to mid-January 1979, and built for Warner Brothers with intent to be used, NOT as a replica for Don’s son.
Later Brian was able to track down John Blanchette, who purchased the car from Don Schisler in November of 1980. According to him, Don told him the car was screen used for close up shots and was sold to him as the real deal. John, amazingly, kept and still had possession of all his records of the car from work he had done to it, old photos, letter correspondents and best of all the original ad he purchased it from. The ad that Don Schisler himself posted. The ad clearly reads “General Lee as owned and built by Warner Bro. for Dukes of Hazzard series, not a replica, only privately-owned General Lee in existence.” The phone number in the ad corresponds to Don Schisler and is actually still is registered to his family.
Brian was later able to contact one other person, Danny Hobbs, the man pictured in the car at H&H Auto Body. He too confirmed that they “Got it ready, but didn’t use it” in the Georgia episodes.
Explaining the False Stories
As a summary, the false “known history” of the car was that it was originally bought by Warner Brothers, used as a parts car only, and was sold to Don Schisler, who later restored the car into a replica for his son John. Actually, this was the 6th General Lee ever built, as well as the last General Lee ever prepared by the Georgia crew for screen use. It is also the only surviving Georgia-era General Lee. If filming didn’t move to California, this car would have been used and would not exist today. It is the first General Lee ever to be released to the public. The Volo ad has cool factor of being the first advertisement ever for a General Lee!
So, where did the parts car/replica rumor come from? This is what Don Schisler told people over the years. But why? It’s likely because when production moved to California, Don was given all the scrap and parts cars. Since the car was never screen used, Warner Brothers wouldn’t have known if the car was a parts car or a ready-to-use General Lee. He could easily acquire the car by saying it’s a parts car. The bill of sale shows “$10 and consideration” which supports the car was given to him as part of the “scrap and parts cars agreement”. When questioned, to avoid any backlash, he maintained the story he told Warner Brothers, except when he told the complete opposite, in writing, in his ad! Don basically told two different stories.
Travis Bell and a partner of his, located Lee #1 in the scrap yard and purchased it. That is how Travis was able to confirm the Volo car’s roll bar is from Lee #1. Volo’s #6 car has had only 1,500 miles on it since 1978 and it is all original and unrestored, just as it was built in 1978/79. Original H&H paint, original hand painted graphics, original wheels, push bar, etc., hence the only “Surviving Georgia Lee”.
Epilog
Brian believes only 20 TV series General Lees exist. 17 of the California cars were sold off to Wayne Wooten in 1990 – these are the ones that have a contract and are for private use only. There is Volo’s Lee #6, Lee #1, now owned by Bubba Watson, and there is a California TV series car that Warner Brothers painted a different color and used for another TV show after Dukes of Hazzard. It was later discovered to be a General Lee. Volo’s car is the nicest unrestored General Lee in existence.
You can find a video and many of the documents on the Volo Auto Museum website https://www.volocars.com/the-attraction/vehicles/13166/1969-dodge-charger
Miami Vice Screen Used Daytona
Miami Vice Screen Used Daytona
Reporting by Jim Suva
In 1984, a new TV show called Miami Vice hit the air waves on NBC. It was a big hit because of the designer clothes, exotic cars, the hit sound tracks. Don Johnson starred as Sonny Crockett and Phillip Michael Thomas as Rico Tubbs as two undercover Miami Vice detectives. Sonny drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona GTS/4 Daytona Spyder.
The Ferrari Daytona cars that were used on the first two seasons, and a few episodes of Season 3, were actually Daytona kit cars built on a Corvette chassis. This is the story of the original Daytona, Car #1. The car is presently owned by the Volo Auto Museum, in Volo, Illinois. Brian Gram oversees Volo’s extensive Star Cars display. He has thoroughly researched the Daytona Spyder, and this is what Brian found out about the history of their car.
Birth of the Daytona Spyder Kit Car #1
In the 1980s, Al Mardekian, who was a specialty car dealer in CA, also built kit cars, such as a Lamborghini. He considered doing a Cobra replica and contacted known builder Tom McBurnie. Tom visited Al’s shop to discuss the project. Al’s idea was to build a Cobra on a Corvette chassis. Unfortunately, Tom said the proportions were too different to make this possible. While at the shop, Tom noticed a Ferrari Daytona Spyder for sale in the dealership showroom, and asked, “What about a Daytona?” Al agreed and gave Tom the Daytona (which was really a customer’s car and not Al’s) to be dismantled and have molds made from it. Once the molds were made, Tom set out to make his first car, which was built on a 1976 Corvette chassis. When putting the car together he ran into an issue. The panels did not fit on the passenger side. Tom was unaware that the Corvette donor car had been in an accident and was improperly repaired. The wheelbase was 1.5 inches shorter on the passenger side than on the driver side. Tom was able to make the adjustments to make it fit, the car was painted red and had a Gale Banks Twin Turbo engine in it. Tom continued to build an additional three cars, known as Cars #2, #3, and #4. Car #4 was black with a tan interior, built on a 1981 Corvette chassis. Those were the only cars Tom built for Al.
The Miami Vice Connection
Meanwhile, Universal Studios was working on the new Miami Vice TV series. They wanted an exotic car that would fit the character of Sonny Crocket. Miami Vice producer, Michael Mann, was friends with Dan Haggerty, a.k.a. Grizzly Adams. Dan had seen the Daytona replicas on Al’s car lot and suggested to Michael that they should be used on the show. Michael went to visit Al and asked about leasing Car #4, the black and tan one, and Al agreed. The Miami Vice pilot was filmed, and the show went into production. Once in production, they needed a second car to use as a stunt vehicle. They ended up leasing Volo’s Car #1 from Al. They had to remove the Gale Banks motor for a tamer engine and painted the car black so it would match Car #4. Meanwhile, Al got into some difficulties, and Universal was concerned because they were leasing the cars. The studio couldn’t afford to lose them. So, they did what any large, well-heeled movie studio would do, they bought them! (See Ferrari Lawsuit Section below.)
Universal Studios secured the cars and continued to film. On an interesting note, Michael Mann placed the Ferrari emblems on these cars, and it is obvious he placed them incorrectly. In the early episodes, you can see that the nose emblem was placed high above the headlights. In later episodes it was moved to the correct location between the lights.
A Real Life Miami Vice Sting Operation
During filming, one of the Daytona’s was borrowed by a mechanic who worked on the set. Unfortunately, the mechanic used the car to make an illegal deal selling gun silencers. But it was a sting operation and he was arrested. Luckily, the car was returned to the set, unharmed by the experience!
Ferrari Lawsuit
Since Miami Vice became such a popular TV show, Ferrari became upset with the notoriety the replica Ferrari was receiving, so they sued Universal Studios. In the end, Ferrari and Universal came to an agreement; they would get rid of the Daytona in the storyline. This would ostensibly make people forget about the Daytona. Ferrari would then donate two new Testarossa’s to take place of the Daytona’s in the show. But how would they make Sonny’s Daytona disappear from the storyline? The answer was simple. Blow it up on the show! Disclaimer: Special effects were used; no Daytona’s were actually harmed during filming!
Universal Studios now had two Testarossa’s and two Daytona’s, but they needed a Testarossa stunt vehicle. They agreed to trade the two Daytona’s to Carl Roberts, who had been involved in maintaining the cars on set, for a Testarossa replica for stunt use. Carl built the Testarossa stunt car, and took possession of the two Daytona’s, but without their titles.
Carl wanted to go into business building Daytona replicas. However, Ferrari eventually sued both Tom McBurnie and Carl Roberts for trademark infringement and put a stop to production.
Daytona Car #4 history after Miami Vice
Carl Roberts sold one of the Daytona’s, Car #4 to a private party. Car #4 changed hands several times, but today has been owned by the same owner for many years.
Daytona Car #1 history after Miami Vice
After Miami Vice stopped using the Daytona’s, Carl Roberts rented out two Daytona’s to produce Speed Zone, starring John Candy. Which included car #1.The movie was filmed in Canada. The cars were delivered to Canada, used for filming, and then set back to California. Carl hired Don Horn to pick the cars up in California and bring them to his shop in Lubbock Texas for storing. That way Carl could pick them up at a later date. Carl sent a driver out to pick up the “Hero” (Car #1), but the driver blew the motor, so Carl had Don Horn pulled the engine from the other Daytona. Once that was done the hero car was driven back to Carl’s garage. Carl made a deal with Don Horn that he would trade Don a Daytona body kit to cover the cost of the repairs. Don borrowed the money from Roger Pamperine to do the repairs. But Don never paid Roger Pamperine and Roger put a lien on the car. The lien was for $3,000, but Roberts refused to pay. In order to get a title, the car had to be put into a police auction and sold. Roger Pamperine bought the car from the auction, allowing him to get legal title, selling the car to regain his investments.
The car was then acquired by Jeff Allen from the TV show Car Chasers. He put it on eBay, where the Volo Auto Museum was the high bidder. Jeff represented the car as the original Daytona from Miami Vice, he had documentation, emails and letterhead copies that referred to this and the other Speed Zone car as Miami Vice Daytona’s. Brian Grams, not being a historian on Miami Vice, accepted the documents as proof of it being the original car.
Volo Auto Museum did a partial restoration and presented the car in the museum. Shortly after being put on display, the Volo Museum was called out for representing a replica car as the original. Most of the time Brian ignored those comments, because usually they came from Miami Vice fans who were comparing the car to what they saw on-screen. In this case, it was not accurate, since Carl Roberts had modified the car for Speed Zone. Then, a person who had knowledge of the original VIN numbers approached Brian. He was friends with the owner of Car #4, and he had copies of the Universal documents that listed the two Daytona VIN numbers. He was able to confirm that Brian’s VIN number was neither of the VIN numbers listed. He knew a story of Carl Roberts scrapping the chassis and not knowing the whereabouts of Car #1’s body, and he suggested that maybe the Volo car was the body from Car #1. They went back and forth over many of the unique details of the body. There was a patch where the fiberglass was repaired, from when Michael Mann improperly placed the nose emblem, the passenger side of the car was shorter by 1.5 inches, and it was red under the black paint. There were holes cut in the doors where speakers were originally placed in the Miami Vice car. The auto museum determined that it was likely, but unprovable, that this was the body from Car #1. Brian left it at that, not happy, but satisfied it wasn’t a complete replica car. The problem was that even though there was evidence to support it, it cannot be proven this is the Car #1 body.
This put a fire in Brian, he knew he was missing something. He went to the car and wanted it to talk to him. Brian just kept looking at it wondering what was missing, and then there it was! He was reading the VIN number and he noticed the rivets holding the VIN tag were not GM rivets, which immediately made him question the authenticity of the VIN tag. Brian immediately went searching for the frame number, which is located at the rear of the frame, near the rear tire, but there was no VIN, no stamping of any kind. Remember, Car #1 was wrecked before Tom McBurnie got it. The entire rear section of the frame was replaced with a new one. That was evident by the type of welds. Not knowing any additional location where he could check a VIN number, Brian was quite let down. One more piece of the puzzle, the frame replacement, supports it being Car #1 but without that VIN, the proof wasn’t there.
Brian called a Corvette restorer whom he knows and was told the VIN is also on top of the frame on the driver’s side. He told Brian you can’t see it without taking the body off. Brian knew taking the body off was not an option. The Corvette expert said, if you were to sit in the driver’s seat, place your hand down on the sill, that’s where it would be located on the frame. Brian got a hole saw and cut a hole there, and just like a bullseye, there was a VIN number. It was NOT the same VIN number listed on the tag. The VIN number on the tag was for an 81 Corvette, the frame was a 1976 frame. Brian called the original source who had knowledge of the VIN numbers, to see if it matched against the Universal paperwork. Unfortunately, he was on vacation. After about a week of nail biting, he did call Brian to congratulate him on finding the missing chassis, but the body still could not be confirmed. Then it occurred to Brian that perhaps the original trim tag was still in the door jamb, and sure enough, it was. The codes on the tag were for a 1976 Corvette, NOT a 1981 Corvette like the VIN tag would have implied. To further prove it, the date code on the Trim Tag matched up to be within three weeks from the date of the frame. Everything was finally tied together and proven! Volo had found, without doubt, the missing Daytona from Miami Vice and the #1 prototype Daytona replica. He was provided with copies of the Universal Documents once he was able to prove the car’s pedigree. Brian talked to Tom McBurnie about it and he mentioned it was originally a green Corvette, who said that the original car he used was white. Brian sanded down some of the paint in the door jamb, and it went from black, to red, to white, and finally green. The car must have been painted white after the collision. Mystery solved!
Conclusion
Since the discovery, Volo Auto Museum has spent thousands of dollars reversing the modifications made to the car by Carl Roberts. Their goal was to bring it back to its screen accuracy as closely as possible to its Miami Vice days.
Here is link to a YouTube video Volo did with Tom McBurnie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRKxnCj5Gpk
10/18/2019
The Rockford Files Trading Card Set
Matt Williamson from Retro Cards has introduce a set of 20 Trading Cards of The Rockford Files. These are like the old trading cards that came in packages of bubble gum.
Here is a link to their web site to purchase a set. http://thecowboysguide.com/RetroCards-Rockford.html?fbclid=IwAR03aAIOogVC0sCLgVMhocdoa0OJIvdhYbdFCnTUQVSlDOvmRrBWF09Uhxo
My favorite is the #9 Card for the Rockford Firebird. They used a picture that I took of my 1977 Firebird.
I received my set of Rockford cards and they absolutely look great. I recommend these to anyone who likes the Rockford Files. A wonderful addition to any Rockford Files collection.
07/14/2019
1979 Vista Group/Rockford Files Photo Shoot
1979 Vista Group/Rockford Files Photo Shoot
Eric Dahlquist and James Garner
Here is the latest addition to my Suva/Rockford Collection. This year for my Birthday, my wife Julie purchased a number of slides, negatives, proof sheets and original drawings. These items are from a photo shoot by the Vista Group in 1979. It features James Garner and the vehicles from The Rockford Files. They were creating a poster for GMC Trucks.
Here are some of the pictures from the GMC Truck photo shoot. The Cherokee Productions trucks are in the back belonged to James Garner.
These pictures are from the Rockford Firebird and the Trans Am Kamback wagon being added to the shoot.
Here are two posters that came out of this photo shoot.
I am always looking for Rockford Files photos and memorabilia. If you have anything, please contact me at: jimsuva34@aol.com
Jim Suva and The Suva Files
Star Car Research
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