I am not a movie star, but my car might be,...

quaddriver

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Got a call from Netflix productions the other day, from transportation procurement.

They film the series 'Mindhunter' in pittsburgh and the producers want 100% authenticity.

On each set they do not want pedant pointing out on the web 'well that model fridge/radio/couch did not exist at that time' and right now they are buying 1978/1979 items.

This season which is starting filming next week is about the Atlanta child murders.

Well one of the set designers has a booth at the same antique store I keep my pittsburgh stereos at and he gets a lot of radios from me - so far boom boxes, 8 track tape players and GE cubes (he snoozed and lost of a panasonic and technics stereo that sold quickly)

Word got out I have the 78 olds as I bring it to the store on the twice yearly cruise in (saturday is one) and local cruises, so I got the call they would like the car in the background shots.

I get $155 if I park it, $225 if I drive by. Gotta be available all day, no union cards needed. Can even be an extra (I asked if I could be a zombie - be more fun)

Not sure I can attend next weeks schedule as I got real work at work, but Im trying to work her in...

Last season, when they went to 'altoona' to interview someone in one of the episodes, one of my cubes was visible in the bedroom shot.
 
From some past friends with vint type cars that were in movie/ad productions...don't leave over night, and YOU are the only one behind the wheel.

Q
 
Sweet ride--I always loved those "boxy" B-body rides from back in the day. I see you've got the 403 Oldsmobird engine they used in the Pontiac TransAm's. Good luck with the "adventure".
 
I had a 77 Delta 88. Like driving your sofa down the road.

Looks great!
a 2 ton living room with a 4 barrel!

I have not sold her obviously (she is for sale) so I am doing some mods now that she is antique reg. small stuff right now - added a rear sway from a caprice cop car, got a PROPER air snorkel hose that is black, not silver from duct tape, found a perfect replacement for a slightly cracked front t/s lens, got the bumper fill panels in. gonna restore the radio over the winter (see my how-to guide on classic olds.com) and working up the parts for dual 'out the ass' exhaust...hunting up a dual hump crossmember from the 9C1 imps/caps of the 90's (it fits, just gotta re-weld the tranny mount)

some pie in the sky ideas are a built 2004R and change the axle from a 2.41 gearset to 3.08sh

some really pie in the sky ideas...a guy has a build plan to get 460hp from the 403 using proper bearing girdles and off the $helf part$ $till available.
 
a 2 ton living room with a 4 barrel!

I have not sold her obviously (she is for sale) so I am doing some mods now that she is antique reg. small stuff right now - added a rear sway from a caprice cop car, got a PROPER air snorkel hose that is black, not silver from duct tape, found a perfect replacement for a slightly cracked front t/s lens, got the bumper fill panels in. gonna restore the radio over the winter (see my how-to guide on classic olds.com) and working up the parts for dual 'out the ass' exhaust...hunting up a dual hump crossmember from the 9C1 imps/caps of the 90's (it fits, just gotta re-weld the tranny mount)

some pie in the sky ideas are a built 2004R and change the axle from a 2.41 gearset to 3.08sh

some really pie in the sky ideas...a guy has a build plan to get 460hp from the 403 using proper bearing girdles and off the $helf part$ $till available.


I loved how when stepped on, it stood up a few inches vertically and then went forward snapping your neck back
 
Sweet ride--I always loved those "boxy" B-body rides from back in the day. I see you've got the 403 Oldsmobird engine they used in the Pontiac TransAm's. Good luck with the "adventure".
but thats a C! The B (116 inch) was the 88, impala/caprice, Lesa, catalina/bonnie. The C (119") was a titch longer which added almost 2 inches rear legroom - the electra and the 98. and not to be outdone, caddy had a 'D' - deville/fleetwood/brougham etec (121.5"), which added nearly yet another 2 inches! but the underpinnings are all the same.

and let me tell ya something, you LEARN to appreciate modern brakes. I grew up driving my cutli, which originally had 14" wheels (my 72, 74's etc), went to 15 in 1975-77 with the same rotor. This has 15" wheels and slightly larger rotor still. Your redeye has more braking power in the REAR set than this does in the whole car. yikes. when people around here decide to jam on brakes for no damn good reason, I white knuckle it!

if money was no object, Id retrofit the 9C1 brakes from the 96 LT1 machines
 
The family had a '68 Caddy 4-door which got replaced by a '78 Caprice 4-door. The Caprice was my first driver. Say what you will about the "boats", body on frame for me is the only way to roll. My '08 Crown Vic ticks all the right boxes.
 
but thats a C! The B (116 inch) was the 88, impala/caprice, Lesa, catalina/bonnie. The C (119") was a titch longer which added almost 2 inches rear legroom - the electra and the 98.

Sorry--couldn't tell from the front clip shot whether it was an '88 or '98, but yeah, I know the difference, but as you said, they are all the same underpinnings.

you LEARN to appreciate modern brakes

Trust me--I know that one well. I fully restored a 1964 Ford Econoline van--a "party palace" machine. 300 I-6 in the "dog box" between the front seats, 3 on the tree, all manual steering and brakes--drums on all 4 wheels. Basically had the stopping distance of a freight train.
 
My grandfather had a '78 Ninety-Eight, and it was in that sort of an orange/copper color. Two other relatives had the '77 Delta 88s, including my uncle who had a string of Oldsmobiles. There was a '60s Toronado (too young to remember which year), the '71 Ninety-Eight sedan (which my grandfather bought from him in '73), a '73 Toronado, '75 Delta 88 coupe, and the '77 Delta 88 sedan. Always bought them "loaded." (Not meaning he was drunk :D but they always had the power windows/locks, cruise, etc.).
 
and when you drive by, remove apple/android watch from hand of arm on window ledge,
remove front dash cam, remove go pro from shirt lapel, remove rear backup cam,
but
have fountain pen in shirt pocket, remove chipotle bag, etc

have fun and play era-proper music in case they do a zoom in and in slow mo...

enjoy the ride.
 
Set dressing anacronysms and scene takes continuity are two things I generally catch in period films, pet peeves are when the older vehicles are better cdx than later models, and/ or a time machine apparently existed when later vehicles and furnishings dropped into an earlier period. Re, continuity, that should be obvious that *everything* in a scene, everything, stays identical for takes and following scenes. A worst offender award, I've been told that principal car swaps for stunts in the Dorks of Hazard were frequently sloppily obvious by those that saw it. Many stories about how many beaters of that model were destroyed doing the stunts for the "beauty" shot cars.
 
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Re, continuity, that should be obvious that *everything* in a scene, everything, stays identical for takes and following scenes.

I knew (well, still know, I s'pose) a fella in LA who has exactly that job. I forget which studio(s) w/ which he works, but he's, well, a "set continuity" guy. Lotta 'specialt' folk @ film shoots. back in the (pre CGI) day my uncle was a "car guy", ie, transporation captain, responsible for providing from his own stable or contacting and bringing in "hired" vehicles for shoots, particularly "period" pieces, e.g., The Godfather, The Great Gatsby, Chinatown, and a whole lotta other such films. Even brought together the Deloreans (three were made, IIRC) for Back To The Future. He held on to two of 'em for years but eventually sold 'em. I think he also owned one of the special little cars built for Fantasy Island, the one(s) driven by Hervé Villechaize. Left it outdoors a few years and the thing was a mess but we still found a buyer.
 
Mindhunter's is a great series, about the these two FBI agents that essentially invent FBI profiling (by interviewing serial killers and pyscho's).
 
Set dressing anacronysms and scene takes continuity are two things I generally catch in period films, pet peeves are when the older vehicles are better cdx than later models,

One of the guys in one of the car clubs I frequent has "connections" and quite a stable of vintage/classic cars, and he leases them out for movies and TV shoots. Of course, he is allowed on-set as part of the deal. One time he leased out a mint full body-off restoration '55 Chevy for a shoot and went to the set and could barely recognize his car. They had doused it with corn starch and water to make it dull/dusty and painted it up with some watercolor paints to make it look old/rusted/beat-up. He was pissed as all get out, but when they returned the car, it looked like it rolled off the showroom floor--everything they did washed right off and they had it professionally detailed.
 
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