You remember our post on the Custom Ford Model T Munster Koach a while back. Ah yes that fine George Barris created automobile built for the head of the Munster family. Well this morning I stumbled upon a LEGO creation of the not only the Munster Koach but Grandpa’s dragster, Dragula. Flickr member Orion Pax is well known for his LEGO creations of 80′s pop culture (Transformers, M.A.S.K., Ghostbusters, Back to the Future etc.) He’s recreated many On Screen Cars as well. But it looks like he’s given us a real treat from the 60′s this time. Check out the whole scene with the house below.

Just received word from car designer Kevin Morgan that his personal 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Custom Trans Am (#0008) is now up on eBay! If you’re not up to speed on Kevin’s designs please refer to our previous post about them. They are out of this world! Kevin had the vision of bringing back the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am we know and all love. But as you may know Pontiac has been shutdown. But who says you can’t make a Trans Am out of a Camaro? Trans Am Depot has been doing these Kevin Morgan conversions for quite sometime. You can either buy a late model Camaro and get in line or get this car today. Check out the details below.

Standard Trans Am Conversion (Base Pkg.)
1. Eibach Pro-Kit #38144.140 – 1″ Lowering Springs
2. Eibach Anti-Roll Kit #38144.320 – Anti-Roll Sway Bars
3. KM Forged T6 – 6061 Machined Faced Snowflake Wheels 20″x10″ Front
4. KM Forged T6 – 6061 Machined Faced Snowflake Wheels 20″x11″ Rear
5. Perelli Pzero 275/40/ZR20 – Front Tires – Front
6. Perelli Pzero 315/35/ZR20 – Rear Tires – Rear
7. New RTM-OEM Style Trans Am Hood
8. Functional Air Intake Shaker Scoop
9. Integrated, Hand Molded Fender Air Extractors
10. Restyled Bumper Cover Fascia Front
11. Restyled Bumper Cover Fascia Rear
12. Rear Spoiler
13. Side Ground Effects Pkg.
14. Rerouted Exhaust w/Side Exit Splitter Tips
15. Xenon HID Head Lamps
16. LED Custom Turn Signal
17. Custom TA Graphics Pkg.
18. Custom KM TA Numbered Edition Badge Pkg.
19. Custom Sill Plates
20. Embroidered Head Rest
21. Custom “Turned Aluminum” Dash and Door Panel Inserts

Own a piece of history! Those of you who recognize the origin of the iconic snowflake wheel, shaker scoop and TA 6.6 insignia, no doubt remember what started it all….. “Smokey and the Bandit”. Who knew in 1977, the year the movie Smoky and the Bandit released, that a five year old boy entering the first grade in Canton, PA would one day provide the inspiration to keep the Trans Am namesake alive. Now, 35yr. later, the once first grader is chief designer for Trans Am Depot, makers of the exclusively licensed 2012 Trans Am. The team of Morgan and the Depot have also released a 2012 GTO, ’69 style Trans Am, ’70 442 and many other of the hottest retro muscle cars to prowl the American streets in recent memory. These and other Morgan designs have been featured on Discovery Channel’s American Choppers, Hot Rod, High Performance Pontiac, Pontiac Enthusiast’s and more.

Now, you can own one of designer, Kevin Morgan’s 2010 Trans Am’s from his personal collection. Morgan is releasing car #8 to the public. This is only the second time that a new styled and licensed Trans Am has made it to the secondary market. The first one sold in excess of $115k. There is currently a two month waiting list just to get on the schedule to have one of these cars built. Spring is muscle car weather and you don’t want to miss this year’s opportunity to “show and shine”. As the saying goes…. “Enjoy life, you only live once”.

The commercial clip above kinda caught my eye as I was reading this post on hackaday.com. I do recall seeing this commercial during the late-80s. Note the passenger popping in a cassette-tape! But anyways at the time this commercial won some awards within the advertising community. I can see why. They cleverly synced the motions to the music in the background. The hackaday.com references this video because some interesting folks are experimenting with syncing windshield wipers to music! Very interesting. Sorry this is all I have for the moment. We’ve been very busy tending to a recent family emergency.

Just in from Masashi Togami and TEAM BTTF: We’ve received the following email from LEGO congratulating us on 5,000 supporters!

“Dear m.togami, Congratulations on passing this milestone of 5,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO for the Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine! You’re halfway there! Over the coming weeks, veteran designer Steen Sig Andersen, the same designer who built the final Shinkai 6500 and LEGO Minecraft Micro World models, will investigate your DeLorean model and build our own concept. We will post the results here with our comments once that is complete. Best wishes as you continue on your journey to achieving 10,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO. The LEGO CUUSOO Team”

On Screen Cars fans we’re getting close to reaching the goal of gaining an offical BTTF LEGO set. Not to mention the ultimate goal of helping the The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The group wishes to denote part of the proceeds from each set to the foundation. If you haven’t voted your support for the set please do so at the LEGO: CUUSOO site. It just takes a few minutes of your time and doesn’t cost a thing.

Anything left to sit and collect dust is never a good situation. Especially when it’s a famous movie car. After decades of wowing fans on the Universal Studios Back Lot Tour, the “A” Back to the Future Delorean car is in need of major dose of TLC. As you may know this car was one of the premium cars used in all three films. But don’t worry there’s hope! According to a recent article over at BTTF.com. Bob Gale writer and co-creator of the Back to the Future franchise is heading a project to restore the car to museum quality. Bob has in-listed the skills of BTTF Delorean replica masters Joe Walser, J Ryan and Terry Matalas. We’re looking forward to see how these guys make the magic happen. Learn more about the project and how you can help at BTTF.com. Remember the FUTURE is what you make it!

Car Warriors’ host Jimmy Shine takes a few minutes to tell fans about his passion for cars. Watch the exclusive clip above. See his response to “What car would you customize if you could customize any car?” This special clip is brought to us by Speed Channel’s Car Warriors. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night (Friday Feb. 24th) for the season 2 preview. As you may know we’re hosting a Watch-Twitter-Win event on our Twitter page (@onscreencars). Besure to tune in! You might be a lucky winner of the prize pack below!

Sweat, blood and tears are about to fly as a new season of Speed Channel’s Car Warrior previews Friday 2/24 at 10PM EST. Two teams from different backgrounds will come together head to head to build two custom cars in just 48 hours (previously 72 hours). New host Jimmy Shine will be the ultimate judge as to who wins. The first episode will feature two early 70s Chevrolet Camaros. If you’re not completely up to speed on Car Warriors be sure to check our article about the show from last season. But please come back. We’ve got some exciting news about the premiere!

On Screen Cars will be hosting a special event during the preview! There’s a very simple procedure to follow to be entered into the contest. As you watch the premiere keep an eye our Twitter feed (@onscreencars). We’ll be posting up trivia questions throughout the show. If questions are replied to (don’t forget our tag @onscreencars) and answered correctly you will be entered for a chance to win a Car Warrior’s Prize Pack! Simple right? We’ll see. Yours truly will have the questions ready for you! Be sure to spread the word. We’re all excited to be chosen for this opportunity!

Hot Wheels has some interesting new die-cast collectables out now for us On Screen Car fans. These are not your average 99 cent Hot Wheels cars. They are certainly not toys. The Elite Series provides collector consumers with high-end premium 1:18 and 1:43 scale replicas of famous cars. These cars have real synthetic rubber tires, authentic graphics high quality paint/finishes, moving steering wheels, working seat belt and opening doors/hoods/trunk. Engine compartments are fully detailed as well. A high level of care is taken into consideration for not only the customer but the brands and franchisees the models represent.

On Screen Car fans will especially love Elite’s latest releases. The Cult Classic Collection features cars from popular TV shows and Movies. Currently available are the Ghostbusters ECTO-1 and the A-Team Van. Both are available as 1:18 and 1:43 scale die-cats. According to their site we have a lot more to see from this collection. Vehicles including the Bat Pod, Ghostbusters ETCO-1A and Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. Can’t find these in stores? Look no further than Amazon for great deals on these masterpieces.

Racing games are lot of fun on a gaming console. Sometimes they’re not to bad on web either. Especially if you’re just looking for something to kill time. There are a few options on Facebook. We’ve talked about Car Town before. But recently I’ve played StreetRally. It’s a top down view racer much like Grand Thief Auto 2 without the murder and stealing cars. You can buy, build and race cars against friends. But the one thing that kinda turns me off is the inability to use anything but a keyboard for controls. Then I thought for a moment and a tool came to mind from my arcade emulation days. That program is called JoyToKey.

JoyToKey allows you to map buttons on a joystick or gamepad to a key on the keyboard. Best part is it’s freeware! You simply start up the application and assign which buttons you want to which key on the keyboard. As long as the application is running the buttons on the gamepad are mapped to the keys in your profile. All that’s left is to play your web-based game or any game that accepts keyboard input using your joystick or gamepad. You can setup multiple profiles for different games. I created a quick one to use with StreetRally. After using JoyToKey for a bit I noticed my lap times were much better! I hope this tip helps you out in improving your lap time. Till next time keep’r drifting!

2.13.2012 – Update

I had some other thoughts about this over the weekend. For those who own a XBOX 360 and a PC. You may not know it, but you can use your 360 controller on your PC. Drivers are available online or through Windows Update to make it work. From what I understand the 360 controller is also compatible with the JoyToKey! Don’t have a 360 controller or a 360? Don’t feel left out you can find them on Amazon
cheap!

Retro throw backs commercials are always good. There were a lot of great references to the original movie. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t bring back more of the cast. I was looking forward to Ben Stein saying “Bueller..Bueller..” I just wish Honda had a little bit hotter car to use. Ah it’s marketing they’re trying to move a product. However the scene where the guy jumps the CRV is hilarious!

Ya it’s a pretty good idea to start losing weight when you can’t fit through the door. Cute dog commercial / story. But not a lot was said about the car. But then again it speaks for itself. But I like the new Volkswagen Beetle. It’s a little more curvy and a lot sporter than previous models.

I think Chrysler is really tugging on the heartstrings of a America here. A lot of pathos going on here. They’re talking about current events, state of the union. A very similar patriotic ploy to last year’s Challenger commercial. But this time they brought in the big guns. Clint Eastwood made my day. No-pun intended.