Doesn't the spoiled rich kid Art Thief on the TV show Melrose Place drive a C2S Cab

 

A beautiful car, but a total nightmare to own. I bought a 2007 Vantage new, nothing but problems. Oil leak, bad belts, stereo problems, etc, etc. I lost my shirt on that trade but wasn't going to be unhappy with a car. It was a total horse and pony show at the factory tour, but what you really get is a polished turd.

 

Hi all,

I've worked in the transportation aspect of the movie business now for 30 years. Part of my jog is dealing with "picture cars". The cars you see on screen.

Most people dont realize how much goes into making a TV show or movie, thought, planning, etc. Its a ton!

Anyway, with all that said, the reason you see some cars more than others on screen is a 2 -fold process...and, its very different with TV shows than movies.

Lets talk TV shows first. For a TV show, its all about $$$. Creativity comes second over $$$. So, whatever "promo" vehicle the show/studio can get for free is what they will use. Porsche has a pretty liberal promo deal for TV shows (as well as many other car companies). As long as the script doesn't have the "bad guy" driving the car, gets crashed or its not used in any way negatively, its pretty much a given that you can get one for free for your TV show.

Now, movies are a whole different ball game. They tend to put creativity over $$$. That being said, I am sure Audi paid a hefty price (in cash and free multiple R8's) to the studio to get them to feature their car. But, a studio will go out and buy or rent one or many cars if they need to crash them, use them in a negative fashion, etc...If that's what the director wants. For the most part, its a small price to pay if it carry's the story line creatively in the directors vision.

A great example of this is when I worked on the Eddie Murphy movie "Haunted Mansion". We went to BMW to ask them for 2 x 745 series cars that Eddie Murphy would drive and end up crashing in the movie. They said no as it portrayed their brand in a negative light. Mercedes was willing to give us 2 S class cars for free. The director wanted BMW...so, we ended up buying one new (to be crashed) and renting one that he drove on camera. Cost was way over $100,000.00 (probably closer to $150K) for the purchase, rental, crash and re-build of the car.

So, there is more that goes into seeing a car on the screen than you may realize...And, in most cases, if there are any stunts, crashes, chase scenes with cars, there are doubles, triples or even quadruples of vehicles...each one plays a different role.

Enjoy!

Steve

 

Great post !! Even though i knew profit and creativity played into the cars selected .. I did not know how and yoir post places a great perspective on it.

 

I have noticed a few depictions like these . Bruce Willis plays a role in Disney's "The Kid" with a 996 cab of being somewhat egotistical .
Yet on the other hand in Legally Blonde Reese Witherspoon drives a Boxter and it's more comedy based. Another 911 Porsche comes to mind in "Can't Buy me Love" .

So it's usually a self centered adult or spoiled kid driving a Porsche?
For once it woild be refreshing to either see the car with some sort of heroic virture.

 

I've found the 997 turbo to lack a bit of emotion compared to the lambo. I think the R8 is really a better comparison. Both make great DD's and fly under the radar much better than the lambo.

In my personal experience the lambo is pretty reliable and I agree the E gear feels very crude after driving the PDK.

I drove my lambo for several hrs yesterday and then got into my C2s and the refinement is just light years ahead in the porsche, but it does not make your heart race in the same way. If it came down to picking one to drive on the track I would take the Porsche hands down. If I want to get noticed in a valet line I'm taking the lambo.

 

LOL - that's the quote of the week right there. Seriously, sorry to hear about your experience. I still love the V8 Vantage and almost bought one over my 997 C2S. Interesting perspective - I didn't know they had that many issues.

 

Part of it is also that Audi is just spending a hell of a lot more money on marketing in movies these days. I can name a bunch of recent movies with new generation Audi's. Iron man- R8, Taken- S8, Hitman- S5.. I'm sure there is more. Porsche doesn't need to market their vehicles as much IMO, smaller clientele.

 

The movie Valentine's day (released in Feb), McDreamy drove a maroon c2s convertible. btw the movie was so so

 

In the movie Funny People, Eric Bana drove a black 997.1S.

 

Larry,

If you didn't read the whole thread, you would like that Jeremy Clarkson wrote this statement.

 

I remember Tom Cruise drove a 996 cab in one of his movies (maybe Mission Impossible?)

For Love of the Game: Costner drove a 911 cab
Bull Durham: Nuke Laloosh had a 911 coupe
Risky Business: 928 coupe

I agree, brand image probably needs improvement!!

Audi has been all over, with Iron Man 2, Transporter films, Taken, ...on down the line.

 

Anyone remember No Man's Land (1987)? Bought the DVD a few months back---tons of Porsches!

 

i'd take any 997.2 over the R8, after watching Iron Man 2, I actually kind of think the r8 is ugly, kind of resembles a flat chicklet. So low and rectangular...

 

He




drove this