Movie fan goes online with star cars

By Bryce McGarel
BBC News Online

A Northern Ireland car buff is offering brides and grooms the chance to live their movie dreams by arriving for their weddings in the vehicles which helped make the films famous.

Rather than arriving for the big day in a stretched limo or a horse-drawn carriage, Mike Barr makes it possible for customers to pull up in a replica of Starsky and Hutch's 1976 Gran Ford Torino, or perhaps the DeLorean made famous in the Back to the Future movies.

Barr, 25, from Larne in County Antrim, has started what he believes is the UK's first internet star car hire company, which he says gives people the chance to make their special day that little bit more memorable.

Although only operating since March, Mike has managed to put together an impressive stable of movie car thoroughbreds.

As well as Starsky and Hutch's cop car and the DeLorean, he has the General Lee from the Dukes Of Hazzard, a Harry Potter-style Ford Anglia and the actual Pink Cadillac driven by Clint Eastwood in the movie of the same name.

There is also the 1979 T-Top Trans AM made famous in Burt Reynold's Smokey and the Bandit and the Ford Mustang used in the Steve McQueen classic Bullit are also on his "for hire" list.

Not to forget Michael Knight's KITT from hit 80s television show Knight Rider.

Speaking to BBC News Online, Mike explained how his idea came about.

"I grew up watching movies like Smokey and the Bandit and Back to the Future and TV programmes like Starsky and Hutch and have always had a real interest in American muscle cars.

"But I never really thought about it as a business idea until I spoke to a man I met through my work who owned a Ford Gran Torino.

"After that I decided to have a go at setting up some kind of novelty hire service as a bit of a hobby," he said.

"I then set about contacting car enthusiasts across the UK and Ireland and asked them whether or not they would be willing to allow their cars to be used.

"Most of the people I contacted were keen to get involved and wanted the opportunity to show off the cars which are their pride and joy."

So far Mike has provided cars for more than 20 weddings across the UK and Ireland, although he admits that pulling up in front of a church in the car out of Knight Rider may not be everyone's idea of a white wedding.

Going to the chapel

"I get a lot of calls from women who want to surprise their partners by getting them picked up at and driven to the church in a car that is a little bit out of the ordinary.

"But I also get a lot of phone calls from excited grooms who want to impress their mates by turning up at the church in a car they all drooled over at the cinema as kids.

"After all it's not every day you get to ride around in the same car as Burt Reynolds!"

But as Mike explained, it is not just prospective newlyweds who want to be seen about town in flash rides.

"Perhaps the person I was most surprised showed an interest was the mayor of Ballymena who rented a 1959 pink Cadallic convertible for the town's annual Mayor's parade.

"I have also received e-mails from a businessman in Finland who says he wants to treat himself by renting the Mustang driven in the Steve McQueen film Bullit, the next time he is in London for business."

technorati tags:muscle, car, 1976, gran, ford, mustang

Future Of Muscle Cars In Doubt.

BY TERRY BOX
The Dallas Morning News

TULSA, Okla. - Rushing through torrential rain on Interstate 44, the Shelby Mustang GT 500 splashes smoothly through road pools at top speed.This extreme 500-horsepower muscle car -- the newest factory hot rod from Detroit -- weathered that storm with ease and grace.

But the GT 500 and other domestic muscle cars may face tougher tests ahead.Although demand for the GT 500 is so high that it has pushed the car's $42,000 base price to $50,000 or more at many dealerships, some industry observers think it could be the last 500-horsepower muscle car to come out of Detroit.

With gas prices high and baby-boomer buyers nearing retirement, the sun may be setting on traditional American muscle cars.The genre was born more than 40 years ago and revived in the early '90s with the Dodge Viper, whose V-10 engine now pumps out 520 horsepower.Moreover, as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. struggle financially, the money to develop these cars may be limited -- particularly if the number of potential buyers is dwindling.

"I think there is a built-in demographic for these cars now," said Michael Jordan, chief of Automobile magazine's Los Angeles bureau, who wrote a story on muscle cars for the July issue.

"But it's totally correct to say this is not a big boom market. I just don't see more of the ... (500-horsepower cars) coming from Detroit. "Though no one is predicting the imminent demise of all muscle cars, their slow fade could pose a significant challenge for Detroit.

Although the cars primarily appeal to over-50 buyers, they are the Big Three's main "halo" vehicles -- attention-grabbers for the entire brand. Without high-profile cars like the GT 500 -- which should arrive at dealerships within 60 days -- and the Z06 Corvette, the Dodge Viper and Charger SRT-8, "the domestics are left with nothing in the way of halo vehicles," said Wes Brown, an analyst at industry consultant Iceology in Los Angeles.

"I don't know if we are at the peak or not," he said. "I guess it will be determined by how well these cars are executed." "I don't see the Europeans backing away from selling luxury cars with these massive V-8s and huge horsepower," Brown said. "But that's low volume. "If you want to keep your (sales) volumes high, there could be some resistance to bigger V-8s with high horsepower, particularly if gas stays high."

Muscle cars may evolve into smaller, lighter, more economical vehicles that appeal to younger buyers, but they won't fade away altogether, predicted Jim Sanfillippo, executive vice president of industry consultant AMCI Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

With the arrival of the GT 500, four domestic vehicles now have at least 500 horsepower -- including the Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper and Dodge Ram SRT-10.Sales of those low-volume, ultra-high-performance vehicles are likely to slow first, industry officials say.

All told, ultra-high-performance cars account for less than 100,000 sales -- a tiny portion of the overall new-vehicle market of about 17 million annually. But muscle cars are enormously influential. The GT 500, for example, is on the July cover of Car and Driver, Automobile and Motor Trend magazines.

Angus MacKenzie, editor in chief of Motor Trend, believes that high gas prices will affect every segment of the auto industry. But MacKenzie, who completed a 3,500-mile coast-to-coast trip in a GT 500 for a cover story on the car, doesn't think they will kill muscle cars -- just reshape them.

"Americans don't want small cars," MacKenzie said. "They want cars that deliver good mileage."

Belleville News-Democrat | 07/08/2006 | Future of muscle cars in doubt

technorati tags:muscle, cars, gt500, corvette, Z06, dodge, viper, ram