So There I Was, At An Intersection Somewhere In Los Angeles...
A Hollywood Car Story
I moved here in 2018. I had always been fond of LA, and now I can't imagine living anywhere else. One of the first things I did when I got settled here was to volunteer at The Petersen Automotive Museum. I wanted to immerse myself in this city’s rich car culture and this seemed an obvious starting point.
I eventually explored some canyon roads and went to some cars & coffee events. I joined The Motoring Club, where I met a wide variety of like-minded people with whom I continued to explore. I was an early attendee when the Good Vibes Breakfast Club was just handful of folks who joined J and Nicole for breakfast on Friday mornings.
As I explored the city and learned my way around, I started recognizing landmarks from movies and TV shows. I eventually found out (and geeked out) that a fellow “car guy” lives in the house used at the end of Robert Altman’s Hollywood saga “The Player.” I began to appreciate even more one of my already favorite subsets of film and television, LA stories. Movies and shows in which LA is a lead character, integral to the story, rather than just a location. I absolutely love when Hollywood not only features, but also pokes at itself onscreen.
And now I am doing my small part, at the intersection of LA car culture, Hollywood, and my career, working on a project to bring an iconic movie car back to life for her definitive performance. The 2000 reboot of “Gone in Sixty Seconds,” while not a critically acclaimed work, has earned a cult classic reputation and introduced us to a car that was designed just for that film: Eleanor.
Eleanor was designed to be a version of the famous Shelby Mustang that was even more outrageous, with unique details the did not exist on any other Mustang before she was brought to life by a team of designers and craftsmen in the San Fernando Valley. To say that Eleanor outshone everything else about “Gone in Sixty Seconds” probably is not a stretch.
I am honored to be part of the “Eleanor: Gone Again” team, and genuinely excited to see twenty-five new Eleanors come to life. At a time when the film and television industry is struggling, and pieces of the city’s history and culture are lost in fires and our communities are being ripped apart by political posturing, our continuation project will not have profound effects or affect change in the world. But it provides employment for a group of people with traditional skills and gives one small piece of Hollywood history a chance to shine once again. AI can’t build an Eleanor.
This is a first in my career, my first project after venturing out on my own, bringing together three things about which I am truly passionate; cars, movies, and Los Angeles. “Gone in Sixty Seconds” is showing at a local theater next week. I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. Join me if you want to re-live the thrill.
See Eleanor on the big screen at Vidiots in Eagle Rock!