- Hollywood
TV and Movie Cars Book - Color photos, nostalgic movie
stills, and an equally entertaining text examine the Tinseltown
careers of photogenic vehicles like Sean Connery's Bond Aston
Martin DB5s and Pierce Brosnan's BMW Z3 Roadster; the '63
"Love Bug" VW Beetle; the demonic '58 Plymouth Fury
from "Christine"; Harrison Ford's '55 Chevy, and
much more.
- Dune
Buggy Files: Past, Present, Future - Dune Buggies have
been around for over four decades. In this stunningly comprehensive
volume you can relive their colorful history from crude off
roaders developed in the 1960s, to the superb show vehicles
of the 1980s and 1990s, and take a glimpse into the future
of these unique, fun vehicles.
- Vw
Beetle: A Comprehensive Illustrated History of the World's
Most Popular Car - This book has the best studio type
photography that I have ever seen in a VW history. I also
found the Technical Appendix is among the best for a quick
review of the major changes in the VW Type I through the years.
The historical photos are reprinted in a crisp format, and
are less grainy than I have seen, so these often seen photos
seem somehow new. This lavishly illustrated volume
is worth the price. It is a good addition to any VW library.
- Herbie
the Love Bug Collection - This savvy Disney hit from 1969
made a star of a Volkswagen precisely when the car was becoming
more popular than ever. Dean Jones and Michele Lee head the
cast in a story about a VW bug
with a mind of its own. Disney point man Robert Stevenson,
director of The Absent-Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, and
lots of other Disney live-action hits, makes the slapstick
work perfectly and keeps the laughs coming. Buddy Hackett
is very funny in a supporting role. The first sequel, Herbie
Rides Again (1974), is similar enough to the first film's
charm and raucous comedy that it works on its own. Neither
Dean Jones nor Michelle Lee are back, but a nice cast of familiar
pros (including Disney vet Ken Berry) keeps things moving
along slickly. The story finds Herbie helping Helen Hayes--yes,
the First Lady of the American Theater--keep out of the clutches
of Keenan Wynn's villain. Dean Jones came back to the fold
for this third lap around the block, Herbie Goes to Monte
Carlo (1977), which finds him racing in the famed city while
thieves plant a stolen diamond in Herbie's gas tank. The plot
is forced and conventional, but the cast is the thing: the
excitable Don Knotts (The Apple Dumpling Gang) and the tormentable
Roy Kinnear (Mr. Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate
Factory) are good men to have in a potboiler such as this.
The fourth movie, Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), is a wooden
story about Herbie's funny adventures heading toward a race
in Brazil. Charles Martin Smith and Steven W. Burns try hard
to bring some life into this project, but it just doesn't
happen. There is one good laugh in the whole thing, in a scene
where Herbie becomes a matador. Otherwise, even the picturesque,
south-of-the-border stuff doesn't help. Harvey Korman and
Cloris Leachman star. --Tom Keogh.
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