I wrote shortly about this yesterday, and I would like to go
even deeper today.
It was so evident to me when I got the three new team
chiefs. First we have Austin Littleton:
He´s a Mini Cooper from 1961. His first name is a reference
to when the British car manufacturer Austin made Mini´s (back then both Austin
and Morris made the car for British Motor Corporation).
The Mini is the british answer to the german Beetle that
Wolkswagen had such a great success with. (Carla Velosos team Chief is a Beetle
so Pixar saluted the beetle as well)
The surname Littleton is a reference to the size of the car
and to the little weight, about 600-700 kg. Less than a ton – hence Little TON.
This may struck you as fun trivia at a first glance but when
you see it over and over in other cars it is just so much more. The pattern
tells you that the team behind the movies are extremeley careful when to pick
out wich cars to use, and how they portrait them.
It is an act of love.
Just look at Bruno Motoreau:
It´s a Citroen DS, probably the most classical French car in
history. When it first were presented i n Paris 1955 it the attention was
extreme. The car was ahead of it´s time in both design and technique. In Sweden
people call it ”toad” because of it´s resemblance to the animal.
Most known of the technical details is the hydraulic
suspension and the moving headlights.
Great designwork by Pixar and perfect job doing a nice
diecast by Mattel.
The next car is also a work of love, but not so much to the
cars as to the… boss. John Lassetire:
This is more of a character than a car. It´s based on Pixar´s
legendary director John Lasseter. According to this Pixar Wika article
Cars 2 producer Denise Ream came up with the idea of having John in the film to celebrate Pixar's 25th Anniversary. She says she got the idea from George Lucas' brief appearance in Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, on which she served as the visual effects executive producer.
The car, according to the same source, is
”an all-American pick up truck. The truck he is most likely modeled after an early 1990s Chevrolet S-10 Pickup Truck. ”
They all seem perfectly happy in my collection!
Just as I am. Perfectly happy. Now I just have to get the
missing six!
More pics of my Crew Cheifs here!
I disagree with your source stating Lassetire is modeled after the Chevrolet S-10. I think Lassetire, Hallsum, Wrecks and Hoover look much more like the early '90s Ford F-150.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess you´re right. I´m not so good at those kind of cars. We don´t have much of them here in Sweden.
ReplyDeleteIs it a "classic" model, the Ford F-150? In Sweden we have a lot of classic Volvo´s. My family had one for instance when I grew up: The Volvo 240.
Now I got one myself: The Volvo V70 Station Wagon is the most common car in Sweden...
Everyone has their favorites, but to me, the F-150 is the modern version of the farm horse. Strong, dependable, easy to use and long lasting. A true classic. Of course there are way too many people in the US who think they are farmers or cowboys, even though they are office workers, so we have a lot of big trucks on the road that don't have a single scratch or spec of dirt in the cargo area.
ReplyDeleteHere also the Volvo 240 has a loyal following. It is known to have a very durable engine.
We had a beige (!!!) Volvo 240 when I was young. It had a stronger motor (135 horespower) than usual, but my dad drove it way over 350 000 km. But it was thirsty: 1,2 litres/10 km...
ReplyDelete