riding in the Freight Train
Showing posts with label dual engined. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dual engined. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Friday, May 11, 2018
When the Hot Wheels Twin Mill debuted at 2001 SEMA, the other items in the booth received significant attention as well, they were just props, but had so much demand, they became licensed products!
The above photo was found on http://www.watsonsoftware.com/cars/index_2k1.htm
The above photo, a moment later shows the opening of the roof, and off to the right, the rims display, photo by the kindness of Carson Lev
When I was at the 50th Anniversary Hot Wheels event, I learned about the pivotal role Carson Lev played in the Hot Wheels merchandising and licensing programs, which started with his job interview, and how he was central to the Twin Mill being completed as a full size real car, from the moment he was hired.
When Carson interviewed for his dream job as Hot Wheels Director of Design, his new boss said
“Great interview, the job’s yours… do you have any questions?"
Knowing the Twin Mill had been stored outside for over a year and it's iconic place in Hot Wheels history as the 1st originally designed Hot Wheels car, he responded, "what about the Twin Mill?" and bingo, the exec interviewing him saw an enthusiast with gumption and moxie.
He was given the Twin Mill project, and no budget, as the exec was sure that anyone that enthusiastic would work miracles and complete what had fallen by the wayside and forgotten about.
It wasn't a risky decision, Carson was exactly the right person to take on the challenge.
It was nearly the 35th anniversary of Hot Wheels, and making the Twin Mill concept prototype a reality, would be the shiny crown jewel of future anniversary events.
So, Poof! Instant Presto Chango, Carson went from the newest employee, to Director of Design for Hot Wheels. Well, he was under the gun to resurrect what had been accomplished so far at Hot Rods by Boyd, which had started on it in 1996 by making a frame, subbing out the body etc, (but Boyd's went bankrupt in 1998 due to a half million dollar build going unpaid). They had to rescue the car in an early morning collection before the bankruptcy receivers arrived to snag all the Coddington's business stuff.
About 2 years passed since the Twin Mill was parked behind the warehouse at Hot Wheels, rusting, and getting weathered.
Carson took the Twin Mill to the Barry Lobeck hot rod shop for completion of the build, then back to Carron Industries for the signature Candy Apple Spectraflame and other finishing touches, then Bob Larivee, godfather of the car show car circuit was engaged to do promotions for a car show tour agreement.
Realizing a full scale, fully operational Hot Wheels car was a marketing goldmine, Carson contacted friends at SEMA and arranged for the unveiling to take place there. You know how I love SEMA booths and innovative booth displays, well, more than just showing it at SEMA, Carson brainstormed further, working from the premise "What if we made Hot Wheels motor oil, wheels, tools, custom paint, clothing, and car wax....what would it look like?” That's lifestyle marketing in place of product marketing, and it's genius for booth displays!
So, instead of a just free publicity for the Twin Mill on display, it doubled up as an anchor for a booth promoting Hot Wheels as not just a cool toy company, more as a lifestyle for the 45 million men that grew up with Hot Wheels.
Boom! Great idea in action, at the right place, time, and with the key target demographic... SEMA people! It suddenly appeared that Hot Wheels was in the aftermarket business from the booth props, and licensing contracts were signed, bringing these products to life.
That is how Hot Wheels was launched into the collateral products world.
Once more, Carson had changed careers, from Director of Design to being appointed the Director of, and inventor of, Hot Wheels Adult Licensing, growing the business to new levels and reinforcing the tagline “World’s Coolest Car Company”.
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0307sr-milestone-twin-mill/
Sunday, April 29, 2018
the many incredibly cool full size and operational Hot Wheels cars
The famous Twin Mill was first brought to SEMA in 2000, and on the way there, was unloaded in Vegas, under the company instructions to NOT drive it on city streets.
Carson Lev, Hot Wheels Director of Design (and really, project manager of the Twin Mill http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/05/when-hot-wheels-twin-mill-was-debuted.html ) insisted, against the expressed wishes of Mattel Execs, that the fully functional Twin Mill must be “driven” down the Las Vegas Strip. Carson fired up the two motored beast, pulled it out of the trailer and then proceeded to the Las Vegas Strip.
Thus, Hot Wheels was proven to be “The World’s Coolest Car Company”, and the Twin Mill was indeed proven to be a fully functional car to enthusiasts and Hot Wheels fans
They only passed a couple Las Vegas police who didn't mind, or, were so damn impressed they didn't care, the first giving the car a gratifying Thumbs Up, the second gave a quick dismissive wave as if to say, “How do I write a ticket for someone being stupid?”
1100 Hp and two engines in such a famous car can have that effect when you're in Vegas during SEMA. (story gets a little more in depth at http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0307sr-milestone-twin-mill )
Also, the fine at SEMA for firing up a car in the convention center is 100,000 dollars per noisy engine operation.
It was only done 7 times. 4 times just for the fire marshall, who was that impressed and amazed.
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Wednesday, February 01, 2017
Denver's Odd Rod replica, the focus of the cover of the July 1949 Hot Rod magazine, and recently at the Pismo TROG.... was at the GNRS. For some people (like me) it was the 1st time to ever see this in person, and respect the abilities of the 1940's hot rodder's innovation
Mike “Nick” Nicholas founded two events in Colorado: the Hot Rod Hill Climb and Hot Rod Dirt Drags and runs Nick’s Hot Rod Garage.
And he's brought the Wayne Speical T 33 back to racing the hill climb in Colorado, and the hot rod dirt drags
It's been a decade with Duane Helms building an exact replica of the twin-engine Kenz and Leslie Odd Rod pickup truck, which was featured on HRM’s cover in July 1949. How exact? Two hubcaps and the seat are from the original truck.
Here's the build thread on the HAMB http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-stump-puller-otherwise-known-as-the-odd-rod.988007/
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
Coolest things I saw today at SEMA, #1. The Big Twin by AEE Choppers (Tom McMullen's company) Tom used the business license for Auto Electric Engineering when he formed AEE Choppers.
The restoration was finished nearly 20 months ago, in Jan 2015 http://aeechoppers.blogspot.com/2015/01/big-twin-is-done.html
Originally built by Dave Beckett in just 32 days
these tires are over 40 years old http://aeechoppers.blogspot.com/2015/01/big-twin-is-done.html
it was in the Sept 1970 Hot Rod magazine issue
back in 2014, before it was restored, it looked like this:
how many times it has been painted is unknown, but check out the depth of the metal flake
it was found in pretty bad shape, as the outside seats were missing, and the carbs, and the fuel tank, but the original forks were still with it, just swapped out
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