back-words... car talk...

*** they never replied beyond the automated reply which stated that someone would reply...
also, it seems i have a comment from someone who wants to correct the spelling of McCormick's name. if you read carefully i have written his name correctly twice before the quotation. the only place it is spelled incorrectly is within a quotation, which was taken directly from wiki. that is not my typo. it is in quotes, meaning i do not alter the quotation, not even to correct an error, otherwise it is not a direct quotation. by my description and the link i provided, one can easily see i know how to spell his name. i might suggest making a correction to wiki as they are a major reference to people online.

Saturday, August 11, 2007
car talk...
I have just written to cars.com regarding one of their articles. The article was fine, however I felt it lacked discriminating taste for a top ten list. Clearly such a list is merely presented for amusement, but I would prefer to see a list that showed a little more careful consideration. After reviewing all their top ten lists, I felt compelled to write them and advise them of other vehicles they should have taken time to consider. i hope you will agree with my choices, and if you can think of anything neither cars.com nor I mentioned, by all means, I'd like to hear your suggestions, too! Here is the letter I wrote to cars.com:


To Whom It May Concern:
You have some fantastic entries in your top 10s, however your tv list (http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&subject=more&story=TVcars&referer=&aff=national) failed to mention one crucial vehicle (among many), one whose performance and styling certainly qualifies for ranking: the Coyote featured on the tv series Hardcastle & McCormick. Here is some useful information courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcastle_and_McCormick
"Coyote

The car that McCormack drove, the Coyote was built from Manta Montage kit car based on a McLaren M6BGT and built by the now defunct British kit car manufacturer Warp 5.[1] Like many kit cars of the time, the car uses a chassis from a VW Beetle and its engine from a Porsche 914. [2] For the second and third series series, producers used a different Coyote which was based on a DeLorean, as Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original Coyote. [3] One significant difference is that the car appears not have any resemblance to the Manta, as the front is larger than the original, making the car resemble a front engined car. [4]"

As I mentioned earlier, I know you were only looking to list a top 10, but you may need to revamp your list. I also noticed you failed to mention the Munstermobile featured on the Munsters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_munsters
"The Munstermobile

George Barris built two automobiles for the show: "The Munster Koach", a hot rod built on a lengthened 1923 Ford Model T chassis with a custom hearse body. It was 18 feet long and cost almost $20,000 to build. Barris also built the DRAG-U-LA (which inspired a Rob Zombie song by the same name), a dragster built from a coffin, which Grandpa used to win back "The Munster Koach" after Herman lost it in a race. (According to Barris, a real coffin was, in fact, purchased for the car.) In real life, Yvonne de Carlo drove a Jaguar sedan fitted with custom-made "spooky" ornaments, for example spider webs on the rims. She had to give up on it, as the car was repeatedly vandalized by fans hunting for souvenirs."

TV shows during the 50s-80s, in particular, were loaded with fantastic vehicles. Another series was Stingray which featured a 1965 Corvette Sting Ray. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_%28NBC_TV_series%29

Additionally one might consider an honorable mention for a vehicle from another series: Streethawk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streethawk
"The bike

The Bike in the pilot episode was based upon a 1983 Honda XL500 trailbike, the bikes used in the series were based on 1984 Honda xr500's, the bikes used for the stunt shots were based on Honda CR250's, overall 15 bikes were used in the show. The whereabouts of 14 of the bikes are unknown, but one now resides in the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, England after being restored by the show's stuntman Chris Bromham. The pilot bike was designed by Andrew Probert and the series bikes were redesigned by Ron Cobb.

There is also evidence that a second Streethawk bike survived, the whereabouts of this bike now are sadly unknown but it is known that a bike was displayed at "Star Cars" in America in the 80's/90's. It is believed that that is the missing bike."

There are indeed many vehicles that have been over-looked. what about the car featured in Kojak? How about the vehicles featured in the Shaft movies? What about the car featured in XXX starring Vin Diesel? It would seem to me your writer(s) needed to do some more research before narrowing down the competition... Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Scott Cherry