“Make your car a star !

Sounds great right? But how do you do it?

Do you drive to James Cameron’s house and wait for him to notice your custom car?

That would probably get you on television… In the all too real role of the stalker on COPS.

Do you shine your car daily as you wait by the phone for Woody Allen’s assistant to call you?

Unfortunately, unless you have on of the last remaining Dusenbergs in mint condition on display at a major automotive museum or one of the only Jaguar XJ220’s in the United States, production is probably not going to be calling you in the near future.

Do you just drive onto the set of the next production being shot and hope your car is in the background?

Again… “Tonight on COPS…” is the most likely screentime your car will see.

Here is a glimmer of hope…

What you may not know is that when you see Clint Eastwood or Nick Cage racing down the streets of New York at high-speed, he is not giving the tourists a thrill. The truth is that ALL of the cars, either parked on, or driving down, the street… have been paid to be there. Just as Hollywood hires “extras” to fill the streets of their location shoot, they also hire cars (and in a lot of cases… drivers) to drive down the streets at the proper time or to get out of the car on cue, close the door and walk down the street.

That’s right… most every car you see on screen, Taxi, Fire trucks, Hot dog venders, junkers, exotics, plumbing trucks, and even Police cars are paid to be there.

What does this mean to you?

You do not have to own a Ferrari to get your car into a movie, you just have to be at the right place, with the right car, at the right time.

Think of this…

Every see a flashback scene in a movie or TV shows? Did it ever occur to you as to how the filmmaker managed to find a street where none of the cars were any newer than the year of the flashback?

Production needs your car!!!

Just regular cars, you don’t need to own a one of a kind custom or an Italian Exotic. Just a normal daily driver.

I met the owner of a 1980’s, orange, Datsun B210 that has seen more screen time than all of the Batmobiles combined.

How about a ten-year-old dark blue Toyota Cressida or a 20-year-old green, faded Country Squire Wagon? Would you believe that these cars are so famous they required stunt doubles?

Production can’t own 2 or more of every car ever made. They rely on the locating skills of Picture Car Coordinators all over the country. PCC’s spend most every hour of their day hunting down the right color car, with the right year, and the right looks for whatever film company is in town shooting that week.

“Are they going to scratch my car?”

NO… chances are they aren’t even going to drive it… YOU ARE!!!

If Will Smith is going to stand on his head or deliver an alien baby in your car, you’ll know about it long before the shooting begins.

“Are they going to shoot at my car or blow it up?”

MAYBE… But only if you decide to sell it to them. All cars that are destroyed on sets are purchased. Sometimes a damaged car is restored by production and given back to the owner. I saw a beautiful 1985 Porsche 911 rented as a stunt double for a project called Uptown Undercover, that was “close” to the 1987 Porsche 911 that was to be featured. Production needed the cars to match and this car was supposed to be the “damaged” version of the featured car. Production purchased a factory turbo-wing, a rear windscreen with high-mount brake light, fenders and hood for this car. The body panels were then professionally painted and then “banged up” using mallets and other heavy objects. The original panels of the 85 were then carefully removed and packed and the damaged panels attached along with the turbo wing and rear window. When it was ready for camera, this car looked like the exact duplicate of the 87, albeit a bit crunched up. After the filming the 85 was returned in perfect condition to its happy owner with a new wing.

Now I’m not going to tell you that you should drag your 65 Camaro to Universal to have them finish your restoration. But think back to the 1973 Corvette Stingray that was rescued from the crusher at the junkyard, both on-screen and in real life in Corvette Summer. This car ended up in show quality at a Corvette museum. See… stranger things have happened.

“OK, I’m ready for my car to be famous, what do I do?”

At the moment, the Auto Film Club of America, a PCC organization in New York is looking for cars to add to its database. What they require is a photo of the inside and the outside of your car and some specifics.

There is no charge to register your car unlike some organizations, but you won’t get the license plate frame and key chain from the AFCA as you do from the others.

The AFCA is not trying to make money from your car by getting membership dues, they are trying to make money from your car by getting it in film and TV projects and being paid by production. The larger their database, the better their chances (and yours) of getting the project. Everything depends on your vehicle being EXACTLY what production needs.

It’s that simple.

Below is a list of current projects happening in the New York City area, as well as some behind the scenes photos of some of the past projects for which AFCA has provided vehicles.

If you’re interested, and have the means to easily bring your car to New York City, should your car be needed in the future,

Contact Margaret at:

The Automobile Film Club of America

718-447-0438

See you in the movies.