That’s right. In this week’s episode of The Geek Life, I have pickles. Also, I have dazed stories of Dragon*Con and Space Camp and driving around the country. Whee!
New Geek Life: In Which I Have Pickles
I Am Worth 10 Points: The Death Race 2000 Car
On August 30th, I was in the process of driving from Minneapolis, MN to Atlanta, GA, a trek I now take once per year. At a point just over halfway between the two cities is a town named Effingham, IL, and it was about here that I wanted to take a break.
When I stopped, I found out from Roadside America (which has a great iPhone app) that I was near My Garage Museum. I’m a little bit of a gearhead, and I love classic car museums, so I figured this would be a great opportunity to strech my legs and take a couple photos. Bonus: free admission!
What I didn’t expect to find was this:
That’s right, kids. I’d stumbled across the FRICKIN’ ALLIGATOR CAR FROM DEATH RACE 2000.
HOLY CRAP! David Carridine sat in that thing!
…and I’m worth 10 points!
Comparing between the movie and the actual car, there are differences, particularly in the teeth. However, it does look like the car in Effingham is the real deal, so the car must have gone through a polish sometime since 1975.
According to the museum’s web site, the car ”…designed by James Powers and constructed by Dean Jefferies, features the unusual combination of a Volkswagen chassis, Corvair air-cooled power plant, and Corvette style body.” It sure is pretty.
OM NOM NOM.
The museum also contains a lovely Corvette swag shop, a couple dozen classic Corvettes, and no less than THREE movie-used Herbie the Love Bugs. But the Death Race 2000 car takes the cake.
In Lieu of Actual Content…
I have returned safely from Dragon*Con. My adventures were epic, including things like the Death Race 2000 alligator car and a trip to Space Camp.
But I don’t have the photos processed yet. You’ll have to wait.
So, in lieu of actual content, here’s a photo of me driving a tank:
Photo courtesy of Drive a Tank (http://www.driveatank.com). The man grinning in the turret is Fes Works.
Smashing Cars with a Tank
Last Wednesday, I received an extraordinary gift from Fes Works: he took me to Drive a Tank, where I got to plunge an FV 433 Abbot into a lake.
But I don’t have photos of that yet.
Because I was too busy driving a tank to take photos myself.
Yet I have plenty of other photos from the day at Drive a Tank! In fact, after my own personal tank-driving adventures, I got to bounce around in the back of an APV (fully outfitted with an evergreen-shaped air freshener), shoot a 1945 STEN machine gun, and watch a Chieftan tank roll over four passenger cars.
That’s right. I got to watch a tank smash cars.
IT WAS AWESOME.
I shot lots of photos of that, and even some video. Behold:
So, if you want to smash cars with a tank, you can do so in Kasota, MN. It’s not cheap, but where else are you going to be able to do that without joining the military?
This is the machine I drove: an FV 433 Abbot.
The folks at Drive a Tank are a lot of fun, too. Highly recommended.
New Geek Life: Jokes About Wood
Clearly, we’re totally highbrow this week. Have a listen to Episode 163!
Unrelated and yet still geeky: have you contributed to the Camden Kickstarter yet? You should!
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