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Post by Lord Vadus on Oct 14, 2011 21:20:28 GMT -5
Well, I might as well start this off; loved the idea, by the way.
Last weekend, I had to be in Madison for a reintegration briefing; something that the Army mandates you undergo after a deployment to an overseas combat zone. I had several duffels of stuff to pick up and the Monaco shines in this aspect, so I took her. The events are held in a quasi-casual environment; a hotel convention center, so I backed the car into a space and go inside. After 9 hours of PowerPoint slides and redundant briefings on the same things I've heard at least 25 times before, I'm finally free to go. I'm rushing to get out of there and drive the two hours it will take to get home. When I approach my car, I see a parking ticket under the windshield wiper. My patience is already gone and I'm furious. There were no indicators that I had parked illegally and the last thing I needed was an extra expense. I look over the ticket and something doesn't seem quite right. I then realized that in the license plate column, they wrote "Illinois: BDR529" when they issued the ticket. I start laughing and I threw out the ticket before I left and drove home the rest of the way in a great mood and with a smile on my face. The cop was too lazy to look at my rear plate and, as a result, Elwood Blues is up to 117 parking violations.
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Post by Steam McQueen on Oct 14, 2011 22:53:15 GMT -5
LOL. An excellent story and a great start to what will be a very entertaining thread. Thanks to TI for the suggestion and to LV for getting the ball rolling.
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Post by sigmfsk on Oct 15, 2011 4:35:46 GMT -5
When Marin County was delivered, I was talking with the two delivery guys about some of the cars that I could see from the rear of the truck. then they opened the side door: and I exclaimed "oh man, THAT'S AWESOME!". One guy responded that it was quite a car and he loved the silver paint, too. And then I told him I was talking about the Monaco. he hah ah eh ah ah . So they left it in the driveway: and some friends from work came to help me push it in the garage. So while they're driving to my house, they turn the corner on to my street, see the car, and all start laughing and pointing. There was another car stopped in the road, and asked them, "Wow, is that guy building a bluesmobile?" And then they stopped laughing and said "yes". I don't know who the mystery quizzer was, but I certainly got some instant street cred with my work buds! your friend in happy blumo stories, arthur
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Post by chitownjohn on Oct 15, 2011 9:30:57 GMT -5
Yep Vadus thats a great one. Also would be kind of neat to think that the cop knew the car and did it as a joke, He couldnt get in any trouble, he wrote the plate that he saw. Funnier your way but ya never know. A retired cop came up to my car once and was asking the year, "I was a chicago cop, man we used to drive these cars all the time,I loved them" he said
Sigmfsk, what your doing w/ your car is beautiful and incredible, but I love the off the trailer look the most, Elwood couldnt have found a better car!
john
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Post by sigmfsk on Oct 15, 2011 14:39:19 GMT -5
Sigmfsk, what your doing w/ your car is beautiful and incredible, but I love the off the trailer look the most, Elwood couldnt have found a better car! Yes, if only it was black! But your comment got me thinking - I could use the front doors and just paint the window frame black over the green. The main door would still be white, and it even has the star removed - by a grinder. They removed the insignia with a GRINDER! Problems with using the doors: - nobody sells door weatherstripping. Presumably Restoration Specialties can make the parts. I shudder to think of the pain of contacting them for these parts, but it could be worth it. - passenger side has mirror (with associated mirror holes) - the patina is TOO good. When the rest of the car is painted, they might stand out too much. But maybe that would be good, and force me to dirtify the rest of the car to match. I need to think about this! I'm planning on re-using the original pushbar mount that attaches to the subframe; it would be cool to keep the original doors, too. Thanks for the thought on keeping original police crustified coolness! arthur
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Post by dentarthurdent on Dec 1, 2011 20:58:07 GMT -5
I'm kind of stealing this thread idea from another forum (Thanks Boomerjinks). The idea is simple: post memorable, funny, or interesting stories about things that have happened while you were driving around in your Bluesmobile. I'll go ahead and kick things off. Last weekend, the misses and I went out cruising around in the Bluesmobile, we decided to stop for lunch. Afterward, we came out to a lady admiring the car from all angles with a big old goofy smile on her face and camera in hand. "This is so awesome," she says. Well, thank you. "Did you restore it yourself?" Yes and no - it is actually a replica from the Blues Brothers movie. "Oh, I think I know the movie! Don't tell me..." We continued on for a couple of minutes longer, and then parted our own ways. The wife and I just had a chuckle over the lady. Another incident that kind of had me baffled was this guy in one of those whackers in the newer crown vic trying to pull me over with their spot light; in my rear view mirror, I kept seeing a light bouncing back and forth. And as it turned out, the driver thought it was funny to pretend he's a police officer... (I hate those kinds) I've got a couple of other strange encounters, which I'll probably share after you guys have showed your hands. So, whatcha got?
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Post by ti4438 on Dec 26, 2011 8:06:14 GMT -5
I took my 2 year old surrogate grandson for a ride in the Blumo last week.Not only did he dig the car,but he was rockin' to 'Hold On,I'm Comin' by Sam&Dave.When we got home,I showed him 'Grampa's car' on TV.I played all the BluMo highlites from the film,then let it run from the beginning.It held his complete attention.I'm told this is a minor miracle.
I later found out that he fell asleep at home with something in his hand.His mom couldn't tell what it was.It turned out to be the Greenlight die-cast Bluesmobile I gave him.
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Post by Steam McQueen on Dec 27, 2011 0:05:03 GMT -5
I later found out that he fell asleep at home with something in his hand.His mom couldn't tell what it was.It turned out to be the Greenlight die-cast Bluesmobile I gave him. Warms the cockles of the heart it does.
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Post by dentarthurdent on Mar 14, 2012 0:04:16 GMT -5
People's ignorance makes me chuckle when I'm not in a hurry. So in hindsight, my most recent encounter is kind of funny.
Out running errands today during my break, I pull in to a parking lot and see a guy running to catch up to me. I stand by the car for a few seconds because he looks like he's got something important to say. And then this conversation happened:
"What are you building there?" ... What do you mean? it's a replica car from the movie Blues Brothers. "Whys it got the liberty bell up there?" Liberty bell? It's a civil defense speaker. "Yeah, but they didnt have the liberty bell up on it." You're right, it had a giant speaker. "No it didn't. I remember. It never had the bell up there."
The fella then proceeds to tell me his recollection of the movie's plot, characters, and description of the car:
"I thought they sold ice cream from the car to children or something to get their friend out of jail, and the car had flowers painted on the side. You got a lot of work to do to convert this cop car to that car from that movie. You gotta start with losing the bell."
With his head held high, the guy left me standing with mind exploded from what I had just witnessed. I can only guess he got the plot confused with Cheech and Chong Nice Dreams mixed up with Half-Baked and Blues Brothers.
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Post by sigmfsk on Mar 14, 2012 4:21:29 GMT -5
I can only guess he got the plot confused with Cheech and Chong Nice Dreams mixed up with Half-Baked and Blues Brothers. hehe, that's hilarious. DAD, you have a pretty nice car. But seriously, you have a lot of work to do on it to make it into a non-speaker, non-liberty bell, ice-cream selling cop car. Here's a starter pic:
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Post by dentarthurdent on Mar 18, 2012 2:49:43 GMT -5
The story is a little long winded, but the jests are a friend of a friend was drinking in public, got caught After a brief reprimand towards the drunkie, he came over to ask about the car.
He didn't believe that it was my car because of my age... but I soon educated him! He too was a fan of the movie, (especially the Country and Western bits) The guy left with a smile on his face, and the friend of a friend not arrested nor even fined!
As it turned out, in the county we were in, the policy to arrest out of towners on the spot if caught drinking in pubic.
So, I can only surmise that the Bluesmobile (and possibly yours truly) being there saved the day. At least, that's how I'm going to tell it!
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Post by ti4438 on Nov 18, 2012 14:01:28 GMT -5
Last week I took a co-worker for a spin in the BluMo.He's a big fan of the movie and claims to have some pics he took during filming.Anyhow,he knew I had the car but hadn't seen it.He got in the car with a HUGE smile on his face.He really flipped out when I put on some Sam & Dave and punched it.
We sorta blew a stop sign and took a hard right and whaddya know......right in front of CPD.He was heading towards us and just stopped.I thought for sure he was gonna curb us but didn't.He just sat there.Must have been a real WTF moment.
On the way to Dunkin' Donuts for coffee,I opened the BluMo up.She performed nicely.
While chugging coffee in D&D, we watched a small parade of CPD vehicles pass by checking out Elwood's ride.
On the way back to work,I drove a bit more aggressively than usual.My buddy had a blast and the smile never left his face the entire time he was in the car.
That had to be a great experience for a long time die hard fan.
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Post by tk826 on Nov 18, 2012 16:10:31 GMT -5
Very cool.
That's what it's all about brother.
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Post by ti4438 on Nov 19, 2012 19:55:12 GMT -5
You ain't a-shittin'!
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Post by bluzman on Dec 19, 2012 13:53:34 GMT -5
I posted this once before on BBC...but it feels like the story needs to be told again. This story involves the green 77 Royal Monaco that I transformed into a Bluesmo and sold to 59 Strat a few years ago over on BBC. It had the spotlight, pushbar etc. Anyways..I drove it to work one day (swing shift) and after work around midnight here in Waldorf..the wife and I decided to grab some late night breakfast at Denny's. I pulled the Bluesmo in nose first and parked it right in front of the building. There was an older guy standing outside smoking and he was checking out the car when we pulled in. We went in and sat down and placed our orders. About 10 Minutes later a Charles County Sheriff walks in and stands at the entrance of Dennys and hollers " I am looking for the owner of the Police Car". My wife and I look at each other..I roll my eyes to her and get up and walk over to the Sheriff. I tell him that I am the owner..what's the problem? He asks me to step outside..I oblige him. We walk over to my Bluesmo and I notice that the guy who was smoking when we pulled in..was still standing there and there was another deputy there peering through my deep tinted windows with his flashlight. The Sheriff asks me why I had an Illinois plate on the front of my Car and a Tennessee plate on the back? And why I have it painted like a police car? I began to explain to him that is a Bluesmobile replica from the movie and that I was a huge fan, etc.... and that the Illinois plate was purchased from Ebay..that it is a novelty plate and that in fact was used in the movie.the whole B-D-R 529 story. He was not amused or impressed and his facial expression never even changed as I told him my story. Anyways after he walked around the Bluesmo a few more times with the guy who was smoking when we pulled in. (Turned out..The smoking guy was a retired Charles County Sheriff). The three men discussed for a few minutes and the Sheriff walked back over to me and said that the Illinois plate BDR-529 was actually registered to a 95 Toyota Truck and that is illegal to run two different "State" license plates on the same car, especially one painted to look like a police car. He recommended that I remove the front plate to avoid any problems with the Police in the future, then he said......Have a good night. I went back inside Dennys and every one was staring at me. I re-joined my wife at the table....and she asked what did he say? I said......Well, this is the first time I have ever been pulled over by the Cops when I was not even sitting in the damn driver's seat. She smiled at me...and we ate our breakfast! ;D
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