Unfortunately, Moser can’t...
Unfortunately, Moser can’t save all the classics. This numbers-matching ’64 Corvette was flipped in the Justin Timberlake video for the song “What Comes Around Goes Around.” In the video, Scarlett Johansson’s character was driving it. Moser is about halfway through restoring it—but Moser maintains it’s an arduous, unnecessary process when cheaper alternatives are available to directors and producers.
You ever walk through your aisles of junk cars and just say, I gotta build that one into a hot rod?
Moser: Of course. I walk through all the aisles of cars and say I gotta do this. My goal is to have a car in the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge, have it go to SEMA, and race it in the Challenge. I’ve got a couple picked out. One is a ’70 Cuda that we’ve had going for about 10 years. I’m going to put this ’Cuda body on a Viper chassis—an old rust bucket from the Viper TV series.
PHR: Some shows and movies are infamous for their car destruction. The Dukes Of Hazzard for instance. What could other movie companies be doing to save those cars?
Moser: CGI has helped. Computer graphic imaging. Things like the Dynacorn bodies. Also making fiberglass molds of bodies.
PHR: In recent years, some movie producers have wiped out almost the entire cherry fleet of some car models. For instance Torinos for Starsky & Hutch, or Chrysler Imperials for The Green Hornet. At the very least, it’s run up the price of good cars and parts cars for the average guy. Do you think this is right?
Moser: It’s very conflicting for me, because you know there’s a finite amount. The moral judgment I question is that is there any difference between a hot rodder stealing parts off a four-door and putting them on a two-door, and a producer wrecking a car? [Editor’s note: Much of what PCW does is supply ordinary four-door cars for set dressing, some of which are hard to find because they’ve been destroyed for parts cars.] Grindhouse is a perfect example. I built four or five Chargers and four or five Challengers for the movie, but I didn’t know what they were doing with them. When I saw that movie I just went “Oh no!”
This silver ’64 Corvette,...
This silver ’64 Corvette, however, was saved from the same fate. It was to be wadded up in the movie Seven Pounds (starring Will Smith), but was saved when Moser made a fiberglass mold of it that he mounted to a spent ’81 Corvette chassis.
These are just a few of the...
These are just a few of the cars Moser has collected at his Agua Dulce film ranch facility. Imagine this row of cars multiplied by 50, and you get the picture. Muscle cars are Moser’s passion, but there is a great need for ordinary period-correct cars, many of which Moser has.
Looks like your ordinary ’57...
Looks like your ordinary ’57 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, but it’s not by a long shot. Moser built it for a Bridgestone Tire commercial in which the Caddy does all kinds of stunts, like drifting and running on the Bonneville Salt Flats. It’s got a special stunt brake, NASCAR front and back clips, and a small-block Chevy engine with about 450 hp.
This green ’66 Chrysler Newport...
This green ’66 Chrysler Newport has a stock 383 and is one of 50 that are going in the Men In Black three-quel.
Building movie and TV cars...
Building movie and TV cars at such a feverish pace requires a commercial on-sight paint booth for quick turnaround.