On november of 2007 hunter knight customs had the honor of being selected to Lease one of my replica cars for the Hollywood movie "sex drive" starring Seth Green, James marsden , Josh Zuckerman , Amanda crew, Clark Duke among others.
They needed a very "tuner like " type of car , very flashy and that looked fast even when standing still. Aside from customizing action figures , tunning and building cars is another hobbie of mine, so I gladly accepted.
Due to time and budget constraints, I built only a partial replica of the roof and spoiler (also called a mock up) for the taco shot, and leased my Eclipse as the "picture car"
It didn't had to be fast for real , it just had to look fast enough to challenge a 1969 judge!
The script stated it to be a "Honda" ..i love Hondas (I have one) but to challenge a judge ..another car was needed, one that looked the part ..so production went for the Mitsubishi Eclipse instead...with the iconic paint job and design made famous by the fast and the furious car creator Eddie Paul it was just the right pick
The interior , the body kit , the graphics were all made in my garage by me (of course cousin jerry helped me a lot...and got a pretty good reward ..) the paint job though I left it to the professionals
I worked until 5 a.m in the morning I really didn't care much for sleep (all this and also managing ebay auctions and customs) the project was completed on schedule..cause when on a movie project , you ALWAYS have to complete your job ON TIME no matter what or how...missing a deadline could result in thousands of dollars lost in production costs ...and a bad rep for your company
The first day on the set was incredible , I got to be part of the shooting of a real hollywood movie, I met the cast and crew. working closely with them and the best team of stuntmen in the bussiness, its something that I will remember forever
Production notes:
Although in the movie you can hear a big turbo boost ..the reality is that the car has: NONE, the turbo sounds were added in post production , it was shot at 40 miles per hour the car is a 1995 mitsubishi eclipse GS, 5 speed manual transmission with a full tsudo catback, headers and ractive air intake ..but no turbo!
The magnificent driving was done by none other than Sammy Maloof. He has done many movies like Domino, The Fast And The Furious Tokyo Drift , Transporter, etc check his website here.
Sex drive was shot completely in Florida , the car scenes were shot in alligator alley , US 27 and in US1 in Dania Beach
The car "mock up" (or partial replica) I also built, was used only for the taco close up scene , only the roof and spoiler was replicated, nothing else, then the car was inmediately put back to stock specs and reshipped to its owner
Due to copyrights, the word 'Furious" was digitally removed from the windshield , although in the "big boy" scene you can still see it when the windshield is shot by the ricocheted bullet..Fun Fact: despite having told EVERYBODY that the car WAS a replica of the one seen in "The Fast and the Furious" it seemed that no one bothered to tell that to the director Sean Anders (he had never seen F&F)
Yes the car was really shot, but not by a bullet , it was a remote controlled explosive that "looks " as if a bullet went through. both the front and rear windshields were replaced inmediately after the scene was done
The rims were left stock on purpose so the car does not look exactly like the one seen in the fast and the furious
We broke like 2 sets of front bumpers during production wich were inmediately replaced so the car could be on set the next day
I met several cast members while shooting with 1st unit: James Marsden , Josh Zuckerman , the beautiful and talented Amanda Crew, Katrina Bowden and Clark Duke (who by the way gave a funny autograph dedication!)
The original car is still in my posession and can be seen cruising on the South Florida scene like Riverfront or south beach. I also rent it for parties and events ... I will be making a turbo version soon
Actress Caley Hayes who played Sandy in the movie, invited me (and the car) to her opening weekend party in Daytona Beach, the car was showcased at the club's entry for all the guests to appeciate.
Thank you very much Caley!
Chris "Hunter" D
For contracts, and how I can accomodate your production needs and time schedules, please use the contact us link
