Chop’s Fives: Matchbox cars

I’ve been wanting to do this top 5 for ages. My favourite matchbox cars as a kid. Probably my favourite toy growing up. My best mate would come round every Friday and we’d spend hours racing cars down plastic track. 

1. Volks Dragon (1971) - My oldest and fastest car. Used to have a daisy sticker on the bonnet. Never let me down in a head to head race.

2. Dodge Challenger (1975) - No. 1 in the matchbox catalogue for years. Loved the US muscle car styling of this one & it was pretty reliable in races too

3. Ford Escort RS2000 (1978) - A more contemporary car that was less good “on the track” but looked classy in back garden rallying through the flower beds. 

4. Porsche 911 Turbo (1978) - I was a bit older when I bought this from the post office shop but despite initially seeming a little dull it became one of my favourites. Opening doors too.

5. Lamborghini Countach (1973) - This was my nemesis for many years. My best mate’s favourite car and one I didn’t own. I eventually caved in and bought one of my own.

Top 5 Herbie Movies

The Herbie movies were simple but fun and were amongst the earliest films I can remember seeing in a cinema. I totally believed in the sentience of inanimate objects (I should perhaps point out here that I was only 6 when I saw the first film) and Herbie was proof positive that cars could do incredible things. Original director, Robert Stevenson, had made some of Disney's best kids movies (The Absent Minded Professor, Mary Poppins & One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing) but with Herbie found the perfect formula for boys under 10.  

1. Herbie Rides Again (1974) - Directed by Robert Stevenson
This first sequel to The Love Bug is, in my view, the best of the series. Herbie's original mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz leaves Herbie with his great aunt Mrs. Steinmetz (played perfectly by the wonderful Helen Hayes) and the plot revolves around the attempts of, evil real-estate mogul, Alonzo Hawk's attempts to evict them from their Firehouse home. This is the first Herbie film I saw in the cinema and the mixture of the surreal and the madcap made it a winner. My highlight is the finale which sees lots of other V.W. Beetles come to life to help ward of the demolition crew and defeat the villains once and for all.  

2. The Love Bug (1968) - Directed by Robert Stevenson
The original movie sees down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) acquire Herbie after defending the car from humilaitation by car salesman Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson). Thorndyke is also a race driver and becomes their bitter foe after Herbie beats him in a race having been tuned by Jim's mechanic friend Tennesse Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett). The Love Bug sets up the Boy-Car-Girl template that persists throughout the series, at heart these are quite simple love storys but in every one it's Herbie who remains the biggest star.

3. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) - Directed by Vincent McEveety
Dean Jones returns as Jim Douglas and Herbie is back in the racing business though this time a cross continent chase from Paris to Monte Carlo. Don Knotts is entertaining as Herbie's new mechanic and the European backdrop provides some new scenary for the usual Herbie related mayhem. The much missed Roy Kinnear also makes an appearance as one of two thieves who hide a large diamond in Herbies fuel tank and then have to chase him around Europe in an attempt to reclaim it. There's a noticeable drop in quality with the loss of Stevenson as director but this film retains enough of the original movies charm to pull it off.

4. Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) - Directed by Angela Robinson
A slight return some 25 years after the disaster that was Herbie Goes Bananas. This time Herbie finds a female owner in Maggie Peyton (played by a pre-rehab Lindsay Lohan), the youngest member of a racing family.The film recreates many of the scenarios we've seen before; Herbie helps owner beat race driver in posh big car, Driver accepts that Herbie is sentient, Driver bet's something important on winning a race, Herbie then delibately loses. Girl meets Boy, Boy falls for girl, car brings them together & they all live happily ever after. It's simple and a little cheesy but there are times when I think that's all we need. Fully Loaded restores a bit of pride to the series and gave me a little thrill in taking my eldest to see it when he was abount the same age I'd have been for Herbie Rides Again.

5. Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) - Directed by Vincent McEveety
Oh dear. This one is a shocker, poorly written and struggling to raise the gentlest of titters. Herbie is shipped to Brazil to take part in a Grand Prix but after causing havoc on the ship is dumped in the sea. He eventually surfaces, covered in rust and somehow finds his way to Mexico. The only scene that is even vaguely memorable sees Herbie as a matador in a Mexican bullring. Otherwise this was just a desperate attempt to prolong the series.

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Top 5 Car Chases

Car chases can be a bit like drum solo's. They're easy enough to do but not so easy to get right and too often you're left feeling you've seen it all before. These are five car chases that either defined the style or took it on to new levels.

1. Bullitt (1968)
The film that made every boy in my generation want to own an American muscle car. Steve McQueen has a ball doing his own driving stunts as Bullitt (in a 1968 Ford Mustang 390 CID Fastback) chases two hit-men (in a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum) through the streets of San Francisco. Lalo Schifrin provides the jazzy score that perfectly complements the action.

2. The French Connection (1971)
A breathtaking chase through Brooklyn as Gene Hackman attempts to keep pace with a subway train on an elevated section of track. Much of the impetus of the footage is due to legendary stunt driver Bill Hickman driving (a 1971 Pontiac Le Mans) at high speed through uncontrolled traffic and red lights. Director Friedkin had obtained no prior permission for the stunt and several accidental collisions occurred during the action that remained in the final film.

3. The Italian Job (1969)
A glorious celebration of British eccentricity as Micheal Cane executes the most ridiculous gold heist in the history of cinema. The three Mini Cooper Ss steal the show as they wend their way out of a gridlocked Turin, through the shopping arcades of Via Roma, up the roof of Torino Palavela, around the Fiat rooftop test track, and through a set of sewer pipes to escape the pursuing Italian police. The perfect advert for the Cooper S and a major contribution to making the Mini a cultural icon.

4. The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Blues Brothers was once, and may well still be, the film in which more cars were destroyed during production than any other. Car chases make up a great deal of the film, as Jake and Elwood wend their way across country, occasionally interrupted by bursts of classic Stax Soul, in an attempt to complete their "mission from God". The indoor car chase through a shopping mall and the climatic ending off an incomplete elevated highway stand out in my mind but really this is just a vote for the prolonged destruction of cars throughout.

5. Death Proof (2008)
Not one of Tarantino's best but Quentin does manage to create the greatest cinematic car chase for over twenty years. The final chase, in which Stuntman Mike first terrifies and is then terrified by three cute chicks in a 1970 Dodge Challenger, is a truly edge of the seat sequence. The "Ship's Mast" stunt suggests that Zoë Bell has balls of steel hidden beneath her feminine charms. Spectacular stuff.

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Top 5 Bond Cars

Bond is back! The new film "Quantum of Solace" is due for release on 31st October which gives me 5 weeks of Bond Top fives to get everyone in the mood. The Times ran their own top ten not that long ago too, check out the link if you're interested.

1. Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger, 1964) - This is THE Bond car. It's not the one Fleming used in the books but it's the first car used in the film series and the car I most associate with Bond. Packed full of gadgets including an ejector seat, machine guns and rotating number plates it was the look and style that really won me over. I've still got my Corgi model of it somewhere at home (though I think the man that got fired out of the ejector seat has long gone). It also made appearances in Thunderball (1965), Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Casino Royale (2006), which I think is more than any other car. I could quite easily completed a Top 5 of Aston Martins, they're lovely cars. The Aston Martin DBS used in OHMSS comes a close second for me and the Aston Martin DBS from Casino Royale is just as stunning.



2. Bentley Mark IV (From Russia With Love, 1963) - OK, so it never actually existed as a real car but this was Bond’s car in many of Ian Fleming’s novels. A Derby Bentley was used in it's place for a brief cameo during From Russia With Love and the car was mentioned obliquely during the 2006 version of Casino Royale.



3. Lotus Esprit S1 (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977) - It's a very eighties design and not the sort of car I'd normally like. All square corners and ugly angular styling. However, once you've seen it turn into a submarine it takes on a whole new aspect. I think this might have been the first Bond film I saw in the cinema and that moment, as the car dives into the sea, is one that has stayed with me ever since. Torpedoes too!



4. Ford Mustang Mach-1 (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971) - This car didn't belong to Bond but a wild chase through the streets of Las Vegas is enough to give me an excuse to get a Mustang in the list. You've gotta love an American muscle car.



5. AMC Hornet X (The Man With The Golden Gun, 1974) - Possibly not the most auspicious car Bond has driven, this gains all it's magic from a fabulous car chase in which Bond, having stolen the Hornet from a car dealership and with Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside for "comic" interjection, pursues Scaramanga who has agent Goodnight locked in his boot. It's a great car chase, and the Hornet earns it's place with a spectacular corkscrew jump over the river. Scaramanga is also driving an AMC car, a Matador which also gains more kudos than it might otherwise achieve by transforming into a plane. Who wouldn't want a car like that? On a side note in trying to find out what cars these were I stumbled across this site which has a fairly damning description of AMC cars in general and a nice picture of a Matador.

Top 5 Songs about cars and driving

Really quick entry today as it's been a long and at times arduous week.

1. "One Piece At A Time" Johnny Cash - John R plans to build a car by stealing a piece at a time from the Detroit production line and hiding them in his lunch box. One of my favourite Cash songs, it has a great comic conclusion as it takes him a while to get all the parts and he ends up with a "49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59 automobile. It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70 automobile".

2. "Brand New Cadillac" Vince Taylor - Cracking British rock'n'roll song which was covered by the Clash on "London Calling". Despite coming from Isleworth I believe Vince attempted to pass himself off as a US rock'n'roller. It's understandable as a song about a brand new Vauxhall Victor probably wouldn't have had the same impact.

3. "Last Kiss" Pearl Jam - It's been so long since I heard this track I'm not actually sure I'd enjoy it as much as I used to. I liked the sentiments of the lyric. "The screaming tyres, the busting glass" I think you can guess where this song is heading.

4. "No Particular Place To Go" Chuck Berry - This has turned out to be quite a rock'n'roll flavoured top five. Probably my favourite Chuck Berry song and covered by just about everyone. It's the ultimate summer driving song.

5. "Don't Drive My Car" Status Quo - Rick Parfitt's paean to beautiful girls and his (then massive) car collection it's the anti-song to "Baby You Can Drive My Car" by the Beatles.