Pontiac Astre “Li’l Wide Track”

In our never-ending documentations of “The Little Car That Does Everything Well,” we occasionally find variants worth noting.  And by variants, here we are talking about the late great Pontiac’s version of the GM H-Body, known better as the Astre (French for “star”), shown here, built for the Canadian market (please note the shiny headlight rings) in 1973 and ’74, then sold to us here in the USA in 1975, ’76, and ’77.

Le Salaire de la Peur (The Wages of Fear, 1953), a review:

Somewhere in South America, an old man named Jo (Charles Vanel) arrives by plane with not much on him. Him and Mario (Yves Montand) become friends on the basis of being Frenchmen. Jo’s bigshot/tough guy persona rubs a lot of people the wrong way, and even strains Mario’s relationships with his girlfriend-of-sorts Linda (Véra Clouzot) and lively Italian roommate Luigi (Folco Lulli).

Both are motivated to earn money, but it’s not so easy: the harsh dessert conditions stifles real progress, with many barely making ends meet. Those that haven’t received their visas like Mario and many others have it tougher. Dying from hunger is a real possibility. Third-world diseases and pestilence could do you in as well. Getting out isn’t any easier: Airfare is extremely expensive, regardless if you have a real passport or not. The only highways available lead to the North-American-owned oil wells and refineries, the main source of income and the industry that’s keeping the town alive.

Sorcerer (1977), a review:

In a backwater town in South America, a North-American-owned, government-backed oil well ignites. The injured and death toll is more than reason enough for the townsfolk to riot. After the violence subsides and the dead are buried, the problem still remains: the oil well fire needs to be put out immediately to restart production and make ends meet, or shut down the site. If the latter happens, the town will die as well.

Used Cars (1980), a review:

Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) has state Senate dreams. It’s only natural, given his experience working as a used car salesman. His boss Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden) was even willing to lend him the full $10K to fund his campaign. But he dies of a heart attack… except it was caused by Mickey (Michael Talbott, of Miami Vice fame), who literally scared him to death with a reckless test drive. This was all planned by rival used-car dealer and Luke’s brother: Roy Fuchs (also by Jack Warden). Rudy found evidence of foul play, and got superstitious Jeff (Gerrit Graham) and mechanic Jim (Frank McRae) to hide the body and help him impede Roy on getting any inheritance, which includes the used-car lot. If Rudy wants to run for Senate, he’s going to have to get creative in order to scrounge up the remaining money before the cut-off date…

The Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine

October 21^st, 2015 has come and gone. In a perfect world, that date would’ve shown a post on the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future. But I knew that I wasn’t going to make it. But with the purchase of a very informative and entertaining book on the franchise,-a perfect complement to my 25^th Anniversary Blu-Ray collection– it was a good thing I didn’t. Inspired to write and armed with new information, I can now write the post that this machine deserves.

Even if one has managed to somehow avoid watching the movie re-runs (particularly throughout the franchise’s 30^th Anniversary celebration back in 2015), everyone knows this car is the Back To The Future Time Machine, whether they know what a DeLorean is or think it’s strictly a made-for-movie prop. Take it from me: as a kid I thought it was either a modded Fox-body Mustang, Isuzu Impulse or a MkII Volkswagen Scirocco (I would later learn how the latter two had some connections with DeLorean, design-wise)! In the back of my mind I wanted to know more about the car with the horizontal wheels. Not knowing what the movies were called and having yet to master the English language, I just knew about the car through the occasional picture, including a stranger’s T-shirt and a non-working franchise-themed pinball machine. It took the rental of a deteriorated VHS copy to finally put my questions and curiosity at ease. It wasn’t until I caught History Channel’s Great Blunders in History that I learned about the DeLorean itself, though.