The 1975 cinéma vérité masterpiece, Death Race 2000, was prime drive-in fodder. Now Nice Price or Crack Pipe brings, to a driveway near you, a tribute to that exemplar of schlock movie history.
Years before Jason Statham channeled his Shakespearian training for the lead role in the remake, David Carradine walked off the set of the hit TV show Kung Fu and dropped into the driver's seat of Death Race 2000. He portrayed, with great pathos, the stitched-together anti-hero, and death race driving champion, Frankenstein, whose chief rival was the snarling Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Loved by thousands, hated by millions!), better known to most of us as Sylvester Stallone. The Roger Corman-produced film was a cult hit, and got plenty of press for its unflinching depiction of sadistic violence, copious quantities of ketchup-based blood, and cornball dialog. It was sort of Gumball Rally meets Deathproof, with a little bit of 8mm home-made snuff film thrown in for good measure.
Much like its leather gimp-masked driver, this tribute to the movie prop car is an amalgamation of bits and pieces borrowed from other cars. Underneath all the slick, Hollywood makeup, it's a VW-powered, fiberglass kit car with a whole lotta' Corvette goin' on. This isn't the vehicle to be cruising Black Angus in, looking to score. That 1300cc VW sewing machine motor doesn't have enough poop to scatter pigeons, much less impress anybody with jaw-dropped feats of pedestrian-catapulting prowess. But if you're looking to get lucky with someone for whom Death Race 2000 is the catalyst for getting their freak on (and let's be honest- you know who they are), this may be your ride.
In case you wanted to see the original in action:
So, for ten grand do you want to give this car two thumbs up? Or does that price make you want to wait for the DVD?
You decide!
Cars.com, or go here if the ad closes after one weekend.
Thanks to Goes like stink! for the tip!