The Earl Camino

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks Michael - I actually saw that commercial a few days ago, as of course it was immediately picked up by the El Camino forum guys ...there's also a great scene floating on Youtube from the new GI Joe movie with Bruce Willis shooting at the bad guys while laying in the back of a speeding 4th gen Camino and getting shot at. My favorite line is when Bruce, asked after the ordeal whether he's allright by the beautiful (of course) female Camino driver, replies "Cholesterol's a bit high" ... Caminos rock!

[Cees Klumper]

Yesterday, another Earl Camino was auctioned off by Mecum, the same auctioneer that brokered the sale, for $6,000, of my car in 2010. So as it turns out there were 2 El Caminos that we used in the TV series 'My Name is Earl'. This second one was sold for $8,000 but without the certificate of authenticity and all the studio parafernalia that came with mine. It's almost the same visually, with two exceptions: blue overspray under the blue door that is supposed to be from another car (hence there should be no overspray) and the rear sliding window is visibly bent inwards. Under the hood the car has a small block 350 whereas mine actually has the 454 that the fender emblems promise. All in all it looks like this was a back-up car to mine, and a good copy at that. The auction was flagged to me by Camino forum fellows a couple of days ago. I called Mecum to point out that neither in yesterday's auction nor in the one they did for my car back in 2010 did they mention that there was a second car. Of course they never returned my call or replied to my email: seems the auction business is a bit dodgy. I hope the buyer comes forward so we can swap 'Earl stories' ...

[mdsalemi]

Every star has a stand in, and or a stunt-double. SOP in movies.  Cars no exception. There was more than one of nearly every movie star car, or TV car star.

http://www.allpar.com/history/christine.html  Notable quote: My 1958 Plymouth Fury was one of over twenty cars used in the movie Christine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Martin_DB5 Notable: The car used in the film was the original DB5 prototype, with another standard car used for stunts. To promote the film, the two DB5's were showcased...(that's four if you are counting!)

http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1966/BlackBeauty/  Notable: He created only two cars for the show...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsky_and_Hutch Notable: They looked at lease stock and chose two 1975 2-door Gran Torinos.

So, if there are only two Earl Caminos, and only one pedigreed with papers, not too bad, Cees!

[Cees Klumper]

Updates on my Earl Camino:

It's featured in this article that came out earlier this week and otherwise is about some of what I do for a living, not everyday work:

www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/02/09/466143083/meet-the-repo-man-for-global-health-skim-off-a-grant-hell-make-you-pay?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20160212&utm_campaign=npr_email_a_friend&utm_term=storyshare

Other update is that the car will be going to its new owner in Halifax, Canada, next month. The family will be moving from Geneva in the near future making it difficult to hold onto too many cars. We've had a great run together and it's been great fun to own this piece of American muscle / TV history.

[GGR]

Wow!

And Nadine just saw your car and thought you have come to check on the real use she is making of that mosquito net!

[kampala]

Very interesting article.  It's nice to see at least some of the fraud being rooted out.  Wall Street needs a repo man!

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Great article Cees! Keep up the great work!

Cheers Dieter

[mdsalemi]

Great article, Cees. Fraud in Cambodia and Burkina Faso? Unbelievable, I could have never guessed that one coming...

[Cees Klumper]

Hi Michael - guess what:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-crime-idUSKCN0VD2E7?_ga=1.204297234.321639159.1434114224

"Public corruption is one of the most insidious crimes confronting our communities today," FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs said in a statement. "It contributes to the cynicism we are seeing from members of the public who often feel as though all politicians are corrupt."

The arrests took place without incident and the FBI also seized documents at a San Antonio office in San Antonio, which is leased to Jonas, said FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee.

[GGR]

Institutionalized corruption is called lobbying.

Developing countries do not have the means for being corrupt, so it's more visible.