 |
We're Ready for Our Close-upSeptember 22, 2003 BFGoodrich® tires featured on major movie cars by Hollywood builder Eddie Paul California car builder and stunt man Eddie Paul is fast becoming famous as builder of the cars in "XXX" and "The Fast And The Furious" films, both of which have been huge successes, and other Hollywood productions featuring fast, great-looking cars. Besides the latest film credits, Eddie is a bestselling author. His book "Cars of The Fast And The Furious" (Motorbooks/Universal) sold out a first edition of 19,000 copies in three weeks. It's already gone into its fifth printing and Eddie has a second book on the way. For his movie work, Eddie swears by BFGoodrich tires. One of the most visible examples is the Pontiac GTO in the movie XXX. BFG's were the choice for that car (the automotive star of the film) because, as he says, "BFGoodrich was the tire that muscle car guys wanted, because they were the best street tire. Usually when you saw another tire on a muscle car, it was because the BFGoodrich tire was unavailable." Eddie says the same performance standard applies in movies, to a greater degree - which makes using BFGoodrich tires even more important. 
"If we had ever had a problem with BFGs we wouldn't use them, because we couldn't afford the risk. My life is on the line when I'm putting a car in a stunt, and I want tires I trust."Eddie said the big challenge of this summer's hit film 2 Fast 2 Furious was customizing and detailing 115 cars in two months. "That involved doing so many cars in such a short time that it's almost a blur," Eddie said in a phone interview from his company office in El Segundo, Cal. "Most of what we did was just cosmetic -- customizing, painting and detailing. We did very little suspension modification. Two cars -- the RX7 and the Supra -- were carryovers from The Fast And The Furious. We changed their color in 2 Fast 2 Furious." 
Besides the color change, the Supra got a fully-chromed twin-turbo motor displayed by a hood cutout, with a three-foot section of the hood replaced by a see-through cover that Eddie molded in his shop. Eddie was called on to make seven copies of the Supra, and there was a problem regarding the engine chrome job.
"The bill from the company that chromed the twin-turbo motor for the studio was $40,000," Eddie said. "That wasn't going to work for seven copies." Eddie came up with an ingenious solution: He used photography instead of chrome. "I shot a photo of the chromed engine and made a full-size print to go underneath the hoods of the seven cars," Eddie said. "I took the photos at the same time of day as the scene they were in so the lighting would be right. Nobody can tell they're seeing a photo instead of the engine." Some of the movie's most dramatic moments involve two Detroit muscle cars -- a Yenko S/C and Dodge Challenger - and a highly modified purple Mitsubishi Eclipse. All ride on BFGoodrich® rubber. "BFGoodrich is the tire those muscle cars rode on originally," Eddie says, "and it's the right tire for those cars in the movie. It's the street performance tire. As far as I'm concerned, BFGoodrich is the tire company." That's a wrap. Photos courtesy Eddie Paul |
 |
| See Archives 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 |
