Release date, price set for “Route 66″ DVD set February 10, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Television, Vehicles.3 comments
Shout! Factory, which recently acquired rights to the “Route 66″ television series of 1960-64, announced Friday 
a price tag and release date for its 24-DVD box set of all four seasons of the acclaimed drama.
The “Route 66″ box set has a street date of May 22. However, customers who pre-order direct from Shout! Factory will get the privilege of having the set shipped one month early, on April 22.
Also, those who pre-order will get the full box set for $99.99, plus 66 cents shipping (get it?). The regular retail price will be $129.99.
Here’s what’s going to be in the box set:
- All 116 episodes, including the “lost” one that was never broadcast in the wake of President Kennedy’s assassination.
- Vintage commercials
- Bonus DVD of “Great Cars — Corvette” program
- Rare “Route 66″ Paley Festival panel footage
More bonus features for the box set are being developed, and will be announced later.
Roxbury Entertainment, which issued three one-season DVD sets of “Route 66,” retained trademark, television remake, and film rights. Roxbury also is developing a “Route 66″ TV series remake with Shout!.
The Emmy-nominated “Route 66” co-starred Martin Milner, George Maharis and a Corvette convertible. My interview with Maharis in 2007 can be read here.
Maharis left the show after the third season, and was replaced by Glenn Corbett for the rest of its run.
Two Chevy Route 66 commercials shot on the Mother Road February 8, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Gas stations, Television, Vehicles.2 comments
In recent weeks, we learned that one of the candidates for the Chevrolet Route 66 commercial for the Super Bowl was shot on Route 66.
Apparently at least two others were shot on Route 66. One of the spots prominently feature the historic U-Drop Inn gas station in Shamrock, Texas, and a couple of great-looking Corvettes. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the spots created by Michael Brown Productions, based out of the Dallas area.
Alas, both of Brown’s ads didn’t make the final round.
Driving the Mother Road the hard way January 30, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Vehicles.2 comments
In 2004, Brian McKay decided to re-create the Okies’ exodus from the Dust Bowl by driving his 1930 Nash automobile on Route 66.
The key difference was that McKay didn’t start in Oklahoma — he started at Route 66′s eastern starting point in Chicago. He was determined to accomplish the 2,400-mile journey without any modern conveniences. And he planned to drive 35 mph, a typical speed during that era.
Here’s a video from that time that recently surfaced about McKay and his Nash:
It took 50 days, but McKay made it to the end of Route 66 in Santa Monica. Probably the most trying time of the journey was in the California and Arizona deserts. The dry air made the Nash’s wooden spokes shrink, and the tires wobbled dangerously. At one point, McKay soaked the wheels overnight in the Colorado River before departing for the Mojave Desert.
A day-by-day accounting of McKay’s trip can be found here and here.
I was saddened to learn from the video that McKay died of cancer in 2010. He was a true road warrior — one who tried (and succeeded) in something that few of us would even attempt.
His 1930 Nash is on display at the Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Wienermobile stops at Emma Jean’s Holland Burger January 26, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Restaurants, Road trips, Vehicles.add a comment
A new Oscar Mayer Wienermobile made a Route 66 stop on Thursday at the legendary Emma Jean Holland Burger Cafe in Victorville, Calif., on the way to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, according to the Victorville Daily Press.
According to the newspaper:
On Thursday, patrons at Emma Jean’s Holland Burger Cafe in Victorville were able to either experience the sight for the first time or relive their childhood memories, as a 2012 model Wienermobile pulled into the parking lot on its way to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
“We picked up the new Wienermobile in Santa Barbara and are driving all the way to the Super Bowl with many stops ahead of us,” Danica Schmidt, official Kraft Foods “Hotdogger,” said. “We wanted to stop at the famous Holland Burger diner for lunch before heading to Flagstaff, Ariz.”
The vehicle also made a stop at the Route 66 Museum in Old Town Victorville.
There usually are several Wienermobiles on the road at any one time. To track them, go here.
UPDATE: The California Route 66 Museum has posted a bunch of photos of the Wiernermobile on its Facebook page.
(Photo of the Wienermobile courtesy of Oscar Mayer)
“Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” January 24, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Music, Vehicles.add a comment
Cage the Elephant, an up-and-coming rock band from Bowling Green, Ky., used a lot of footage from Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, for this music video:
A Chevrolet Route 66 ad entry that was firmly on-topic January 19, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Television, Vehicles.5 comments
A few months ago, Chevrolet launched a contest where budding filmmakers could submit their ideas for the carmaker’s “Route 66″ ad campaign. The winning advertisement would be shown during the upcoming Super Bowl.
The finalists can be viewed here. But this entrant, which actually takes place on Route 66, didn’t make the cut.
As you can see, Dan Rice of 66-to-Cali was the star of the clip, along with other roadies.
The filmmaker, Ian Eyre, was a little peeved his work didn’t advance to the final round:
We were initially excited by the title of the contest “Chevrolet Route 66 Super Bowl Competition” and the statements that “We want to celebrate the everyday heroic acts of our customers. They are optimistic, fun-loving, hardworking, reliable people who do the heroic every day.” Dan told me the true story of how all of the lemons that Joann bakes into Ugly Crust Pies at Fran’s MidPoint Cafe come from the lemon tree in his front yard, and he often finds someone who is driving east to take her his lemons. I thought this was an upbeat, authentic story that should be told, would be appreciated by Route 66 enthusiasts, and met the stated desires of the contest, so we enlisted the help of Kumar Patel at Wigwam Motel, Crocodile Lile, Fran at MidPoint, Nick and Demi Adam at Ariston Cafe and Dale Butel, owner of Route 66 Tours out of Australia. [...]
Dan and I think it is regretful that “Chevy Route 66″ doesn’t really seem to incorporate the Route 66 part of things or the “true Chevy story” they said they were looking for. We are disappointed that like so many other brands that proclaim they want to help promote Route 66 (K-Mart’s “Route66″ brand, and the Route 66 Casino in New Mexico come to mind), Chevy has also fallen in with not doing their homework or properly representing the Mother Road, and yet are still doing all they can to profit from it.
Eyre also said the criteria for the contest was “a bit misleading.” I found the original rules for the video. You be the judge of the key passages:
Write a script for an iconic 30 second film which captures the unique spirit of the original Route 66 and Chevrolet.
The script for your film should be an epic road trip story or adventure that captures the spirit of Route 66 and Chevrolet!
I think there’s wiggle room there, especially when you’re talking about the “spirit” of Route 66. But it does seem odd the ad most explicitly about the Mother Road didn’t make it.
UPDATE: This is the entrant that won the contest, announced today:
Old-time cruising January 8, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Motels, Music, Vehicles.add a comment
Here’s a new video from Jane Reed, the driving force behind the Cuba Murals blog based in Cuba, Mo.
She describes it this way:
This slide shows photos of cars from the 2011 September Lions Club Car Show in Cuba and from the Wagon Wheel Motel‘s 75th Anniversary Celebration, also in Cuba.
Music is by Jess McEntire’s “Man with a Mission” album, which aims to promote old Route 66. The song is “It’s a 66 Day,” and it’s sung by Billy Dawson.
You also can download the album here.