G1 Alt modes - Autobot Cars

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G1 Alt modes - Autobot Cars

Post by Nevermore »

The thread is about finding photos of the G1 Autobot Cars.

For the rules, see here.

------------------

Alt mode still to be identified (exact model if possible):

Ironhide - Toyota Previa? Nissan Onebox van? Cherry Vanette?

Notes:
The color scheme was Hasbro's creation (the Diaclone version was black).


Ratchet - Toyota Previa? Nissan Onebox? van/ambulance? Cherry Vanette?

Question:
Was the vehicle actually used as an ambulance in real life?



Alt mode identified, looking for photos of real-life counterpart:

JafCon exclusive black Convoy/Optimus Prime - Freightliner Cabover Engine truck

Ultra Magnus - Freightliner Cabover Engine car carrier truck

Question:
Did the freightliner actually get used as a car carrier? Does a car carrier trailer that looks like Ultra Magnus' exist in real life?


Ultra Magnus Diaclone/"Movie Preview" version


Ultra Magnus "Shining" version



Stepper - Porsche 935 Turbo (1976 model)

Question:
Did the 935 actually exist in black? I'm fairly certain the flames are not based in real life, though.


"Anime" Streak/Bluestreak - Datsun 280ZX

Diaclone "blue Bluestreak" - Datsun 280ZX


Prowl - Datsun 280ZX (police cruiser)

Question:
Was the 280ZX actually used as a police car?

Notes: The Diaclone version came with "Sapporo City" decals. The same decals were also used for the 1991 European "Classic Heroes" re-release.


Hound - Mitsubishi J59 Army Jeep

Notes:
"Jeep" vehicles were originally produced by Willy's. Today the brand is owned by Daimler-Chrysler.
Mitsubishi had the license for Japanese market at one point, the Diaclone/Transformers toy is based on the Mitsubishi version.


Detritus - Mitsubishi J59 Army Jeep


Tigertrack - Lamborghini Countach LP500S (yellow)

Deep Cover - Lamborghini Countach LP500S (black)

G2 Sideswipe - Lamborghini Countach LP500S (black)

Question: I assume the G2 deco was not based in real life by any chance?


Red Alert - Lamborghini Countach LP500S (Fire Escort)

Question: I don't think the Countach was ever actually used as a fire chief car? Could we use a white version instead?

Notes:
The deco was Hasbro's creation (the Diaclone version was a police cruiser, see Clamp Down).


Clamp Down - Lamborghini Countach LP500S (police cruiser)

Question:
Was the Countach actually used as a police car?



Sunstreaker - Lamborghini Countach LP500S ("Super Tuning", exposed rear engine)

Question:
From what I understand, Sunstreaker (who was the first Diaclone "Car Robo" mold) was a fantasy modicfication of a Countach. The question is, was that modification based on anything (existing custom mod) or just the product of the Diaclone designers' imagination?

Note:
The color scheme was Hasbro's creation (the Diaclone versions were either red or a police cruiser).

Diaclone "red Sunstreaker" - Lamborghini Countach LP500S ("Super Tuning", exposed rear engine)

Question:
See Sunstreaker.


Diaclone "police Sunstreaker" - Lamborghini Countach LP500S ("Super Tuning", exposed rear engine; police cruiser)

Question:
See Sunstreaker and Clamp Down.


Mirage - F1 Ligier JS 25 (or JS 11?) Formula 1 racer - link 1

Notes:
The sponsor name "Gitanes" was changed to "Citanes" for the Diaclone and Transformers versions. The Italian version used "Ligier" decals instead.


Diaclone red Mirage - F1 Ligier JS 25 (or JS 11?) Formula 1 racer



Wheeljack - Lancia Stratos Turbo – link 1

Notes:
The sponsor name "Alitalia" was changed to "Alitalla" for the Diaclone and Transformers versions.


Diaclone "Marlboor" Wheeljack - Lancia Stratos Turbo – link 1

Notes:
The sponsor name "Marlboro" was changed to "Marlboor" for the Diaclone version.


Inferno - Mitsubishi Fuso fire engine


Artfire - Mitsubishi Fuso fire engine

Question: Did the real-life version actually exist in the Artfire colors?



Grapple – Mitsubishi Fuso crane


Road Hauler – Mitsubishi Fuso crane




Trailbreaker - Toyota 4WD Hilux



Diaclone blue Trailbreaker - Toyota 4WD Hilux



Diaclone yellow Trailbreaker - Toyota 4WD Hilux



Hoist - Toyota 4WD Wrecker tow-truck

Note: The Diaclone version had "Wrecker" decals which were omitted from the Hasbro Transformers version (but not from the Italian "Trasformer" version by GiG or the Takara Transformers version).


Diaclone red Hoist - Toyota 4WD Wrecker tow-truck



Skids - Honda City Van



Crosscut - Honda City Van



Diaclone red Skids - Honda City Van





Photo of real-life alt mode found, open for discussion:

Optimus Prime - Freightliner Cabover Engine truck – Link 1
Image found at:
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/r_macneil.htm


Jazz - Porsche 935 Turbo (1976 model) – link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6, link 7, link 8

Notes:
The "Martini" advertizing was changed into "Martinii" (two "i"s) for the Diaclone and Transformers versions. The US "Cookie Crisp" promo version (1986?) did not have "Martinii" decals. The Generation 2 version (1992) had different decals. The Takara reissue (2002) and the Hasbro reissue (2003) replaced the "Martinii Racing" decals with "Agent Meister" decals.

Information about the car:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_935


Bluestreak - Datsun 280ZX Link 1, Link 2

Note:
The color scheme was Hasbro's creation (the Diaclone versions were either blue with a silver hood or silver with a black hood).
Diaclone and G1 version had "Fairlady" decals; reissues replaced that with "Streak" decals.


Smokescreen - Datsun 280 ZX Turbo racing car (Electramotive Team) – link 1, link 2

Notes:
Driven by Don Devendorf
The driver number "83" was changed to "38" for the Diaclone and Transformers versions.


Sideswipe - Lamborghini Countach LP500S – link 1, link 2, link 3

Question:
I read once somewhere that the Diaclone toy took some design liberties, using elements from various Countach Lamborghini. Can anyone elaborate?

Information about the car:
http://www.lambocars.com/cou/lp500s.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Countach



Photo of real-life alt mode found, permission to use photo pending:







Permission for using real-life photo granted, looking for corresponding toy photo:


Got photos of the toys, entries being worked on now:




Finished entries:

Tracks, Road Rage, Black Tracks et al.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

You won't find one of red Mirage that isn't faked. I'll try to dig up some of my old F1 contacts to see if I can get us totally kosher Ligier/935/Stratos pictures - it'd be ironic if we got closed down by LAT ;)

Mirage definately isn't a Ligier JS25 - ironically, that's the 1985 version, seen here being driven by Philippe Streiff:
http://members.lycos.nl/azor/renault/pics/f185ljs25.jpg

Which leaves us with the JS11, I suppose, once we've simplified the wing arrangement:
http://www.indycals.com/images/decalpics/Ligier.jpg
#26 would be Jacques Laffite's car, if we're after absolute accuracy.

The Ducarouge Ligiers varied very little in lines, though. There is the possibility of a hybrid?

Stepper will be hard... he's not in a racing livery, but AFAIK the rear wing wouldn't have been road-legal. Kremer ran one in their customary black livery:
http://www.germancarfans.com/features/1 ... 001.1M.jpg
and there's a black version of the road-going model here:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-pqr/P ... ied-st.jpg

The problem will be that when the Porsche works team upgraded, the works cars will have been sold on to privateers, who could have ran them in any damn colours they liked, so the car could have existed, but if it was driven by Baron Henry Vonplumpsinhismouth, we have bugger-all chance of finding it. That said, I do think someone's just patched a cool street livery onto a racing car.

Is it me, or did you miss Inferno? I'm pretty sure I found an image of him as a Nissan ladder truck, but I'm damned if I can find it again.

EDIT: Or maybe I'm wrong:
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~bonnko/firecar/IMG_1053.jpg
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~bonnko/minicar2.htm
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Post by Brimstone »

I'll help search when I have time.

The first one is that I know for a fact that the California Highway Patrol once had a Lamborghini Countach vehicle. (curently I think they have a Diablo...found plenty pictures of that)

But I know there are pictures of the Countach because we used to have a poster of it in the hallways of my high school (it was a poster about speeding...trying to tell us not to run in the hallways, I assume). Anyway, I know it exists but google is not being very helpful at the moment.

Right now, I'm looking for a good pic, but I'm pretty sure that Tracks is a 1982 Corvette (Coupe, I think). Looking for good colors, too.
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Post by Brimstone »

Tracks:
http://www.vettehound.com/geo/images/4682031.jpg

This comes from http://www.vettehound.com...a site where you sell Corvettes, so if you like this picture, you should ask soon before the 'Vette sells and the picture is no longer available.

Black Tracks:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/image/17959922.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken (I don't know much about this website).

Road Rage:
http://www.pbase.com/xl1ken/image/17920111.jpg

This one is from the same location as Black Tracks.
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Wouldn't miss the occupation corporations rule the day." - Pearl Jam, "Undone"
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Post by Nevermore »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Is it me, or did you miss Inferno? I'm pretty sure I found an image of him as a Nissan ladder truck, but I'm damned if I can find it again.

EDIT: Or maybe I'm wrong:
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~bonnko/firecar/IMG_1053.jpg
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~bonnko/minicar2.htm


I included Inferno. Him and Grapple are Hinos.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Yay, I'm an idiot!

Is it possible we can just put links up, rather than inlining images? For one, there's less chance of Jimbob McCarowner teeling us we can **** off with our picture request seeing as we've leeched the **** out of his bandwidth, and for two this probably isn't going to be a five-post job, and it'll make the topic easier to read :)

Rainier Nyberg, a chap with a big pile of old racing pics I know from a while back, is going to dig me out a nice pic of the Ligier for us to use, and said he'd dig through his Sportscar collection for a nice 935 one if need be. A flame-wearing 935 didn't ring any bells with him, though :(
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Post by Brimstone »

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Is it possible we can just put links up, rather than inlining images? For one, there's less chance of Jimbob McCarowner teeling us we can **** off with our picture request seeing as we've leeched the **** out of his bandwidth, and for two this probably isn't going to be a five-post job, and it'll make the topic easier to read :)
Good point. I'll fix that.

Isn't that just the most gorgeous pic for Tracks though? :) (maybe I'm a little biased, though)
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Post by Nevermore »

According to Jaguaratron, Tracks is based on a short 1980-1982 run model of the Corvette.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Brimstone »

Originally posted by Nevermore
According to Jaguaratron, Tracks is based on a short 1980-1982 run model of the Corvette.
Right, it's the last design of the "sting ray" style Corvettes. 1983 was the first year of the...well...not as cool Corvettes. :)

It's hard to say, but there's very little, if any, difference between the '80, '81, and '82 style Corvette. At least not that I could see.

'82 still gets my vote. :D

EDIT: Just to clarify, all my links above are of 1982 Corvettes.
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Post by Nevermore »

Asquian of the Allspark points out that Inferno and Grapple are actually Mitsubishi Fusos, and hotmissile of the Allspark brings the proof.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Nevermore »

We have been granted permission by Ken Leonard to use the following photos from this site:

Road Rage - 1982 Corvette Stingray - link 1

Black Tracks - 1982 Corvette Stingray - link 1

Anyone who owns either of these toys in a good condition might want to take a photo now. Please make sure that the perspective should be as close to the real-life photo as possible. In other words, try to "imitate" the photo of the real-life car with your toy.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by FortMax »

I don't know what Ironhide is, but he is NOT a Previa, simply because the Previa wasn't sold until 1990.

Found pics of the Nissan/Datsun Vanette, which look similar to Ironhide, and match the Diaclone name.

Google image searches for Nissan Vanette and Datsun Vanette.

And as for Ratchet, it looks like there were Vanette Ambulences.

google image search turns up this, however, the site it links to is down, and archive.org is no help. The cache shows that the page is about ambulences, and has an entry for an Vanette ambulence.
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Post by Nevermore »

Thanks to Powerlinx Kupp for toy photos of Road Rage and black Tracks.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by FortMax »

The Honda City is not a van. That was just a goof on Hasbro's part.
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Post by Brimstone »

Originally posted by FortMax
Found pics of the Nissan/Datsun Vanette, which look similar to Ironhide, and match the Diaclone name.
I did a lot of searching on Ironhide and Ratchet yesterday trying to find out just what exactly that model is called. SOme sites call it a Nissan/Datsun Vanette, some a Sunny-vanette, some a Cherry-Vanette, some even just a C20.

I think you're right. After everythign I found yesterday, Ironhide and Ratchet are most likely the '82 or '83 Nissan/Datsun Vanette (or whatever you want to call it).

Problem is, I couldn't find a single decent picture of the darn thing, much less in the right color.

Now that we probably have the make/model right at least, maybe someone more internet saavy than I could find some good pics.
Originally posted by Nevermore
Road Rage - 1982 Corvette Stingray

Black Tracks - 1982 Corvette Stingray
Just FYI...I don't think they actually called the 80-82 model the "Stingray." 1982 was certainly the last stingray-like body style...but in all the research I read, it was always referred to as just the '82 Corvette or '82 Corvette Coupe.
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Skids, et al.

Post by Brimstone »

Originally posted by FortMax
The Honda City is not a van. That was just a goof on Hasbro's part.
Skids and his Diaclone counterpart were both Turbos (but it's inconclusive as to which year...at least for me). You can tell because the hood "bump" is only on the port side of the vehicle. The normal Honda City, which is what Crosscut was, has no bump, an dthe Honda City Turbo II has a bump that goes across the whole hood of the car. What I can't tell, though is what year it is...the best way to do that would be if Skids had side-view mirrors, as they are in distinctly different places for different years. My guess is though that it seems to match the 1981 Honda City the best. Anyway, I couldn't find many good pics of this thing, but here's some:

Skids:
Honda City Turbo Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4

Cross Cut:
Honda City Link 1 Link 2
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Wouldn't miss the occupation corporations rule the day." - Pearl Jam, "Undone"
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Ultra Magnus, et al.

Post by Brimstone »

Looks like there was once at least a 1989 Freightliner Cabover that was used as a car carrier (not that the trailer looked like Magnus's though...but, it caried cars, none-the-less) :)

eBay Freightliner Cabover Car Hauler

Ultra Magnus:
Link 1 (this is actually an '85, so it's not technically the right one)

Ultra Magnus, "Movie Preview":
Link 1

Ultra Magns, "Matrix Glow":
Link 1 (this was as close as I could get for the yellow one) :)
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Post by Nevermore »

James Kinsey granted us permission to use this photo of G1 Tracks' real-life counterpart.

And Soundwave3k provided a corresponding photo of the toy.

Entry for the Corvettes will be worked on now, then we can move on the the next model.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Nevermore »

Okay, here's the first finished entry. Any comments, suggestions, corrections?

Tracks, Road Rage, Black Tracks et al.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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Post by Nevermore »

I would like to do the Datsun mold next. Feel free to add in everything else you find about the other toys, but I prefer to concentrate my attention on one model at a time.

That being said, I noticed that these photos don't have the sunroofs (which are included here). Is that a characteristic of a specific model? Did the actual car exist in both Diaclone color schemes (blue with silver hood, which can be seen as a model car here, and silver with black hood) and the Hasbro color scheme (all silver)?

What's the difference between a Datsun 280ZX, a Datsun 280ZX Turbo and a Fairlady Z?

Can anyone provide better photos for rwal life Smokescreen? This one is somewhat blurred, and this one is a little too small and not taken from the best perspective, unfortunately.

EDIT: YAY!

http://www.a2zracer.com/page82.html
http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/R ... photo.html
http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/M ... photo.html
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
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