Car choice for my character?

Jan 15, 2013 14:23

So my character is the protagonist of a noir/scifi/supernatural story, think Dresden Files sort of thing ( Read more... )

~cars

Leave a comment

Comments 40

anonymous January 15 2013, 19:50:25 UTC
Well, sounds like you've decided. A muscle car = typical tough guy's car.

Reply


likantropos January 15 2013, 20:25:49 UTC
I think Chevrolet Impala would be a perfect choice *trollface*
Seriously, if you choose a muscle car for a protagoist of that kind of story you would never get rid of ""Supernatural" rip-off" stamp. So, anything goes, except muscle cars. Maybe a Jeep, since supernatural things tend to happen in the wilderness. Maybe a pickup truck, if his work might mean transporting a bound and gagged werewolf to his base. Maybe something commonplace and unremarkable like a Prius or a station wagon, tuned and refitted to the point of kicking Veyrons ass.

Reply

spikemarktwo January 15 2013, 20:33:05 UTC
Nah, it's very much set in cities. I doubt I'd get branded as a supernatural rip-off, the basic ideas are similar, but not so similar that it would look like a carbon copy. The impala gets a good showing in supernatural, but at that point it got elevated so it was more emotional and less about the actual car. The whole point of my guys one is that it's a car. His car, but just a car nonetheless, it's not going to get elevated to companion cube status. He doesn't live and work out of his car, he uses it to go from a to b, and then home again. He's not constantly on the move, like the Winchesters, so it's a different use. He needs it more to go fast than anything else, My one is intended to be a lot more direct action, less wide-arc than supernatural. It's a case of "find dangerous thing, kill dangerous thing" not "collect all the plot tokens to prevent bla blah blah". As such, there's more room for stuff like having to chase someone in a car, or to have him and his team need to get away fast ( ... )

Reply

(The comment has been removed)

spikemarktwo January 16 2013, 20:31:45 UTC
It's a tricky one, and I haven't described it very well. The scene dealing with this in the book does it better, cause he gets asked the same thing.

Basically, it's more than your basic car, of course. It's important to him, and it has sentimental value, hence the constant retooling. It's saved his skin more than once, so it's an emotional bond.

Ont he other hand, it's not quite the same as the almost symbiotic thing Dean seems to have with the Metallicar. I mean the Impala, they live in, they work in, they store their gear in.....it's as close to home as anything.

My guy, it's a very important car, and it's HIS car, but at the end of the day, it's a car. Not a vital organ.

Reply


stickmaker January 15 2013, 21:43:48 UTC


Sounds like what you want is a kit car. Get a good donor frame - maybe a Corvette or Mustang or whatever with a damaged body but the rest fine - and buy a body in the style you want.

Given the performance options for kit cars, you could - depending on how much money and work the owner wants to put into it - have something which looks like a classic muscle car (or a VW Beetle) which can keep up with a Bugatti.

Maybe he knows a motorhead who sold him a former project to fund the next one. :-)

Reply

spikemarktwo January 15 2013, 21:48:53 UTC
again, it's a personal thing with him. The fact he's had that car for a long time (he's older than he looks, think born in the 1700s, and the car was new when he bought it) means a lot to him.

He's upgraded the car often, lightened it, put in several new engines and transmissions, and all in all has changed everything. It's still his car though. The whole kit car thing is fine, but....it just wouldn't be the same.

Reply


(The comment has been removed)

spikemarktwo January 15 2013, 21:51:35 UTC
yeah, I use this so people can ask questions I haven't considered. Justifying it to others makes me rememebr why I wanted it nd removes the doubt.

Yup, it's going to stand out a bit. But nothing more than a passing "huh, don't see many like that" than something like a Zonda, or even an Aston. The car needs repairs often, he's crashed more than a few times, plus it's been shot, keyed, scraped....but he likes it, and it's partly an expression of individulaity and sheer bloody-mindedness. A case of "fuck sensible, this is MY car. I'm rebuilding it."

Reply


haldane January 16 2013, 00:13:46 UTC
Have you considered classic English, such as an Aston-Martin? Bit less muscle car, bit more rarity value. "Good enough for Sean Connery, good enough for you" : )

Reply

spikemarktwo January 16 2013, 00:17:45 UTC
doesn't fit my character, he was born a gutter-rat, and just because he's got money now he still has a bit of a hatred of aristocracy etc. He can act the slick executive and the suave rich guy easy enough, but not the old money style.

Also, it's too sleek and polished. The old muscle car is, as I said above, a little bit of the old, battered, rough and ready vibe. Nothing so special on the outside, all her magic is hidden away. My guy, he looks normal enough, until he shows he's fast enough to blur when he moves and strong enough to punch through concrete without needing much focus. The aston is just too....clean? It gives of the vibe of being totally in control and very comfortable and assured of everything. He's not, he's always on the edge of control, pushing his limits a little too far.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up