Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

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Mattel
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Mattel »

Has anyone here seen "Breaking Bad"? You'll notice that one of the lead characters drives around in one of our little beasts for seasons 2-4 after his pimped lo-rider gets shot up. Not a bad idea if you want a car that doesn't stand out I guess... and your cooking meth in the desert.

Anyone watching the show notice something about the Terc that is not right?... well actually 2 things.

Image

Image

http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/201 ... erview.php

also. this is cool.. an answer in an interview with the actor who has to drive it.

Q: If you had to drive one car for the rest of your life, would you choose Jesse's Season 1 Monte Carlo, the RV, Walt's Aztec or Jesse's Tercel?

A: That's a hard question to answer! Not the RV, because that thing is horrible to drive. It's just so big and you're all over the place on the freeway with wind. I think I'd have to choose the Tercel -- there's something special about it and it will run forever.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Steering wheel is AM, one front wiper is missing, the radio antenna appears to be absent, and the shift lever looks kinda long.
Oh - and a bag full of money is totally foreign to T4WD owners...
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Mattel
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Mattel »

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/9426/tercel.jpg

Hey Tom, try this link... I'll give you a clue. The Image has not been mirrored..

there is a reason that shift leaver looks a little long.

is New Mexico a hotbed for T4wds? that's where another quality drama - "sunshine cleaning" was filmed as well and that featured our little cars (well not mine anymore) I've yet to see a film with a corolla 4wd in it.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by ARCHINSTL »

I'm missing your inference. It has the OE wheel caps and it does not look raised, so the shift lever could not mean the body is sitting on a truck chassis - could it?
Hey - I DID find 4 things that differs from Goldie!
Tom M.

A-HA ! It's a 2WD in DLX 4WD mufti! Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for - ?
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Mattel »

ha.. .I thought it would take you longer.. (no offence) and I didn't even notice the windscreen wiper either.. sure is a strange mish mash of a car. Breaking bad is a great show but I couldn't totally identify with any of the characters. Perhaps a commentary on the USA in general? I'm not sure if anything really affects me as when I watched all five seasons of "the wire" back to back a couple of years back.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Petros »

That steering wheel is from a 2wd, as is the long shift lever I think. IT has the DLX outside but SR5 trim interior. IT is not unusual when filming to remove the antenna, wipers and even the center rear view mirrors so when they are filming they do not block the actors faces, or get reflections, shadows, glare, etc. that was done for the filming.

The DLX/SR5 mix up is odd, they usually have a crew that fixes up vehicles just for filming, and every detail, from color, trim and even down to the number on the license plate is worked up specifically for the filming. They may have bought a 2wd cheap for the filming, went to a wrecking yard and found a 4wd and decided to switch the seats and 4wd grill over since it would be more appropriate for the plot. The fabric seats would be less likely to cause static, or make noise when the actors shift around on the seat when filming.

Great find Mattel. Since the feds shifted to digital signal we do not get TV anymore, were live too far out in the mountains and the signal is too weak. No cable either, and I do not see anything worth paying some $700-900 a year for dish.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Boy - leave it to the answer man from Arlington!
How many hats have you worn in your life thus far?
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Mattel »

I didn't realise that about the wipers and ariel for filming but that makes a lot of sense. My best friend knows about this stuff because he films Ads for Holden and the like over here. It's weird, but they don't seem to go on the dirt much with the tercel so I don't know why they '4wd' it. Maybe to make it extra obscure?

I only seem to watch TV shows as DVD sets now and even then I've probably only watched 2 in the last 3 years. Except for comedies and 'grand designs' - an english show which I stream. I'm not even sure how to use the TV in the corner of the share house anymore..
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Petros »

ARCHINSTL wrote:Boy - leave it to the answer man from Arlington!
How many hats have you worn in your life thus far?
I used to live in the Los Angeles area, you always run across people in the motion picture business when you live there. Two high school friends work in the Hollywood film business, and John Dykstra (who inventing the "starwars" type special effects) went to my school too. I also designed and prepared construction plans for a shop for a guy that prepares "special vehicle" for filmaking. He started out building hot rods, though a friend of a friend, got a contract to do a "future" car for I think the movie "Freejack", and has done nothing but built movie vehicle ever since. So I learned a lot of the "tricks" they use for hollywood filming of car sequences by asking a lot of questions, and even seeing a few of these vehicles up close. It is sometimes fun to watch a crash sequence in slow motion on the DVD player, you see they often use a junk car painted to look the same as the "main" car, pulled by a cable, and you can see the explosion usually starts in the back seat, not engine or fuel tank. I saw one crash sequence where the truck rolled over and over and exploded. I thought what a shame to blow up a good 4x4 like that, but in slow motion you can see it was not the same truck, it did not even have an engine, trans or fuel tank in it at all! It was not even the same model, not a 4x4 and it was pulled with a cable that was clearly visible in slow motion. Some careful examination of the film in slow motion usually reveals their "secrets".

So do not ever believe what you see in a movie or on TV, it is all "hollywood".
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Petros wrote:So do not ever believe what you see in a movie or on TV, it is all "hollywood".
What - you mean Tom Cruise is NOT 6' tall?

OT - and Mattel will love this...
Shortly after their divorce, Nicole Kidman was interviewed by Leno or Letterman and she was asked "Well, has your life changed since the divorce?"
Her reply is one of the all-time great put-downs: "Well - now I can wear high heels again..."

Seriously - Thanks!
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Petros »

I even heard a "This American life" essay on NPR about someone who worked for a "reality" show. they go to great lengths to pick people and arrange situations to get "drama", even to the point of lying to the contestants about what others say about them. So they manipulate the contestants to get the results they want. Some of the "tricks" are pretty underhanded to get them to follow the "scrip". Not much reality there.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by dlb »

i'm late to this thread but jenn has been watching BB lately mentioned that jesse got a tercel so i wanted to see what you guys figured out about it. interesting stuff.

mattel: a lot of my friends are all super into BB and told me to check it out. i've watched a half dozen episodes with jenn and while i like it more than most series tv, it doesn't resonate with me either. i think a lot of peeps are just really excited by the drugs/violence/questioning of what's really 'right' and 'wrong.'

tom: tom cruise > nicole kidman

peter: i love 'this american life.' jenn is really into it so i hear a lot of it around the house. beats the hell out of dr. joy browne's show.
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by Neu »

Breaking Bad is the only show on TV that manages to make every episode better than the one before it. There's a LOT of personal turmoil inside of Walt and it's fun to watch. Jesse goes through dramatic changes too, just watch the first and last episodes the of first season. They get more into Hank later on too. And Saul is one of the best characters on TV.

The tercel is hilarious, when my roommate and I were watching the episode when the tercel first appeared I said he should buy it, then he did.
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by dlb »

looks like jessie's mock 4wd terc is for sale.

http://marcvaldez.blogspot.ca/2013/03/a ... r-lot.html
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Re: Breaking bad - starring a Tercel

Post by lurvemytercel »

Just posted this on the insurance thread: http://m.autos.aol.com/article/breaking ... e-pinkman/

Image

On paper, the 1983 Toyota Tercel isn't much to get excited about. The vehicle turns 30 years old this year. It has faded red paint. Its square design looks hilariously dated. Hubcaps are absent. An estimated value of $750 would probably be considered generous.

When you consider intangibles, however, it's no wonder this little four-wheel-drive junker might be one of the most sought-after vehicles on the used-car market today.

The car officially belongs to Mike Faris Auto Wholesale in Albuquerque, N.M. Unofficially, it belongs to Jesse Pinkman, the fictional crystal meth-dealer from the hit show "Breaking Bad."

The Tercel is not the primary one driven by Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul, on the show. It's an extra, on hand should something unfortunate happen to the main Tercel. Even as an extra, the car is generating an enormous amount of interest.

Faris reports that offers of more than $2,000 have been received, and that he expects the number to climb. Prospective buyers will need to be patient, however. Faris won't sell the car until producers are done shooting the hit show.

When he does sell the car, Faris tells the New York Daily News that any profits made will be donated to charity.

"When the new episodes start, we're going to sell the car and use the proceeds toward drug-addiction treatment," he said.
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