Fry cars and driving

[on:]

Well.. in Roswell that ends well we learn that Fry`s car was an old Chevy Nova, wich suggest me that Fry has a good taste for cars sinze the 70s Nova is one most beautifull muscle cars..

another point is that Fry can be seen in "Bendin in Wind" driving that VW Caravelle with manual drive stick (you can see the cluth pedal) and in "roswell" he`s driving a Jeep wich are all manual gear, that suggest me that Fry`s old Nova was also Manual gear (far best gear than automatic)

[Reply #1 on:]

He also drives that manual transmission car (badly!) in the episode where they visit a re-made Old New York. It's right after the cavemen robots scene. Can't remember the name of the episode.

EDIT: Just remembered, I think it's Lesser Of Two Evils

[Reply #2 on:]

it is

[Reply #3 on:]

Also in "Lesser of Two Evils", when asked by Leela if he drove much, he said that
"no one ever drove in new york.  There was too much traffic".

[Reply #4 on:]

Getting back to Javiers message yes the Chevy Nova is a great piece of auto-mo-car and Fry is a good driver 2/3 of the time.


                    

[Reply #5 on:]

Can we see a pic of the car plz?

[Reply #6 on:]

Check in the huge frame grab library on CGEF (Can't Get Enough Futurama, http://www.gotfuturama.com)  .

[Reply #7 on:]

Woh woh woh there gear heads. How do you know Fry wasn't referring to the Toyota cross company Nova from the 80's that'd still be concidered old. And Sucky.

[Reply #8 on:]

Or the Vauxhall Nova that would be considered suckiest? Or is that what you meant by Toyota cross company?

[Reply #9 on:]

Well, Fry may have preffered his bicycle to anything.  He DID us it for his pizza deliveries.

[Reply #10 on:]

 

Originally posted by Ozor Mox:
Or the Vauxhall Nova that would be considered suckiest? Or is that what you meant by Toyota cross company?

No Toyota and Chevy were in bed for a while and Chevy re-badged either a Tracel or a Corolla as a Nova. (I want to say a Tracel).

[Reply #11 on:]

It was a Corolla.  And, I'm sorry to say, I suspect this was Fry's car, because it had an awful reputation for reliability, and Fry's line about "lighting up the night sky" sounds like he blew his up.  Nice though it would be to see Fry in the old X-body nova...

[Reply #12 on:]

Don`t know.. Fry says clearly "my old Chevy Nova" and usually that compends a 70-77 Nova. Also in spanish forums someone spoted that it could be the same type of car Homer Simpson owned before Bart was born .

Anyway is an interesting point that Fry knows how to drive manual stick, a thing that most americans dont know sinze USA driving schools uses automatic cars (loosers)

[Reply #13 on:]

A lot of people in the US that drive manual cars do it because they don't have the money for automatic cars.  Oddly enough, it's not a highly prized skill in America.  It's sort of strange. 

But the crappy cross-platform Nova is one of those cars, like the Ford Pinto, or the AMC Gremlin, that are famously lame-ass cars in the US.  They were flimsy, cheap, and unreliable.  So usually when you see one of these cars metioned, it's a joke about being pathetic and having a crummy car.  So it seems in character for Fry to have a crappy Nova. 

[Reply #14 on:]

 

Originally posted by canned eggs:
A lot of people in the US that drive manual cars do it because they don't have the money for automatic cars.  Oddly enough, it's not a highly prized skill in America.  It's sort of strange.

OFFTOPIC:

Automatic suxxxxxxx      

[Reply #15 on:]

Does the Planet Express ship count?

[Reply #16 on:]

I wouldn't call it a car.

[Reply #17 on:]

Well, um... what kind of transmission does it have?
 

[Reply #18 on:]

Swish!

Seriously though, I took Nixorbo's proposal to be in answer to the question "What cars has Fry driven".
Seriously **2, my tractor has a 5-speed and it ain't no car, nuh-uh.

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Originally posted by Bender-1729:
 OFFTOPIC:

Automatic suxxxxxxx       

*Agrees*

You actually see far fewer automatic cars in the UK. Then again it does cost far more to run a car here.

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by SpaceCase:
Well, um... what kind of transmission does it have?
 

It doesn't have a transmission as it doesn't have axles to drive.

[Reply #21 on:]

That didn't stop Airplane having a gear stick in the cockpit of a passenger aeroplane. So what if it was a spoof film!   

[Reply #22 on:]

Actually, the PE ship has a manual transmission, as sen in Time Keeps on Slippin', and a couple other episodes, I think.

[Reply #23 on:]

Don`t forget "Space pilot 3000"

Fanrsworth: can anyone drive stick?
Leela: I can.. as long as i have to not do pararell park...

[Reply #24 on:]

<does an end-zone dance>
Yes-s-s-s!

[Reply #25 on:]

Somehow I think it's simply a similar looking interface with a totaly diffrent working principal.

And for the record I deminished my resale value by actualy buying a new car with a manual. But it's a german car so those tend to have more acceptance as manuals. (it's not as thought of as cheap as a Ford Festiva with a stick.)

[Reply #26 on:]

 

Originally posted by Javier Lopez:
 Also in spanish forums someone spoted that it could be the same type of car Homer Simpson owned before Bart was born .

I thought that was a Toyota model, or maybe it was a rebadged one, as described earlier on in this thread.

[Reply #27 on:]

I thought the car Homer had in "I Married Marge" (8F10) was suposed to be Javelin AMX.

[Reply #28 on:]

Maybe.


Homer's car certainly didn't look like a Nova to me.  Anyone have a picture of it?  Also, I like his steering wheel.

[Reply #29 on:]

You wouldn't like it on a hot day. They burn.

[Reply #30 on:]

I use batting gloves for driving gloves.

Here's the best pic I can find of Homer's car:


And another Javelin, from roughly the same angle, for comparison:


Here's another question: the car Fry drives in Lesser of Two Evils, "the stately 1992 Latura" or something.  I've never heard of it.  What is it?  It looks like a Pacer, but there's no Pacer called the Latura that I know of.

[Reply #31 on:]

It's "modeled" after a late model AMC Gremlin (that was still long before 1992). It's esentialy as close to a gremlin as you can get with out calling it one and posably risking a lawsuit (from a dissolved company? I guess) They mention it in the DVD comentary.

And yea it's clear homer is driving a Javelin AMX.

So both are AMC car refrences.

On another car note.
I get to go drive BMW's to fight Breast Cancer tomorrow. Yay.

[Reply #32 on:]

I just thought of a couple things.  First of all, didn't the old X-Body Nova have a problem with exploding gas tanks?  That would explain Fry's "light up the night sky" line. 

Also, I just watched Bendin' in the Wind, and when Fry is driving the VW bus down Lombard Street, he's taking the turns awfully fast, screeching the tires and getting the rear end out a great deal.  When there's a shot of his face, he's smiling, and he's turning the wheel rather professionally, even if he is looking straight ahead the whole time.  Maybe he's a racer.  (Oddly, he doesn't seem to be pulling a lot of Gs, because Leela, Amy, and Zoidberg are sitting comfortably in the back the whole time...)

The bus is a manual, too, as mentioned at the top of the page, in fact I think it's a dogleg 3-speed, because when Bender puts it in gear, he pulls the shifter back.  In fact, if Fry's used to a dogleg transmission, that would explain why he drove through the wall in Lesser of Two Evils when he thought the car was in reverse.  Unfortunately, I believe Novas were all regular 4-speeds.

[Reply #33 on:]

i didn't think fry could drive at all, if well, because in Lesser of Two Evils he crashes the car through the wall and only manages to stop when he hits flexo

[Reply #34 on:]

He was rusty in Lesser of two evils. After that he spent lots of time playing very realistic Driving sim games. to brush up....Or some such.

[Reply #35 on:]

I thought Fry only played shooting/spaceship games (Space Pilot 3000 and Bender Should Not Be Allowed On TV). But I'm probably wrong.

Fry could have sold his old car... or maybe it actually belonged to his parents/Yancy. (Leela tells him to finish his stories a sentence early, maybe he did)

Anyhow, Fry's a walking accident. 3 heart attacks, numerous head injuries, car crash, mean practical jokes played on him... I'm not going to argue that hard that he can drive.

[Reply #36 on:]

I think Fry can drive really well, but he can't drive a spaceship because... well it's a damn spaceship. And maybe Fry's car was actually Michelle's, but i'm not sure. Also, even if he's a spaz, i've met really unlucky people that drive well, and besides, everyone that has drove a VW car can tell you it's the toughest car to drive. It feels like a sand buggy and it's clutch is hard to master.

[Reply #37 on:]

 

Originally posted by canned eggs:
... First of all, didn't the old X-Body Nova have a problem with exploding gas tanks? ...

Actually, it was the Ford Pinto.
Trust me, I know: I used to drive one.

[Reply #38 on:]

Yeah, I remember the Pinto, I've seen the video a hundred times, but did the Nova have a similar problem?  I thought I remembered something like that...

[Reply #39 on:]

 

Originally posted by canned eggs:
I just thought of a couple things.  First of all, didn't the old X-Body Nova have a problem with exploding gas tanks?  That would explain Fry's "light up the night sky" line. 

The bus is a manual, too, as mentioned at the top of the page, in fact I think it's a dogleg 3-speed, because when Bender puts it in gear, he pulls the shifter back.  In fact, if Fry's used to a dogleg transmission, that would explain why he drove through the wall in Lesser of Two Evils when he thought the car was in reverse.  Unfortunately, I believe Novas were all regular 4-speeds.

As far as I know, all aircooled VWs have a standard four speed (H design, 1 upper left, 4 lower right).  You engage reverse by pusing down on the stick and pulling back into 2nd.  I have a '64 Karmann Ghia, have driven a mid 70s Westphalia and a few bugs, and done the repairs, I know of no variations post war.  Modern waterpumpers have an H four speed with reverse down and up into 1st.  5th is off to the side of 3rd if you have a 5 speed.  Again, I know of no variations on this.

I had a 73 Toyota Celica in High School, Reverse was up and to the right, where 5th usually is.  Don't know if the cross badged Nova was like this.

I also think that the cross badged Nova had engine fire problems.  But most American cars from 1969-1984 were pure crap. 

Oh, by the by, even if a Ford Festiva had a stick, how much can it's resale value be diminished?  half of zero is still zero.     

Personally, I'm sort of surprised Fry knows how to drive.  Living in NY, there really isn't any reason.  Of course, he probably got a beater of a car in high school to impress some girl for $300 that rusted in his yard.