I made a trip to Menards to buy the stuff to fix the screen, and a point of purchasing the thicker, stronger, more expensive, “pet resistant” screen material. I felt pretty smug and clever for that, but then I saw Pavlov admiring his work after I took the battered and torn screen panel out of the door for repair and realized that he probably felt pretty smug and clever, too. Here he is, brazenly sticking his head in the opening in the door as if to say “Pet resistant, eh? We’ll just see about that!”
You might note the side of the flower box in the background of the shot.. See those L brackets on it? I had to put those in place after Pavlov tried to scale the stucco on the side of the house in pursuit of a squirrel who had somehow gotten hold of a piece of pizza and was trying to stash it in the flower box. If it had just been a squirrel, or just a piece of pizza, maybe Pavlov wouldn't have put forth so much effort, but a PIZZA bearing SQUIRREL? Well, that’s a double whammy, and suddenly, I’m hearing what sounds like a wrecking ball hitting my house. I look out the window to see Pavlov leaping up in the air, clawing at the stucco to lift himself higher like he’s Spider-Dane or something, as he attempts to scale a vertical stucco wall to get at his arch enemy, Pizza Squirrel. He got his front paws hooked around the edge of the flower box and ripped the whole blasted thing off the side of my house. Keep in mind, these aren't just tacked on.. These flower boxes were built in when I shortened the windows to allow for taller counters on the interior during my kitchen remodel.
Back to the most recent destruction, though… Pavlov was very curious about the screen repair project I had going there on the porch, so he hopped through the opening, completely uninvited, probably figuring he would now have unfettered access to the box of Milk Bones I keep on the porch for him. I immediately blocked his access to the cookies, and instead, made him sit and listen while I lectured him about why we can’t have nice things. If he looks remorseful in the photo, it’s only because he’s worried he might not get a biscuit from the treat container that I was standing in front of.
I installed the new screen material and put the panel back in the door. So far, it’s still in tact, and even if Pavlov does leap through this one, I still have plenty of screen material left to fix it again.
Inspired by Pavlov’s preference for open air porches, I thought today’s post would feature some open air cars. Get ready for some drop tops, because I’ve got two slick convertibles for us to look at today.
First up, we have a 1967 Mustang that has been done up as a kind of replica of the 1967 “Eleanor” Shelby GT500 from the 2000 remake of the film, Gone in 60 Seconds. In that movie, the car code named Eleanor was actually a fastback, and it was a bit higher end than this clone. It was designed by Steve Stanford, and Chip Foose had a hand in bringing that design into real world existence.
The Eleanor Mustang featured some unique styling and body work, like flared out fenders, a pair of driving lights centered on the front, custom hood and trunk, and some other goodies like 17” rims. The movie car featured a 351 cubic inch V8 with 400 HP and a 4 speed manual transmission.
There were actually 12 Eleanors built for the 2000 movie, only 3 of which were actually functional, drive-able cars, and two of them were destroyed in the course of making the film. That leaves only one actual, real Eleanor. Just about a year ago, that Eleanor blew everybody away when it sold at auction for one million dollars. Projected selling prices had been set at around $300,000.
It makes sense that somebody would dish out so much for this car. After all, it’s been copied not just among other 1967 Mustangs and Shelby Mustangs, but among newer Mustangs as well. It’s a beautiful car.
Of course, today’s Eleanor is clearly not the original. It’s a convertible, to start with, rather than a fastback, though it does have quite a bit of custom body work on it. This Eleanor clone has a 289 cubic inch V8 under its hood. The biggest difference is the price. This one was for sale at Ellingson Classic Cars last year for just under $40,000. At that rate, one could buy 25 of these Eleanor clones for the price of the real deal.
But, if we’re talking the REAL DEAL, when it comes to Eleanor, then we should really be talking about the original 1974 Gone In 60 Seconds film (which showcases a huge car chase sequence during which nearly 100 automobiles are wrecked or ruined!). In that feature, the vehicle that bore the code name Eleanor was a yellow 1973 Mustang that wasn't quite so fancy-schmancy as the 2000 film’s Eleanor. Nor was it as slick and lean.
My photo dump doesn’t have a photo of a 73 Mustang in yellow, but I do have a convertible 73 in powder blue to give you an idea of what the original Eleanor looked like. And really, since today’s theme is open air, a convertible should do just fine, don’t you think?
And now, time for the bonus car. Just as Pavlov can’t resist a squirrel WITH pizza, I’m giving you a dose of Eleanor along WITH a Cadillac. But wait, there’s more! Because today’s topless Cadillac is kind of a two-fer in and of itself. To a certain extent, this Cadillac is a chimera, splitting its DNA between Cadillac and Chevy Corvette. Let’s have a look, shall we?
Ooooh, what’s this?
It’s a Cadillac XLR. These things were offered for 5 model years, encompassing 2004-2009. Under their skin, the XLR uses the C5 Corvette platform as the double helix that their design DNA rungs span. What differentiates this from a Corvette is a lot of things, like the fact that the XLR had its own sheet metal styling (that planar look punctuated by sharp, crisp lines is something that Cadillac has doubled down on in the years since). Each featured 18” rims, and an aluminum retractable hard top. The XLR also came with its own interior styling, enhanced by standard features like heated and cooled seats, wood trim, navigation, and side airbags.
Under its hood, the XLR harbored a 4.6L Northstar V8 with variable valve timing that produced 320 HP and was available with a 6 speed automatic or a 5 speed manual transmission.
This one was spotted at Unique Specialty and Classic Cars in Mankato, MN some time ago. It’s a 2006 model that has 47,000 miles ticked onto its odometer, and it came with an asking price of $32,900, so it’s a bit cheaper than the Eleanor clone we just looked at.
Because there aren’t nearly so many XLRs in the world as Corvettes, I think I’d take the Cadillac over same model year Chevy if offered a choice between the two. But there’s something that’s even rarer still -and I am saddened to say that I don’t have a picture of one to show you. The machine of which I write is the Cadillac XLR-V, which has a supercharged 4.4L Northstar V8 that spits out 443 HP and 414 lb-ft of torque and comes with magnetic ride controlled suspension that adjusts extremely fast to maximize handling over whatever road surface it encounters.
With prices below $40,000, neither of the vehicles we examined today are unattainable. One such as Pavlov might argue that the cars are not nearly as mesmerizing as Pizza Squirrel, but a ride in one of today’s vehicles with the top down and the wind in his face might just change his mind.
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