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Discovery and Initial Assessment of the 'Mello Yello' Car

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23:58
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Abandoned Days of Thunder Cars Reunited with Original Crew Member! (Special Effects Evidence)

What happens here

Joe Jackson introduces a 'Days of Thunder' movie car, number 51 ('Mello Yello'), which he recovered from the woods in Florida. He describes how he found out about the car through a friend, and then had to track down the owner by sending a physical letter. He discusses the dilapidated state of the car, noting the rust and various patches of paint and sponsor decals. He also points out specific modifications made for the movie, such as a hastily cut hole in the rear for smoke effects during the crash scene and fire-padding near the clutch pedal.

Goal: Understand the origin and condition of the recovered 'Mello Yello' movie car

Tools and materials

  • Days of Thunder 'Mello Yello' car — The subject of the recovery and historical discussion

What they say

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I don't know. Uh it's uh it's been a very slippery slope. A friend of mine uh last fall sent me a message and said that a buddy of mine in Florida knows where there's a Days of Thundercar in the woods. And I was like, "What?" Like, "No way." He said, "There's a guy named David on my friends list." He said, "Look him up. Tell him I sent you." So, I sent him a message. Later, I got a photo in my Facebook Messenger of this car sitting in the woods. I mean, it was trees around it everywhere. I thought it was his car at first and he's like, "No, it it belongs to the guy up the road. I don't even know how to get in contact with him." He just gave me the address where the car was. I didn't know how to get a hold of the guy. My mom's real good with doing like property search records and stuff. So, she found a name and an address and a phone number that didn't work. I did the oldfashioned way and just sent the guy a letter. And u about a month later, I got a random phone call from the the city where the car was. And at first, I thought it was like someone like a solicitor's phone call. It was a Sunday afternoon, so I didn't answer the phone. And I was like, "Wait a minute, that's the town where that that metal yellow car was." So, I called the number back. Guy was very polite. He said yes. Said it belonged to his dad. At one point his dad had a bunch of them down there and they just kind of all got sold off over the years and this was the last one sitting down there. Said his wife was wanting to clean the property up and told me come get it. So I went down there and got it. I had no idea what to expect when I got there and this is what I got.

Auto-generated from the video audio.