Ride Of The Week 08/30/2021: Matt Foreman's 1964 Impala

THE LOVE MACHINE

Iconic movie/TV car tributes abound in the car world. There are dozens of General Lee’s, K.I.T.T.’s and DeLorean Time Machines on the car show circuit. I’ve even seen a few ECTO-1’s, A-Team Vans, and the occasional Fast & Furious clone. But one car I’ve never seen until now, is our #rideoftheweek this week: The Love Machine.

I had seen Cheech & Chong’s 1978 film “Up In Smoke” a few times, but the car never really registered with me until this past week. While scrolling thru Instagram I saw one of the R/C hobbyists that I follow post a 1/10th scale replica of the car based on a Redcat Racing Lowrider Impala. So, when this car arrived at Williamsport Cars & Coffee, the reference was fresh in my mind.

The owner is Matt Foreman from Montgomery, PA and he’s a lowrider enthusiast. When he first purchased the Impala in primer grey, he was going to restore it and make it into a nice show car, but then he thought about the movie and the challenge of trying to replicate the Love Machine. It was difficult because most of the shots of the car in the film are either from the driver’s side or the front as Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong are viewed in the front seat. However, there are a few other Love Machine replicas out there, so the internet was helpful in his quest.

Matt took pains to replicate even the smallest details like the speaker horns in the grill, cutting in to the “Chevrolet” badge and putting fingerprints in the puddy on the hood. “The toughest part to get was the hood ornament,” Matt says, “but everything else was pretty easy since it didn’t need to be in perfect condition.”

Matt says the interior is a work in progress, “I have 3 colors of shag on order. So, it will look just like it did in the film.”

If you’d like your ride to be featured as a #carshowlife #rideoftheweek, send us your story and at least 6 photos to info@carshowlife.net.