Local Cobras strike Hollywood

PLATTE CENTER - Two movies are better than one.

Cobra kit cars, manufactured by Shell Valley Frame Shop in Platte Center, were meant to star in "2 Fast, 2 Furious," the sequel to "The Fast and the Furious." Instead, they have a smaller part in that movie, as well as a role in the coming sequel to "Charlie's Angels."

Last fall, employees at Shell Valley built four identical kit cars for the sequel to the Vin Diesel blockbuster that featured about as many explosions as fast cars.

Three of those cars were meant to meet that fate, while one was to be saved by the studio and taken to promotional events, Shell Valley owner Rich Anderson said at the time.

"The movie was just too long," he said Monday. "They had over 100 cars they gathered up to use." Instead of serving as the hero's car (Diesel opted not to star in the sequel) the Cobra cars were pushed into the background.

Two of the cars were sold to Universal Studios to be used in the "Charlie's Angels" sequel "Charlie's Angels Full Throttle."

Shell Valley built an additional two, but these had none of the workings of a car, such as interior frames, wheels and chassis.

They did, however, have working lights.

Anderson said that, from what he has heard, Demi Moore and Lucy Liu will descend from the air by a hang glider, land in a Cobra car, hit a ramp, fly over a stadium of people, and crash into the side of the building.

No reports on the injuries the women will suffer, but the car will be a total loss.

"Universal told us they actually had a machine they were going to catapult, that was their exact word, catapult them into the building," Anderson said.

Anderson is not upset about the cars' reduced role in the Fast and the Furious movie, because not only will the cars have double exposure when the two sequels open this summer, the company is also building a relationship with Universal.

He said the company asked for a donation of two cars to keep at the studio to use as needed in upcoming films.

Anderson said at $80,000 to $100,000 for the two cars, Shell Valley couldn't absorb that kind of loss - unless the studio promised not to crash them and to return them to Shell Valley. Anderson said the resale price for cars used in Hollywood would make the transaction definitely worth while.

"We're going to do our best to keep Columbus and Platte Center in the movie industry," Anderson said.

Reach Heather Koontz at 563-7528 or hkoontz@columbustelegram.com.