Real Bumblebee discovered in Dubai
You do know that before it was a Camaro, it was a Beetle right?
By Shahzad Sheikh
Bumblebee was changed into a Chevrolet Camaro for the movies, originally as an old banger, then as the new generation model when it took umbrage at Megan Fox insulting its choice of body.
According to director Michael Bay, he changed it from a Beetle to a Camaro because the yellow bug reminded him too much of The Love Bug itself – Herbie.
Right… nothing to do with the heavy GM sponsorship for the movie and the fact that they were launching the new Camaro soon after the arrival of the first movie, and the Transformer Association has really helped shift a few black on yellow Camaros – a particularly popular choice in the Middle East.
Truth be told though, it seems to have worked then both for Chevy and the Transformer film franchise – some of the scenes were the Autobots thunder into action in car form, just wouldn’t have been the same with a little Beetle put-putting along trying hard to keep up.
Besides, actors have taken on different roles – how many have played James Bond, Superman, Batman and now even Captain Kirk! So Is it really that wrong that the car was changed?
Having said that, it really didn’t work when KITT from Knightrider was switched from the now Iconic Pontiac Trans Am to a Ford Mustang – as cool as the Mustang was, it wasn’t a proper Knight Industries Two Thousand. Plus of course the programme was crap anyway.
What other famous cars have switched roles? I can think of one other at least… Here’s a clue, it was one car in the 1974 original, and then changed to a slightly different one for the 2000 remake. Can you guess which? And can you name any others?
