Oh, it just got REAL. (Vengeance/bumblebee)

[TonyL]

A whole article on Jalopnik. Paramount will be soon involved. JUSTICE

[MidnightSpecial]

LOL Tony you instigated this just a taaaad.

I agree Vengeance should at least get a nod.

I would be pissed that everyone will come up to him afterwards and say "Hey man thats a pretty good bumblebee clone"

:facepalm:

[BuddyP]

I would be pissed that everyone will come up to him afterwards and say "Hey man thats a pretty good bumblebee clone"

And that person should endure one free b!tch slap!

[k9kevin81]

This story is everywhere! I would be pissed too, a lot of us put everything we have into these cars. At least give the man a shoutout before you make a damn near carbon copy of his car.

[TonyL]

I started this without a doubt. I've emailed the writer of that article with all that ammo, the writer of the transfomers movie blog, see here and I was the one who let Mr.Vengeance know what was up. I give a care what goes on in our little pocket of the world. I've been on this site since it was an EZboard back in 98. I've watched countless famous cars get built and helped with the design of many of them in one way or another. You guys are my family. We're here because we are passionate about our hobby and we love our cars. We love other's cars. We love originality and expression. We might have differing views and goals and means, but at the end of the day we all respect each other. That's what makes this and other sites like it great. It's our home. Ours. So when I saw someone "bite" Vengeance's style, I lost it. I was there, and remember how carefully guarded information on Vengeance was while it was in the shop. He was afraid someone would "bite" his style before he got done. Knowing this, and seeing what's happened infuriates me. I want the world to know where that design came from. I want credit where it is due. And I would stay up late, fight on messageboards, email whomever I had to if I thought any one of the members here had been done wrong. It's who I am and what I do. I will always fiercely defend you all, and your right to express yourself.

[Ron Sutton]

I started this without a doubt. I've emailed the writer of that article with all that ammo, the writer of the transfomers movie blog, see here and I was the one who let Mr.Vengeance know what was up. I give a care what goes on in our little pocket of the world. I've been on this site since it was an EZboard back in 98. I've watched countless famous cars get built and helped with the design of many of them in one way or another. You guys are my family. We're here because we are passionate about our hobby and we love our cars. We love other's cars. We love originality and expression. We might have differing views and goals and means, but at the end of the day we all respect each other. That's what makes this and other sites like it great. It's our home. Ours. So when I saw someone "bite" Vengeance's style, I lost it. I was there, and remember how carefully guarded information on Vengeance was while it was in the shop. He was afraid someone would "bite" his style before he got done. Knowing this, and seeing what's happened infuriates me. I want the world to know where that design came from. I want credit where it is due. And I would stay up late, fight on messageboards, email whomever I had to if I thought any one of the members here had been done wrong. It's who I am and what I do. I will always fiercely defend you all, and your right to express yourself.

"Like" (there was no button, but this was too good)

[MidnightSpecial]

I was just picking fun at you. I agree whole heartedly. Vengeance should at least get a nod.

On a side note...a lot of the poster on Jalopnik are being *****s about it. A lot of the digging Vengeance acting like it wasnt hard to make the car he has now. and i quote

"You've got a factory body with some aftermarket doodads tacked on. anyone mouth-breather with a credit card and a JCWhitney catalog can do the same."

These guys have no clue the level of work and creativity it takes to build these cars. Most of those guys have probably never built a car from the ground up and if they have i would venture to say it was never at the level's of Vengeance's Camaro.

I read Jalopnik but looking at their posters comments i dont know if i want to be a part of that community. Seems like a bunch of hating and naysaying just to make them look like they are higher on the automotive food chain. Pretty petty for a community of car fanatics.

[19,69camaro]

I read Jalopnik but looking at their posters comments i dont know if i want to be a part of that community. Seems like a bunch of hating and naysaying just to make them look like they are higher on the automotive food chain. Pretty petty for a community of car fanatics.

Right there with you man. I love Jalopnik too but get irritated with the all the trolling by posters who are most likely 17yo's who are driving their mommys auto 3-series.

[MidnightSpecial]

Alright I'm done with Jalopnik...these comments are just full of dumb ass. Just wow man. If this guy ever walked up on Vengeance's car he wouldn't say this. Just furthers my case that these guys are just trying to one up each other with their elitism.

Also, he doesn't seem remotely close to putting his every last dollar into this car. Not only is that absurd, but it's clearly not true, from the pictures he clearly has a large home on acreage.

He might have spent all of his allowance on building his toy car, but it didn't go poor to build a car. That's clearly not the case, would be moronic if true, and makes mockery of people who actually get down to their last dollar to accomplish something, or just plain survive.

This guy is clearly a whining, naive type and perpetuating his claim to fame is certainly silly, too. You don't make a post "OMG, TRANSFORMERS STOLE THIS". No, they didn't. You can't steal the design of a car that already exists and has patents, morons.

Theft is when something someone owns is stolen by another party. The most that happened here is, perhaps, a jocking of style. It's like saying "I wore my hat crooked and my pants sagged with a white shirt down to my knees the other day, and some cheeky chap had the same thing on the next day. He clearly STOLE it from me"

Okay, go to the police with that one, idiot.

This entire non-story is moronic, blown way out of proportion by naive people.

He has a large house and a lot of acreage???? WTF. So you are saying based on the guys house and yard he has plenty of money to spend and somehow discounts his car? What kind of logic is that? Incredibly judgmental.

[JEFFTATE]

Vengeance has some good lookin flares .

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

hey guys

home from work

Wow I didnt know there was so much confusion on what I am saying..

first off..

I never claimed I OWN anything but my car..
I never said I want to sue ANYONE..
I never claimed to be the first to do ANYTHING..
I never invented fender flares..
I never invented audi door handles.. ahah
I never invented Vintage Trans Am racing or the usual modifications for it.
etc..


All im saying is this.

The whole combination.. all of it.. TOGETHER is more than just a coincidence.
For those who dont follow the pro touring movement and firstgen camaros in the first place immediately write off what im talking about as bull because they say everything has been done to a firstgen.. and to a degree in parts yes.. but the full combination of what was done on my car.. I would say only "Bumblebee" did practically all the same modifications.

look.. look at the whole thing as a whole..

Vengeance is a 1967.. ------------- Bumblebee is a 1967
Audi door handles(because i was a mk3-er) ------------- Vette style handles that look like mine
Blacked out wing windows ------------- Blacked out wing windows
Front stabilizer bars ------------- Front stabilizer bars
CF chinspoiler ------------- CF chinspoiler
NewGen wheels in 19s ------------- NewGen wheels in 19s
grey centers with gloss black lips ------------- grey centers with gloss black lips
stepped lips(as the company couldnt make 18s in stepped) ------------- stepped lips
shaved front lower valance.. ------------- shaved front lower valance.
Vision mirrors(my old setup) ------------- Vision mirrors
removed front window trim ------------- removed front window trim
completely blacked out grille ------------- completely blacked out grille
full length bumblebee stripe in carbon ------------- full length bumblebee stripe in yellow.



now.. none of those things above EITHER of us is the inventor of.. nor either of us is claiming.

but AS A WHOLE.. TOTAL PACKAGE..

isnt it a bit suspicious?

heres a pic of my car with the flares on comparison..



so with just a little pshop put a yellow stripe and take of my GranSport stripes





Can you all at least just put yourself in my shoes.. I do think its cool and im not mad just a little bummed.. just I know whats going to happen.. which some of you already said..

so please stop with the "he wants to get a suit going with Paramount"

Hell I would have been happy if they put Venny in the movie.. like if I was driving her by Bumblebee and it stops him in his tracks and scans it like the first movie to copy.. I would be STOKED on that!
it would be a strait up "Hey optimus.. did you see that black camaro?.. hold up im going to change into thug mode"

Id be proud then..

but damn can i not have ANY credit for doing as a whole what i did to a 67 camaro?.. not in its individual parts but as a whole?.. please find another [b]67[b] with the EXACT same combinations of modifications.. all of them.. together on one car like mine... bumblebee happens to count off all on the checklist.

oh.. and funny thing is the guys that folks posted above suchs as the One Lap camaro are my homies.. we WOULD share similar modifications..


but other than that.. guys im cool.. please dont make this about money cause I have my own.. and I aint mad yall.. I really am not.

I just wanted to let it out.

[T_Raven]

Hell I would have been happy if they put Venny in the movie.. like if I was driving her by Bumblebee and it stops him in his tracks and scans it like the first movie to copy.. I would be STOKED on that!
it would be a strait up "Hey optimus.. did you see that black camaro?.. hold up im going to change into thug mode"

Id be proud then..

That woulda been bad ass. Like has been said, it just sucks that people are constantly going to think you tried to make a Bumblebee clone and will sit and tell you all the things you did wrong. I'd have a hard time not punching people. It's bad enough everyone that sees my 79 TA calls it a "Bandit" and my 89 TA Kitt

[TonyL]

yep. Credit is all i've been after for ya since the get go. Paramount or Mike bay needs to reach out to you, and let you decide where to go from here. Let your car make a cameo... I'll set the scene for them. Bumblebee's looking for a new alt mode. Turns into an ally and sees your car sitting there, as you spray a bitchin techstyle mural on a wall behind it. Bumblee's like "aw hell yeah!" (scan) and then slinks off looking like Veng with a bit of yellow thrown on. You see it through the gaps between the building as it rolls off, give a smile and a nod, end scene.

[Removed user as requested]

Sue there asses off. They got more money than they know what to do with and inevitably your car will be a bumblebee copy. Get what you can as the rest you can't control. That is just straight up BS. BAH!

[Whistler]

I'd be on the fence about the thing as well. On one side , it's flattering that your positively sick car was immortalized in the movie, and on the other side all you wanted was an "atta boy" and you were denied. It'd never make it to court if you sued them, theyd give you something in a " cost of defense" type settlement just to go the hell away.

You could always get a copy of their movie as soon as it comes out, change the title and some of the background music and sell it as your own. " what? You think you're the first one to think of a movie about alien robots?? Just a coincidence dude."

[LeighP]

Law suits are waste of time......but for the poor press that the producers might get, you'd think it might be nice for them to acknowledge the car in the movie is based on someone else's original work.
Just polite, is all.
Sorry, but I'm almost sure your going to have people saying you built a nice clone...... oh, dear.....

[72BBSwinger]

Mr. V, To have a UNIQUE Camaro this day and age is pretty difficult, and damn near impossible, but yours is without a doubt VERY unique. I feel your pain, and for this to happen, it without a doubt is chicken **** copying period.

[Matt@BOS]

Just finished reading over a fair portion of the Jalopnik comments. It reminded me of how much of a car culture bubble we live in. It is amazing, really, a lot of people, car people, just won't be able to relate and understand. It isn't that they don't share a common passion for cars, rather they don't have the same unique passion for building the types of cars we do, they don't live and breath this kind of stuff (for better or worse, haha) and as such we can't expect them to understand the subtle nuances of modifications or how certain thematic design elements contribute to, and in turn, create the whole overall image without knowing the context of what we are building in shops and garages and taking to shows and track days.

I see an undeniable likeness between the movie car and yours, and that would bug the hell out of me if I were you, Mr. V. When you put your own distinctive touch on something no matter how small, and someone goes and creates something with a striking resemblance, right after you do, and you know that your design falls into the category of far more than just an influence, but not quite enough to satisfy the vague 10 percent copywrite difference... well that just plain sucks. Funny story: I built a one-off front spoiler for my car and not long after finishing my car a guy joined the forum and started selling something remarkable similar. So similar that I frequently meet guys that tell me they recognize the spoiler and that they purchased one from the same guy on p-t.com. And I'm just talking about a simple little spoiler, and it just bugs the hell out of me, not that I would do anything, but it is nice to be able to vent about it, and I imagine you've definitely earned the right to vent and wish credit was given over this whole situation.

Matt

[SShep71]

I just read through all of this. Amir it sucks that you are going through this. It is pretty lame that you will prob not get any credit at all. It is to common and easy to replicate somones ideas anymnore. The internet has made common knowledge some of the secrets that used to be held in high regard. IT is one thing to use a likelyness of an image for enjoyment, but when you cross a line in which monetary and personal gain is made form a replication af an image it is a legal issue. You are playing it cool, but there was a line crossed here that should not have been. If you want I would suggest that you watch this video (), it is from a design stand point but the monetary concept still follows, a design is a design. I would never try to push you into something, and I am not sure if you are not already in the process of it, but a simple call to an attorny wouldnt hurt. Its one of the "if they do it once they will do it again". I would be a little upset to see it happen to others. Just my .02

[TonyHuntimer]

This is ironic...I was thinking the same thing when I saw the Transformers Camaro last week. Amir's car looks soooo much better.

Tony Huntimer
Tony's Speed Shop