The Cars That Made America on History channel - GTO faux pas
 

They've had various continuity errors throughout the series, but then they showed John Delorean supposedly going out to a street race in a GTO prototype. The car they used in the reenactment? A 1964 Buick Wildcat. :confused:

I noticed that also. Been watching since the first episode.

I cringed when I saw that and was hoping a real 64 would be shown,. Perhaps they got the message out about JZD and the GTO to younger viewers and non car people that were not as informed. The orange or red 71 wasn't the best icon of what was being conveyed as he was long gone by then.

All TV is scripted, it's about ratings($) not authenticity.

They made a lot of mistakes in the last episode. If you noticed they pictured a 55 Pontiac when talking about a 55 Chevy. Pictured several different V8 engines during the segment about the small block Chevy. But the cherry on top was Deloreon driving the 4 door Buick during the 64 GTO segment. (They also kept showing pictures of 65 GTO's instead of 64's during that segment)

Some ridiculously glaring mistakes. The '55 Pontiac, the Buick 4 door, the '65 gto while talking about the initial run in '64... if you're going to spend 5.5 hours on the evolution of the auto, do a little research and check your details before looking so careless. Man, was Henry Ford a huge dick or what??

Noticed so far nothing about Fords support of Hitler.

Well put. Lots of glaring issues.

If you're going to make me sit through the same 8 minutes of commercials every 10 minutes, at least get your facts right.

Reminds me of the time Hagerty showed a '66 GTO on the cover of their magazine on the 50th anniversary of the GTO.

There were plenty of mistakes in the earlier episodes as well, such as the big model A reveal in 1928 was actually a very late 1931 four door but at least it was a Model A. the Buick in the GTO segment was really disappointing. How hard could it be to find an early GTO or even a Pontiac?

Changing your oil after 3000 miles.......KEVIN HARVEY. Every commercial break for three days.:gag:

my least favorite commercial included the "six is greater than one" comment. really six is greater than one? good thing you told me :D

Kevin Harvick, vs Kevin Harvey, talking about mistakes...........LOL

I guess that demonstrates how easy it is the screw up the real facts.

It's just part of the trend of the dumbing down of America ... throw some crappy stock footage together, call Ted in Miami for some beat up old cars for the dramatizations and call it a documentary.

I watched a few minutes, just long enough to see the Delorean DMC described as "the car all of America was waiting for" and to see John Delorean caricaturized like an extra from Saturday Night Fever. Jeezus, the guy was GQ cool in his day and they portrayed him with a disco neck-chain strutting around the car. The world was hardly holding its breath for the arrival of the DMC. It had been delayed so many times from manufacturing and Delorean's "financing" setbacks, the world had already lost interest in the car but was transfixed by the soap opera that unfolded.

Bear in mind when it comes to cars and Hollywood .... you have some flamboyant young man in a moo-moo gesticulating about pretty colors and "ewwww ... I like THAT one!" that is running the show. And if we are lucky, maybe a couple of hipsters on the crew that dream of "muscle" cars, but have absolutely no idea what it means.

It's quickly apparent when the producers of a piece have no real knowledge or appreciation for the subject they are covering ... whether it be cars or anything else.

I've only watched Part 1 and one of the errors I spotted was when they show the Dodge brothers tinkering around with a bunch of parts - in several shots one of the brothers is messing around with a Quadrajet.

Just proves they aren't the brightest bulbs in the box. And another reason I don't watch those type of shows anymore. If they can't do it right... then they shouldn't be doing them at all. Screw the rating and be honest about what you do.

And one question to go with this. What ever happened to truth in advertising?

Just got thru part 2. I thought that's a qjet? plus that rod and piston didn't look correct. Can you-we imagine if this is going on today-what about tomorrow or years to come!!Dumbing down won't be close.

Imbeciles. In that same episode with Delorean supposedly talking trash with Iacocca in an alleyway in Detroit, in the early 1960's and Delorean is in that Buick 4 door...a 65 Mustang convertible is one of the cars in the line of street racers parked behind them. Ugh. I stopped watching after that.

Not a fact checker here just watched for the entertainment and I liked the fact that they mentioned the GTO and changing the way people viewed muscle cars. I always pictured Lee Iocca as the minivan inventor but didn't realize all he had done for the car industry in general. Shelby and Duntov are always held in such high regard when it comes to cars but Iocca may have done more in general then anyone for the automobile.

That's the thing - us gearhead folks notice all the continuity errors, but after all it is entertainment aimed at a common denominator of average folks. If they can pick up the general gist of the history of automobiles in the US while they're being entertained, I think that's a good thing. Maybe they'll be interested enough to go find out more about Ford or Delorean or Iacocca.