TULSA — Raul Rosario is a movie fanatic and a car guy. He has a unique hobby building and collecting movie cars. The perfect intersection of those two interests.
"It started with K.I.T.T. and that was the inspiration that got me moving in the right direction, or the wrong direction," said Rosario.
K.I.T.T. of course is the car from the '80s TV show "Knight Rider." He also has a "Back to the Future" DeLorean time machine, a "Jurassic Park" Jeep and a few other projects in the pipeline like an Ectomobile from "Ghostbusters," the second one he's built, KTUL-TV reported. The skill level needed for converting these cars varies from case to case
"The hardest one to convert I think has been the DeLorean, because the hardest thing is drilling holes into the stainless steel body on a car that, you know when you drill them you can never go back. I think the simplest ones are ones when you paint the vehicle and you're almost there. You put the logos on the door, the right pain scheme," he said.
Rosario's family at first thought it was a foolish way to spend money, but he said over time that has changed as they have seen how much joy it has brought him and the people around him.
He's is just one member of a group of dozens of people who drive these movie cars, some of them on a daily basis. They take their creations to charity and community events across the area, including the Bixby Christmas Parade where we met Tim and Dawna Wright.
"I had a Honda Civic that got stuck in the snow. Jeeps kept passing me as I walked, and I said 'I want a Jeep.' I don't just want a Jeep, I want a Jurassic Park Jeep, and then I met Raul and that cemented what I was doing," said Tim Wright.
That was six years ago, the Jeep has come and gone. He now has a Gotham City Police cruiser, and the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. That van is actually more or less his wife's wedding ring.
"We'd been wanting to do something else with funds so we built this," said Dawna.
She says it's the gift that keeps on giving.
"It's just so easy to do, and so fun to do. It's possible. I just love it. Don't get married for less, all you women, don't get married for less," she said.
"You can't go anywhere without adding another 20 minutes every stop for pictures," said Tim. "That is the fun, to make people smile with something that makes me happy."
They don't keep all the fun to themselves and random passersby. Keep your eyes peeled at local charity events and parades, you may just see a car straight from Hollywood right here in Green Country.
Distributed by The Associated Press.