The anti-hero Heisenberg on ‘Breaking Bad‘ has a cult-following. But the real reason behind the success of that show is the oh-so cute Jesse Pinkman. Legions of teenage girls (including one female member of the Demaras Racing team) only watched ‘Breaking Bad‘ to see Jesse, and were totally jealous of his retro/goth girlfriend, Jane. But DEMARAS.COM doesn’t do puff pieces on teenage heart-throbs! This is a motoring website. So in this week’s Fast Film Friday we will look at the cars of Jesse Pinkman (played by the adorable Aaron Paul).
1982 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Jesse’s first car in the series is a lowrider ’82 Monte Carlo. The car features candy-apple red paint, a V8 engine and hydraulic suspension. The 4th Generation coupe isn’t a show car, but it’s plenty nice for high school dropout Pinkman to be the man, now that he’s a big-time drug dealer.
During the pilot episode, the Chevrolet’s distinct hydraulics and vanity plate “THE CAPN” helped Walter White discover that Jesse was the man wanted by the DEA. Not exactly a low-key car!
The last time we see the Monte Carlo it gets destroyed in a hail of gunfire between the evil drug distributor Tuco Salamanca and the immoral DEA agent Hank Schrader. RIP Monte.
1986 Toyota Tercel
After the destruction of his Monte Carlo, Pinkman smartened up and kept things on the ‘down-low’ with a ugly and unassuming 1986 Toyota Tercel.
This car was also red (like the Monte Carlo) but the boxy wagon had none of the style of the lowrider, and drew no attention from the cops. Pinkman’s surrogate father, Walter White, clearly agrees with the low-key ride, commenting to his young friend “I hope this one doesn’t bounce.”
The lowly Tercel had a 68 HP inline four cylinder engine mated to a power-sucking automatic transmission. The second-generation Tercel is so ugly that it has been compared to an overturned ATM. When the show wrapped production in 2013, Pinkman’s car sold at auction for $7,000, many times it’s ‘street’ value. The public just loved Pinkman!
1978 Chevrolet El Camino
Jesse Pinkman’s final car in the series is the most important one of all; the El Camino. Jesse had been held captive (and forced into meth-cooking slave-labour) by a by a gang of white-supremacists, including Todd and his Uncle Jack.
Jesse regains his freedom when Heisenberg shows up in a Cadillac with a remote controlled machine gun in the trunk and decimates the gang. Bad guy Todd manages to avoid Heisenberg’s bullets, but when the shooting stops, Jesse uses the his chains of bondage to strangle evil ginger Todd to death.
Then, Pinkman steals Todd’s 1978 Chevrolet El Camino, smashes it through the gates of the compound, and drives away to freedom, with tears of joy in his eyes.
In the coming weeks we’ll feature the cars of Walter White, Saul Goodman and for fans of Aaron Paul, we’ll review his 2014 action movie ‘Need for Speed‘