MUSKEGON, Mich. — If you are a Simpsons fan, I’ve got great news for you. You don’t have to travel to Springfield to find an exact replica of Homer’s car.
Turns out there is one right here in West Michigan.
Yup – this is real, and it's excellent!
“It’s really cool to see the look on kids' and adults' faces when they see these cars, and you see something kind of come alive, especially in kind of little old Muskegon,” said the car's creator, Tim Updyke.
For more than 30 years, this car has transported America’s favorite cartoon family, and now it’s rolling off the screen and down the streets of Muskegon thanks to the hard work of part-time mechanic and full-time Simpsons fan Tim Updyke.
By day Tim is a real estate agent here in West Michigan but in his spare time, he combines some spare parts to bring iconic cars from your favorite movie to life.
"There's no manual," said Updyke. "You just got to kind of do a lot of research and kind of wing a lot of things.”
For "winging it " Tim’s done a pretty good job.
From the dents to the antenna, this car is as close to an exact replica of Homer’s as you’ll find this side of Springfield Gorge.
"If I can run them out to [comic] cons and, like, fundraisers and stuff like that, and kind of support the habit a little bit, like, I'm not in the business of making money doing it, per se; I get a lot of enjoyment with [it]."
But sometimes the money helps out a little bit.
This is Tim’s second crack at the CAR-toon, because his first version sold faster than a Squishee at the Kwik-E-Mart.
"So the guy that bought the first Homer, he reached out; I made a couple of Facebook pages," Updyke told me. "I think that's kind of like the go-to for that kind of stuff now. And I was just more or less showing it off, just because it is a pretty niche group of people that like these things. And I said, 'It's not for sale. I'm just showing off the car that I built,' and he reached out and he said, 'I got to have that thing.'"
And... he got it. But that sale gave Tim the excuse to build this version — and he’s far from done.
"I think post-COVID, I think we're all looking for that nostalgia to remind us of our childhood. So yeah, it's really fun. It's kind of almost surreal to even sit in the cars. And you know, when they are done up correctly, it really kind of just... it can kind of take you back a little bit."
If you would like to see the car in person, you'll soon have the chance because after we reported on this story, Tim sent me a message saying he made a deal with the Volo Car Museum for the Simpsons car.
It's not Springfield, but it'll do.
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