I know a set for sale locally. You want I should gank them and send them your way? They're badass for sure

 

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]About 3 years ago I met with Tim Lawrence and his, then, partner Dean Robinson. I still have the Fireball Tim Company business card they gave me that says “Dean Robinson/Partner”. At that point they explained that Fireball Tim was a character that Dean Robinson created to represent the Fireball Tim Company, much like Ronald McDonald represents McDonalds; Tim Lawrence was to play the character/role of Fireball Tim.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Where or when Tim Lawrence actually became Fireball Tim and designed all the movie cars that he claims to have designed is an interesting question.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Even more interesting is an email I received a couple years ago from Dean Robinson informing me that Tim was working outside of their partnership agreement; also cc’d on that email was a quantity of people, including Jan, Tuls and Brian. It seems that Tim has a hard time with partners, honesty and keeping track of the cars he actually designed.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]--Batmobile- designed by Harald Belker [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]www.haraldbelker.com[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]--Eleanor/Gone In 60 Seconds designed by Steve Stanford/Chip Foose[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]--Speed Racer— designed by Tim Flattery-Patrick Janicke & others[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]--Jurassic Park…designing for the video game is not the movie[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Herbie/The Love Bug - Starsky and Hutch – Green Hornet …I think not![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Tim…putting on stickers, or standing by a car and taking a picture is not the same as designing it.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Sad for the FBT dream team of Hubie, Jan, Brian and Tuls that the clown has malfunctioned.[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

 

was fixed

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0493055/bio


Biography for
Tim Lawrence (III)

photos board add contact details
Nickname

Fireball

Mini Biography

Born in Hollywood California, Fireball Tim Lawrence has built an extensive career in the film industry. Son of famed Lawrence Anthony, Fireball Tim has designed vehicles, weaponry, costumes and wild environments on over 40 features and 300 commercials. He is also an accomplished filmaker and actor with several award winning shorts films and commercials.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Dean Robinson <----------

 

OOPS!! Sorry...Re-post:

About 3 years ago I met with Tim Lawrence and his , then partner, Dean Robinson. I still have the Fireball Tim Company business card they gave me that says "Dean Robinson/Partner". At that point they explained to me that Fireball Tim was a character that Dean Robinson created to represent their Fireball Tim company, much like Ronald McDonald represents McDonalds: Tim was to play the character/role of Fireball Tim.
Where or when Tim Lawrence actually became Fireball Tim and designed all the movie cars that he claims to have designed is an interesting question.
Even more interesting is an email I recieved a couple of years ago from Dean Robinson informing me that Tim was working outside of their partnership agreement; also CC'd on that email was a quantity of people including Jan, Tuls and Brian. It seems that Tim has a hard time with partners, honesty and keeping track of the cars that he actually designed.

* Batmobile - designed by Harald Belker www.haraldbelker.com
* Eleanoe/Gone in 60 Seconds - designed by Steve Stanford/Chip Foose
* Speed Racer - Tim Flattery/Patrick Janicke & others
* Jurassic Park...designing on the video game is not the movie

Herbie The Love Bug - Starsky and Hutch - Green Hornet...I think not!!
Tim...Putting on stickers, or standing by a car and taking a picture is not the same as designing it.

Sad for the FBT dream teamof Hubie, Jan, Brian and Tuls that the clown has malfunctioned.

 

On IMDB any non-union(vehicle design) credit can be claimed and has been.

Don't believe me or the blogs, try google, It's unbiased and accurate.

 

Since we all know that problems occured with the car, people have left, people are frustrated with how things went down, and everyone is making plans to move onto greener pastures, etc. can we please close this thread now? Personally I'm mentally worn out from the constant diet of bashing in here and elsewhere on the site over the last couple of days.

Perhaps I'll code up something to automagically insert a smiley face at the end of everyone's posts to lighten the mood here a bit

 

There is no way you are blaming any of this on me.

 

lol dude

 

i watched the show from the get go...cuz there wuz MINI there...after what i saw i really thought it was going to be a david vs goliath battle since the focus and the evo are estabished cars in the tuner world (as much as i shudder to equate focus and tuner)...it was a bit of a let down...the car is neat to look at and the power adders were sweet but the ECU PWNS!

 

clearly, you stole Firball's Mojo

 

Did you ever get the car running over 3K RPM?

Did you ever get the ECU fixed enough to turn some real horsepower? How much? If so, what was necessary/used to get it working?

Was Mini supportive of the problems?

Did the car have ABS? I saw it smoking tires during braking on STC?

Aside from the motor issues. How did the car handle/ride with those monster tires and suspension changes?

Cheers!
Lee

 

posting for subscription to future developments.

 

Or you could use "Thread Tools" near the top of the page to subscribe without posting.

 

I know, too much work though. Have to go through 3 different screens.

 

Honestly no the car still hasnt made any power to talk about It does run though...lol If the truth be told it hasnt really been touched much since the final taping, no time..and then the other issues.

As for the handling it was great but we cant say 100% because it was dead *** slow.

Mini gave alot of support for the car and the build but they dont allow any outsiders any access to the computer coding, its their policy and I respect that even though we could have used some tuning support.

the car as it sits can easily make over 400 on boost alone BUT until the software is cracked or its run on a full on stand alone its got issues We did put a motek in to bypass all the oem problems but even then it wasnt that simple. The way the motor is designed its not compatible with current motek software and there was also an issue with the vanos and not knowing what the frequency was. ( simplified answer )

Believe me we werent sitting around hoping it would just fire and run making something like this isnt an overnight thing and 13 weeks is really short when EVERY part has to be made and sometimes re made.

 

what will become of the car? Crusher, eBay, Parted out, show toy?

Matt

 

I dont know I know what should happen with it but at this point that is all I am going to say...

I am really the wrong person to ask since I am no longer a part of fireballed I dont honestly know what their plans are at this point.

 

That's a shame, I was really hoping to hear that the car actually came together, even if it was after the show. I wish all you guys the best of success in your new ventures. Hope Fireball gets his/its act together too.

Cheers!
Lee

 

I wonder if MINI is now regretting that policy after the spanking by a Focus?

An Evo is one thing, that Ford another.

 

Come now. Ford in Europe has a long tradition of fast, fun turbo cars going back decades (we don't normally see them here, though the Merkur XR4Ti was as close as we got). Heck, there's a Focus RS by Cosworth that's seriously sweet. Don't judge the car only by what's sold here. Ford has been handing Subaru and Mitsu their butts in WRC for a bit now.



Next gen 300hp, AWD Focus RS (makes MINI seem behind the times eh?):

 

The respect will come only when they bring us their more affordable European best. Shelby GT500s and GTs are fine automobiles, but their not for the masses of modest means.

 

sure, but your point was that MINI USA let a lowly Ford Focus beat it. I'm saying that the Focus has an active modding community overseas, something not there for the R56 yet.

As much as we can blame Firballed, I think MINIUSA would be more at fault here...they quite literally have egg on their face. With no ECU support and notoriously locked down coding these days, did they honestly think any tuner could make power on the motor that was barely on the market for nine to 12 months at the time?

Let's face it...as much as we like Jan/RMW, even he would have probably failed to beat an EVO if stuck with teh stock ECU and no help from MINI. Dimsport is working on the R56 ECU, but last I heard, wasn't there yet. We all know piggybacks aren't the solution either and swapping in a standalone on a new car isn't a bolt-on either as it would probably be the MkI effort.

It makes sense MINI would send their current model. It doesn't make sense that they wouldn't bend over backwards to ensure a positive outcome, whether or not the car won the challenge. Making less than stock power is just

 

Agreed. It was a real opportunity lost by MINI (BMW).