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Cars on the Data Disk

I was able to get the hardware up and running and created disk images. But copying the data to the Street Rod folder (it’s not an install procedure like I said) and running the game gave the following result, not good.

Schermafbeelding 2014-06-04 om 21.23.16Maybe I can re-create them (with different settings) because I got some errors (bad sectors, unknown format) when reading them.
Nonetheless I was able to extract a list of cars. I haven’t seen them yet, it’s just a list I came across in the HOT_DATA file.

  • 1939 Pontiac 2-dr coupe.
  • 1946 Chevrolet Fleetline Sedan.
  • 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible.
  • 1955 Chevrolet Nomad Wagon.
  • 1955 Oldsmobile 98.
  • 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air.
  • 1958 Buick Special.
  • 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible.
  • 1955 Chevrolet Delray.
  • 1961 Chevrolet Impala.
  • 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire.
  • 1963 Buick Riviera.
  • 1934 Ford Woodie.
  • 1936 Ford Coupe.
  • 1950 Ford Crestliner.
  • 1951 Mercury Monterey.
  • 1957 Lincoln Capri.
  • 1960 Ford Thunderbird.
  • 1963 Ford Galaxie 500XL.
  • 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint.
  • 1963 Ford T-bird Roadster.
  • 1948 Chrysler Town & Country Conv.
  • 1956 Chrysler New Yorker.
  • missing car
  • missing car

I was able to replace the original HOT_DATA file so I could see the cars in the newspaper.

Schermafbeelding 2014-06-04 om 22.04.03 Schermafbeelding 2014-06-04 om 22.06.36 Schermafbeelding 2014-06-04 om 22.06.40

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Original copy for sale #3

The following original copy of Street Rod is for sale on Ebay.

$_57
Note: I am not affiliated with the seller.
Street Rod for Commodore
Buy now price (or make an offer): $79.99 / €58,62 Sold for $50.00 / €36,71

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The Data Disks arrived!

Today I received the package which contains the Data Disks. To do things a little bit different I made a video.

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Street Rod Data Disk in Computer Gaming World issue 67

While the Data Disks are on their way to Europe I found a “rumor” article in Computer Gaming World, issue 67, January 1990.

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… The whole scene made me wonder if California Dreams plans to put a “woofer and tweeter shoot-out” in their Street Rod data disk (due early this year). I doubt it, but I’m told it will feature some very different kinds of races (like jumping a broken bridge, for example).

I think he mixed up the rumor about the Street Rod Data Disk with Stunts which was also released in (October) 1990 which indeed featured jumping a “a broken bridge”.

Does anyone know what a “woofer and tweeter shoot-out” is?

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Breaking news: “Street Rod Data Disks” found

About a week ago Luís Vasquez from Portugal notified me about an item for sale on Ebay which could possibly be the Street Rod Car Data Disks. As I found out those were original disks of Street Rod itself. However, the person selling those disks also had another item for sale. After a close look I got convinced those were indeed the Street Rod Data Disks I was looking for since January 2013.

Last night I was able to buy those disks and I hope to receive them within 2 or 3 weeks. Shipment won’t be a problem, however Dutch customs will hold the package for an indefinite amount of time to determine import duty.

Street-Rod-Data-Disks
The next challenge will be to get the contents from the disks. As floppy disks can degrade over time it remains to be seen if we can play Street Rod with different cars at all.
The seller also notified me about the disks being a replacement set for the original cars. It’s not an add-on set as I suspected, it’s a version of Street Rod with the original cars replaced by different ones.

Street Rod for Amiga

Here’s what I’ve been waiting for: An original Amiga version of Street Rod.

IMG_8656

It’s an “Electronic Arts Distribution” version which means it’s a first release version of Street Rod. This version has a full colour manual. Later versions have a simple black and white photocopied manual and don’t have an “Electronic Arts Distribution” sticker on the box.

IMG_8654

This game-box is still in it’s original shrink-wrap. The interesting bit about it is the “California Dreams” sticker applied on top of the “Electronic Arts Distribution”. The latter one is applied to the box, the former one is applied to the shrink-wrap.
This raises a question: Why did California Dreams apply their own sticker?

IMG_8653

The next question is: What’s inside?
I’m still on the hunt for information about the Street Rod Car Data Disk. Would this game-box contain new, yet unknown, information? It’s very tempting to open the shrink-wrap and take a look inside. The downside is it will ruin the value of the game-box.
There’s a great chance this box contains no clues whatsoever. Because it’s a first release box it might be too early (1989) for the Car Data Disk (which was announced in 1990).

What would you do?

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California Dreams

Here’s a little bit of extra background information on Street Rod. It was just some information I came across long time ago and I wanted to share it.

Logical Design Works used the label California Dreams to release Street Rod and Street Rod 2.

california dreams

Note the trademark sign in the upper right corner of the image.
On January 30, 1989 a trademark registration was filed for California Dreams. The first use of this trademark was on May 1, 1987.

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The registration was cancelled on November 14, 1996, probably because LDW failed to file the necessary forms and fees before the 6 year deadline.
Because “A §8 Declaration of Continued Use is a sworn statement, filed by the owner of a registration, that the mark is in use in commerce.” and they didn’t do that so the trademark was cancelled by section 8.

Because LDW had a registered trademark they could have used “California Dreams®” but they used the unregistered trademark symbol instead. Why? I don’t know.

Why the name “California Dreams”? It might have to do with the saying. “California Dream is the psychological motivation to gain fast wealth or fame in a new land.” The owner of Logical Design Works migrated from communist Poland to the free and wealthy United States. When you have this context in mind it isn’t hard to imagine why the name California Dreams was chosen. (disclaimer: unverified information)

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Original copy for sale

The following original copy of Street Rod is for sale on Ebay.
Note: I am not affiliated with the seller.
Street Rod for IBM PC
Buy now price (or make an offer): $74.99 / €54,38 $67.49 / €49,16 $50.00 / €36,57 Sold

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Special package

I’ll be watching my mailbox frequently this week, I’m expecting a special package.
Untitled-2

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Article in Aktueller Software Markt

There’s an article (in German/auf Deutsch) about Street Rod in Aktueller Software Markt March 1990.
Aktueller-Software-Markt---Ausgabe-1990Take a look at the Press page to view the article.