In the heart of Norcross, Georgia, a team of automotive whizzes at Cinema Vehicles has been turning average cars into on-screen legends. At the epicenter of this mechanical alchemy is mechanic Andy Cerven, who recently had his hands on a centenarian Model T Ford, reported WABE. With a flick of a switch, the time-honored vehicle roared to life, proving that even the most antiquated rides could shine in the limelight.

Following in the footsteps of his father, the creator of the iconic Eleanor Mustang for "Gone in 60 Seconds," Cerven mingles nostalgia with horsepower. "Back when I was a kid, watching my dad create Eleanor kind of gave me the path to get into loving classics," Andy Cerven told WABE. This passion is a family affair, as he works under the watchful eye of his dad, Ron Cerven, the general manager, who boasts, “We’ve done everything, including building spaceships … I mean, if it’s going to be on the screen, and they can dream it up, we’ll figure out how to build it.”

As Atlanta's film and TV industry burgeons, so does the demand for these motorized muses. The local Cinema Vehicles warehouse teems with automotive time capsules ready to be tailored for the next box office hit. Crafting these vehicular stars doesn't come cheap—creating just one can rack up a bill of up to $100,000, a testament to their transformative impact on a scene's authenticity.

But the wheels of showbiz don't always turn smoothly. When strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA hit in 2023, the lot fell silent. Now, as projects resume at breakneck pace, the shop’s resident Jack-of-all-trades, Tyna Wall puts it bluntly: “Chaos, absolute chaos." Wall's role in the cinematic car wardrobe department involves stripping vehicles of hazards and prepping for that shot, where everything goes boom—a drudgery necessitated by the multiple takes directors often demand.

Despite the pressure cooker that is the Cinema Vehicles garage, there's a silver lining for Andy Cerven, who finds delight in stunt prepping cars, confessing that testing their limits is part of the thrill. In the end, it's all worth it when he spots his automotive creations stealing the show on the silver screen, granting them a moment of glory before they ride off into the proverbial sunset.