Fans of Mad Max had a lot to celebrate in 2015 with the release of Mad Max Fury Road in May. Along with the renewed energy for franchise came a new series of comics, merchandise, and a new video game developed by Avalanche Studios. To promote the release of the upcoming game, Warner Brothers contracted Liquid Advertising and Uber to hire post apocalyptic themed cars to provide lifts and photo opportunities for the August 2015 PAX gaming convention in Seattle. We were among those chosen to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity.

It was a crazy, intense and exhausting weekend to promote the awesome Mad Max game. We worked hard and put our vehicles through the wringer. Along the way we also had ridiculous fun and made lifelong friendships. This page is our story. The hashtags #madmaxatpax and #madmaxgame were used in various social media apps and if searched will bring up even more images than we have here. Enjoy!

The Seattle Six

These are the vehicles chosen to represent at the convention. They were chosen because they had the right aesthetic while remaining street legal. Each vehicle is a different type and style and so each Uber experience for the attendees would be unique. While only the Charger is directly associated with Burning Earth Media, we consider all the members of the Seattle Six extended family.

Raul Contreras with "Roxanne", his modified Zombie Squad Beetle. Both Raul and Roxanne performed flawlessly throughout the event.

William "Padre" Johnson and his "Mutant Hunter 1" jeep did more Uber rides than probably the rest of the team combined. He drove the jeep to Seattle from California, drove the entire event, and then turned around and drove home after. He was an Uber… — William "Padre" Johnson and his "Mutant Hunter 1" jeep did more Uber rides than probably the rest of the team combined. He drove the jeep to Seattle from California, drove the entire event, and then turned around and drove home after. He was an Uber beast!
Sadly, Padre passed away in August 2016. As a member of the Seattle Six and our Wasteland family, he will be missed.

Bill Brown's Fury Road Interceptor was definitely a stand out star of the show. The right hand drive made for some interesting curbside pickups.

Greg and Shannon Gilday's "Land Shark" made the Charger seem like a small car. This thing was super cool. Unfortunately, early in the first day the car suffered a mechanical problem (I think it was a starter issue) and finding replacement parts prov… — Greg and Shannon Gilday's "Land Shark" made the Charger seem like a small car. This thing was super cool. Unfortunately, early in the first day the car suffered a mechanical problem (I think it was a starter issue) and finding replacement parts proved challenging. They got it up and running finally on the last day.

Matthew Noble and his custom Nissan truck... thing. This vehicle was seriously cool. It looked indestructible and was full of secret compartments and toggle switches. So. Many. Toggle switches!

Matt custom built the roof overnight when the weather report changed for the worse AND he replaced a blown water pump which involved disassembling (what seemed like) half of his truck. That he had it all together and ready to roll by morning was not… — Matt custom built the roof overnight when the weather report changed for the worse AND he replaced a blown water pump which involved disassembling (what seemed like) half of his truck. That he had it all together and ready to roll by morning was nothing short of a miracle.

While waiting for parts for the Land Shark, Greg was able to get back into the action by borrowing a late model Beetle and "wastelanding" it. — While waiting for parts for the Land Shark, Greg was able to get back into the action by borrowing a late model Beetle and "wastelanding" it.

Last but not least is me (Christopher Vincent) and the Dauntless Charger. Many predicted that the car would fail before the weekend was up but it not only survived but thrived and stole the show... though not completely without incident.

Sometime during the first day of the convention the alternator died and I drove the entire day on battery. I needed one jump start but I was able to finish out the day. I replaced the alternator that evening and after that it was fine. Towards the end of the event I started having issues with overheating (especially in the stop and go hill traffic). Our first episode of In Rust We Trust chronicles what happened and how we fixed it.

Getting There

The Dauntless Charger made its debut in 2014 at Wasteland Weekend where it won best in show. At the time, even though it received much praise, the car was still incomplete according to our original vision and the release of Fury Road only reinforced the need to get back to work. We fabricated all new suspension and made many other changes as well. We were planning to use PAX as the public reveal for the transition to the Daytona it is today. Unfortunately the wing didn't arrive in time so this event ended up being last public appearance of the car as an "ordinary" Charger. No one seemed to mind.

Maxed Out

Bill went a little crazy decorating his Fury Road inspired interceptor.

Quick welding repair on the drivers door. The slidebolt handle broke as we were unloading earlier that day.

We all arrived the day before the convention started. We worked late into the night in preparation for an early start the following morning. We were given promotional stickers, magnets and paint stencils and allowed to decorate to our taste. The paint was a washable chalk paint which amazingly held up to the rain throughout the weekend yet washed right off once we got back home.

While most of us worked on minor last minute repairs and modifications to make sure we were ready for the coming days. Since the forecast had suddenly turned to rain, Matt had to fabricate an entire roof to keep the weather off of his passengers. Not only that, but he had to pull an all nighter to replace the water pump that blew just before arriving in Seattle.

The following morning we gathered at an empty lot adjacent to the local Uber office where we were given instructions on how to use the app, our mission parameters, and other related information. Many took the opportunity for pictures as well.

Pretty nice work considering it was rushed together in the dark at a hotel parking lot. Well done, Matt!

Matt, the following morning, finishing up his custom roof. It kept the rain out and held up to freeway speeds.

The team at Uber were excited about the cross promotional opportunity. They liked the cars too :)

Uber Driving in Seattle

Picking up and dropping off passengers was a lot of fun but it was also stressful at first. None of us had ever been to downtown Seattle before and traffic was a bit of a nightmare. Thankfully, because our work area was a geo fenced around the convention center and downtown, it didn't take long to get to know the area. The worst traffic was around the convention center itself where the stop-and-go traffic would cause the engine to get too hot..

Despite the forecast for rain, the weather remained mostly dry. When it did rain the Charger got pretty hard to handle on the hills with lots of power and no traction. I remember getting stuck on a particularly steep hill spinning the tires pretty aggressively just to get up to the top.

Speaking of traction, there (probably) was not a single traffic law that I did not violate. We weren't doing crazy burnouts or anything but I was... enthusiastic. When encouraged I would rev the engine, accelerate quick for a short burst or chirp the tires. My passengers loved it and what little law enforcement I saw seemed to enjoy it as part of the show. The city was ours to play with!

Met up with Bill for lunch at a gormet Seattle eatery.

I stopped here to grab a beverage and naturally some curious folks wanted some pictures and conversation.

A random industrial area I stopped in to eat a sandwich.

Someone on the sidewalk caught me going by. Every time I stopped someone took out a camera. I wish I had access to all of those pictures!

Caught in the act of dropping someone off.

I found a neat hiding spot around the back of the convention center that was quiet with low traffic where I could chill for a minute and let the car cool down.

Crowd pleasing

In addition to drivers, Liquid Advertising had "warboy" cosplay performers working the sidewalk outside the convention center entrance. When we weren't out taking passengers, they had us line our cars up out front for photo ops. As soon as I let the warboys on top of the car the Charger absolutely stole the show. For a while we even helped PAX attendees climb up for pictures. The crowd loved it but I had to put a stop to it when one person failed to follow instructions, stepped in the wrong place, and dented the front cowl. Just prior to that another tripped and nearly fell off. I let the warboys stay on as they were (mostly) very careful. I also had to replace both windshield wipers before the weekend was out.

This Furiosa was not part of the paid cast but she was so awesome we "let" her hang around for a while.

She was so into character she stuck around with the warboys working the crowd and posing for pictures. She should have gotten a paycheck that day.

“This may go down forever as one of my all time favorite gigs. It was such a fantastic mix of driving and character performance. As much fun as I had tearing up the streets of Seattle I think I had even more fun working the crowd and helping people get their pictures taken with the Charger, Interceptor, and warboys. Four days of absolute chaos and mayhem. So many stories. Loved every second of it!”

— Christopher Vincent

Back to Gigs

The Seattle Six

Getting There

Maxed Out

Uber Driving in Seattle

Crowd pleasing

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