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Guess who rolled up to The Children's Museum?! This Spring Break, visitors can get an up-close and personal look at the semi that played the role of Optimus Prime in the 2014 film TRANSFORMERS: Age of Extinction! This big rig was custom-built by Western Star and can be viewed in the plaza outside of the Welcome Center through April 5.
Here are some fun facts about the big rig from our friends at Western Star and Daimler Trucks North America LLC:
- Optimus is based off a concept drawing for the all new 5700XE on-highway truck, as Michael Bay wanted something nobody had seen before.
- All of the exhausts are non-operational and are only in place for filming purposes.
- 2 duplicate trucks were produced for the film, one for stunts and the other for close-up and interior beauty shots. (This is the truck on display at the museum.)
- The paint job cost about $40,000 for each truck, and was all done by hand.
- There is special 5700 OP badging on the doors to signify that it's Optimus Prime. The badges usually read 5700XE for "Extreme Efficiency."
- The Autobots logo on the hood pull was made out of a solid block of aluminum and cost just over $4,000 each to fabricate.
- Sideview mirrors are nonfunctional, but do have cameras in them.
- See if you can find the "My other ride is a Dinobot" bumper sticker, too!
While visitors can’t go inside Optimus Prime, on This Week’s WOW, Josh joins TRANSFORMERS exhibit developer Melissa Pederson to give you an exclusive look inside the big rig...
