The World of Phineas Brand

April 24, 2026

The Snake

The Snake is our hero’s nickname for his supercar. Here’s a little bit more about it and why it’s so much better than the jet car driven by another superhero.

Since 1977, our hero, Phineas Brand has been secretly working with a man named Quinton Reynolds. Quint owns a custom auto shop in Moline, IL and unbeknownst to him, he went to Marine Boot Camp with Phineas in 1962. Back then, young Quinton only knew Phineas as “Recruit Brand… that skinny weird kid from Pennsylvania.”

In 1977, Phineas introduces himself as “Bill” to Quint in his shop. Phineas attempts to enter Quint’s mind and force him to work on crime-fighting equipment. It backfires slightly and the joining of minds allows Quint to see glimpses of Phineas’ mind as well. When the joining of minds is broken, Quint merely says, “We didn’t have to go through all that. I would have helped you anyway.”

The reader finds out later in the novel that there was a supercar in the late seventies, but we don’t know what it was. There is a scene where Phineas is following the Lotus in Chicago driving a 77 Olds Cutlass, but we don;t know if this was the first Snake or not. I put that particular car in there because a friend of mine in High School had one and it was one of the first cars I ever drove. And I did it during study hall, without a license, laying rubber in the parking lot at Valley High in West Des Moines. I must admit, when I searched the web looking for a ’77 Olds, I had forgotten how ugly that car was. And yes, like the picture, it was yellow with some… rust, uh… coloration.

We also learn later in the novel that in the 1980’s, the Chameleon fought crime in a 1986 Buick Grand National. The GNX was one of the most powerful cars ever built in the 80’s and some consider it the last American muscle car. Imagine that puppy with twin machine guns on the roof.

But finally, the Chameleon upgrades the snake to an actual snake. The 1995 Dodge Viper GTS-R, arguable one the coolest cars ever made. Throw in some black paint and about a million dollars in weapons, gadgets, armor and upgraded custom parts and you’ve got yourself a SNAKE. Good enough to take bullets, escape the police, chase the police, and fight evil.

Why the Viper?

A couple of reasons. First, it was my favorite car to drive in Sony Playstation One’s Gran Turismo. I spent many, many hours racing my longtime friend and roommate in his Nissan Skyline on Gran Turismo. Gran Turismo was well ahead of its time and even featured songs from the Stone Temple Pilots. The second is, I got to ride in a GTS in 1997. It was hella cool. Since then, the late 90’s Viper’s have been my favorite cars. I’ll have one some day.

Lastly, I needed a car with an engine powerful enough to take on a bunch of extra weight from armor and weapons while still being able to outrun a helicopter. And yes, I checked, it is possible to outrun an attack helicopter such as the AH1 Viper and AH64 Apache if given enough straight road. I did a lot of research to see how fast you could actual get a Viper to go and how fast you can fly an attack helicopter before it loses control. Viper wins, so… the Viper was a natural.

Plus, it looks scary as hell in black!