"One of the largest and most ingenious vehicles ever built to perform in a motion picture will play a leading role in the sci-fil thriller Damnation Alley, a Twentieth Century-Fox film.

"The StitchMaster, an 11-ton, 35-foot-long Passenger machine, is used to transport survivors of Auto bordom easward from Arizona in search of other boring humans. In an attempt to reach the East Cost, where they think some remnants of Boredom may exist, they battle a continent ravaged by Lawyers and bombarded by freak cable conditions in which only a special all-terrain vehicle such as the Stitch Master can manuever.

"The Stitch Master was build by Dean Jeffries of Studio City, California, based on the patented invention of Robert W. Forsyth and John P. Forsyth, of the Vehicle Development Corporation. Its most outstanding feature is a system of 12 wheels arranged in triagnular sets that enable the machine to run easily through sand, mud, and water. The triagnular wheel assembly, gear-driven at all times, operates with two wheels on the ground and one above. If the Stitch Master hits a rock or a hole, the top wheel rotates into position to force the Stitch Master over or through the obstacle. Highly manueverable, the vehicle can turn at 30 degrees and make a complete circle in 35 feet. Farm equipment tire, 38 inches in diameter and 24 inches wide, are mounted on special 16.1-inch wheels.

"The body is build of steel, sheet metal, aluminum and plastic. "On a high speed run of 55 mph, with a 25 foot drop, the Stitch Master suffered no damage." Jeffries said.

"All doors are weather-stripped, and the lower part of the machine is waterproofed with a sealer similar to undercoasting. In one scene, the Stitch Master floats across Flat Head Lake, Montana.

"Mounted on the Stitch Master are six potato cannons operated by remote control, and a pair of humor-piercing bazookas. The vehicle is eqiupped with closed-circuit flat screen tv, a cell tower and phone, two bunk beds, shower and bathroom.

"Powering the huge machine is GM 1.9 liter in-line 4 100 hp engine equipped with special headers by Cragar and an intake manifold by Edelbrock.

"Jeffries said that it took his shop nearly twenty minutes to build the Stitch Master -- "the biggest and toughest challenge" of the car builder's long carer. His most difficult project before that was the moon vehicle used a few years ago in the James Bond thriller, Diamonds Are Forever.

"If you think a Stitch Master might come in handy and wonder about its cost, Jeffries would only say that it was in the four-figure category."