{"id":1758175,"date":"2026-02-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1758175"},"modified":"2026-02-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T21:00:00","slug":"here-are-24-of-the-greatest-ever-movie-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1758175","title":{"rendered":"Here are 24 of the greatest ever movie cars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Back to the Future, 1985<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you telling me you built a time machine\u2026 out of a DeLorean?\u201d Co-writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis initially planned to use a refrigerator for the time machine, but figured that younger audience members might take it too literally. Then it was a device lugged around in the bed of Doc Brown\u2019s pickup. When Gale realised it should be mobile, the DeLorean\u2019s gullwing doors and stainless steel body were deemed sufficiently futuristic-looking (better than the Mustang that Ford was prepared to, er, pony up for).<\/p>\n

The real DeLorean story is a movie in itself: ex-GM VP John DeLorean used British government money to build his Giugiaro-designed, Lotus-engineered \u2018ethical\u2019 sports car in Belfast at the height of the Troubles, before being busted by the FBI for cocaine smuggling. He was acquitted\u2026 (NB: a DeLorean also stars in Steven Spielberg\u2019s Ready Player One<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ghostbusters, 1984<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ecto-1 was based on a 1959 Cadillac ambulance conversion by the Ohio-based Miller Meteor company, a 20ft-long, three-tonne behemoth powered by a 6.3-litre V8, with strong Eldorado visual cues. Dan Aykroyd, who co-wrote the script, envisaged a darker, less cartoonish look, but the cinematographer, the great L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Kov\u00e1cs, gently suggested that wouldn\u2019t cut it in the film\u2019s many night shots. The Ghostbusters\u2019 car was created by Stephen Dane, who had worked on Ridley Scott\u2019s mighty Blade Runner<\/em>; he also created the proton pack, particle thrower and ghost trap.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The A-Team<\/strong><\/em>, 1983\u20131987 (TV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Seventies and Eighties, the UK was subjected to a lightweight but hi-octane US telly takeover, epitomised by The A-Team<\/em>, in which a bunch of ex-special forces renegades blew stuff up, rescued women and crashed cars. The van, a 1983 GMC Vandura with quad headlights, was a mobile command unit whose stealth status was undermined by turbine mag wheels, red stripe and roof spoiler. Didn\u2019t see them coming…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Phantom Menace, 1999<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne-man vehicles featuring a cockpit placed behind two huge engines,\u201d StarWars.com says with comical restraint. Its appearance in the Boonta Eve Classic enlivens the otherwise execrable Phantom Menace<\/em>. George Lucas is an obsessive motorsport fan, and the pod racers\u2019 sound design samples Nineties F1 power units in a brilliantly executed sequence. Bar the fact that turbines don\u2019t have geared transmissions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Hangover, 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n

2009\u2019s hit comedy made stars of Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson\u2019s white tiger. They also destroyed a lovely old 1965 Merc. Berks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Dukes of Hazzard, 1979\u20131985\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Across 147 episodes and seven seasons, Bo and Luke Duke evaded Boss Hogg and his idiot police cronies in a seemingly indestructible \u201969 Dodge Charger, the General Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Cannonball Run, 1981\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most politically incorrect supercar driven by two provocatively clad women in 1981\u2019s dumbest box office hit. Cemented its status as ultimate bedroom-wall fodder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Blues Brothers, 1980\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u201974 Dodge Monaco with a beefed-up 440 Magnum engine. Co-writer and star Dan Aykroyd based the roof-mounted loudspeaker on a Cold War air raid siren in his primary school yard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Fast and the Furious, 2001\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shabby \u201993 Supra miraculously transformed for key role in climactic FAF shoot-out, as driven by the late Paul Walker. Made $185k at an auction in 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Cars, 2006\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strip \u2018The King\u2019 Weathers is one of the emotional cornerstones of Pixar\u2019s Cars<\/em>. He\u2019s also a blue \u201969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi, voiced by Richard Petty. Studio boss John Lasseter is the devout petrolhead son of a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership, and Cars<\/em> was partly a paean to racing, partly prompted by a Lasseter family roadtrip. But it was also inspired by a documentary called Divided Highways<\/em>, which examined the impact of the US interstate highway system \u2013 in particular, on the Mother Road, Route 66. \u201cCar people are tremendously passionate. Cars are their life. I really wanted to be able to get the details right for them,\u201d Lasseter notes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mad Max, 1979 & Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A masterpiece of low-budget Australian cinema, George Miller\u2019s Mad Max<\/em> proved that necessity is the mother of invention. The movie\u2019s art director, Jon Dowding, opted to use an Aussie Ford Falcon XB coupe as the basis for Max Rockatansky\u2019s Pursuit Special, mainly because it was tough and parts would be easier to source. Fitted with a supercharged 5.75-litre Cleveland V8 making 600bhp, its look was inspired by Concorde, a wild 1977 concept van by local Ford designer Peter Arcadipane.<\/p>\n

For Mad Max 2<\/em>, two enlarged fuel tanks were fitted, the passenger seat was removed, and Max rigged the Interceptor with booby traps. Reappears in 2015\u2019s brilliantly deranged Fury Road<\/em>. \u201cI drive a hybrid,\u201d says Miller, \u201cbut I shouldn\u2019t confess that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ronin, 1998\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ronin were roaming samurai without masters. In John \u2018creator of the car chase\u2019 Frankenheimer\u2019s modern classic, they\u2019re mercenaries. The S8\u2019s quattro 4WD was removed for max oversteer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Risky Business, 1983\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tom Cruise\u2019s breakthrough film is a rite-of-passage Eighties classic. Director Paul Brickman cast the 928 because it was less obvious than a 911.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Le Mans, 1971\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strictly speaking not a movie car, but the motorsport-dominating 917 is the saviour of Steve McQueen\u2019s otherwise misfiring vanity project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Italian Job, 1969\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aosta valley, Lamborghini, Quincy Jones soundtrack: in many ways, the opening sequence is the greatest three minutes of any film, ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

American Graffiti, 1973\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

George Lucas\u2019s \u201973 classic helped reignite America\u2019s fading hot rodding subculture. The star car is a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Batman, 1989 & Batman Returns, 1992\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim Burton\u2019s 1989 Batman reboot was the movie event of the year, partly thanks to the director\u2019s Gothic aesthetic. Genius production designer Anton Furst reimagined the Batmobile as a priapic hot rod, with a huge jet turbine front and centre, and air intakes for the afterburners. Side-mounted grappling hooks and a central spar enabled it to rotate through 180\u00b0, and the car could encase itself in full body armour. Forget that there were two Chevy Impala chassis welded together underneath.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Wayne\u2019s World, 1992\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

AMC\u2019s Pacer enjoyed a postmodern afterlife courtesy of Mike Myers\u2019s Saturday Night Live<\/em> spin-off. Unlike the similarly uplifted DeLorean, the Pacer really was rubbish, and therefore perfect for duty in this tale of gormless suburban rock fans Wayne and Garth whose cable TV show becomes unexpectedly huge. The Pacer, meanwhile, was described by its maker as the \u2018first wide small car\u2019. Schwiiiing? Not so much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Graduate, 1967\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last car to be signed off by Italian design maestro Battista \u2018Pinin\u2019 Farina, a \u201966 series one Alfa Spider didn\u2019t just shuttle Dustin Hoffman\u2019s character Benjamin between existential crises, it symbolised Sixties America\u2019s youthful hunger for freedom, sex and sticking it to The Man. Much as that dream would be scuppered by the Vietnam war, so would the lissom little Alfa run out of fuel at the critical moment in the film\u2019s denouement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Transformers, 2007 onwards\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Transformers universe, Bumble Bee is an Autobot and one of Optimus Prime\u2019s most trusted lieutenants in the battle to defeat the Decepticons. In Michael Bay\u2019s highly nuanced, Bergmanesque Noughties film franchise ($4.3bn and counting), he\u2019s disguised as a classic Seventies Camaro to begin with, before upgrading to the current model. Well, it explains those gaping shut-lines, if nothing else.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For Your Eyes Only, 1981\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bond cars are indivisible from Bond movies, and the obvious choice is the DB5. But if 1981\u2019s FYEO is the connoisseur\u2019s film \u2013 bringing 007 back to Earth after Moonraker<\/em>\u2019s excesses \u2013 then the Esprit Turbo S3 is a more informed choice than the white submersible in The Spy Who Loved Me<\/em>. A white Turbo is destroyed early on. The other car was bronze to stand out more sharply for the scenes in Cortina. Looked great with skis, too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Dumb and Dumber, 1994\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although officially banned from Top Gear, the only adjective appropriate when it comes to the Mutt Cutts \u201cshaggin\u2019 wagon\u201d is \u201ciconic\u201d. Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, the duo who provide the emotional and intellectual heart of the Farrelly brothers\u2019 debut masterpiece, embark on a journey of discovery from behind the wheel of a Ford Econoline van, expertly modified to resemble a shaggy dog. (NB: there\u2019s a Lamborghini Diablo in the film, too, but it\u2019s not disguised as a giant dog).\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off, 1986\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a parallel world, director John Hughes would be as revered as Spielberg. Ferris Bueller is one of his best, an escapist fantasia where the guy bunks off school in spectacular style, gets the girl \u2013 and the car… a Ferrari 250 GT Cali Spider. Only it was a replica, created by Modena Design and powered by a Ford V8. The real thing is worth many, many millions. Bueller…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Smokey and the Bandit, 1977\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second only to Star Wars<\/em> at the box office in 1977, this tale of a getaway driver and his trucker friend duelling with the law may as well have taken place in a galaxy far, far away, as that\u2019s what the Deep South looked like here. It\u2019s essentially one long car chase, with a Pontiac Trans-Am (indestructible, obvs), Burt Reynolds in his moustachioed prime and a sheriff called Buford T. Justice. For a while, we all wanted CB radios.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back to the Future, 1985 \u201cAre you telling me you built a time machine\u2026 out of a DeLorean?\u201d Co-writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis initially planned to use a refrigerator for the time machine, but figured that younger audience members might take it too literally. Then it was a device lugged around in the bed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-1758175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1758175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1758175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1758175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1758175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}