Cars and movies have always been connected. This is probably because both the film and automotive industries developed around the same time. No matter the reason, some of the greatest movies have featured some amazing cars. While many of them are fanciful contraptions that you could never find at your local dealer, such as Speed Racer’s Mach 5 or the Batmobile, many of these models are ones you can still find for sale, whether at a used car auction or just your local dealership. Best of all, with the advent of streaming services, you can actually watch each of these movies while dreaming of getting behind the wheel of one of these iconic vehicles. For those who enjoyed our survey of songs about cars, here is a follow-up with movies that featured iconic cars.
Vanishing Point (1971): 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
The premise is simple. A wheelman known only as Kowalski, played by Barry Newman, is offered a large sum of money to drive a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. The result is an existential journey in which Kowalski is chased by seemingly every sheriff on the West Coast while being coached by Super Soul, a blind DJ played by Cleavon Little. The producers actually bought five Challengers in Alpine White with a 383-cubic-inch engine and a four-speed manual transmission to play the role of the car.
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971): 1955 Chevrolet 150 and 1970 Pontiac GTO
If there are three things I love, they are movies, music, and cars. Two-Lane Blacktop has all three, along with a pair of incredible motor vehicles. The music is courtesy of two of the film’s stars, singer/songwriter James Taylor and Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson.
Taylor is the driver, and Wilson is the mechanic, driving across America and challenging others to drag races in their ’55 Chevy with a 454-cubic-inch V8. They come up against Warren Oates, who is driving a gorgeous 1970 Pontiac GTO in Orbit Orange. The trio agrees to race across the country to New York City, with the winner getting the other driver’s pink slip. I won’t spoil the ending, but getting there is all the fun.
Gran Torino (2008): 1972 Ford Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood is an icon, an actor and director who has made some of the greatest films. This film about clinging to the past and loss is symbolized by the title car. Eastwood’s character keeps his prized Gran Torino in mint condition. Its powerful 351-cubic-inch Cleveland V8 gas engine made it a muscle car to be reckoned with. However, the widower who owns it keeps it locked inside his garage, rarely taking it out. This metaphor powers the film to the last act, with all of its symbolism.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): 1961 Ferrari GT
Car fans were left shocked when Cameron Frye’s dad’s prized 1961 Ferrari GT was sent spinning out of its showroom in his house and deep into a ravine. The good news is that it wasn’t really a Ferrari. In fact, the film featured three replicas of the classic Ferrari model. They were so good that the guy who built them got sued by the legendary Italian sports car brand. Also, unlike what Ferris tells Cameron, you can’t make an odometer go backward by driving a car in reverse.
Jurassic Park (1993): 1992 Jeep Wrangler
There are few models as iconic as the Jeep Wrangler, and few films as iconic as Jurassic Park. This movie, based on Michael Crichton’s best seller about dinosaurs brought back to life through cloning, featured the main characters trying to outrun a T. Rex in a pair of Jeep Wranglers. Here’s a word of advice. If you are planning to tangle with velociraptors in a Jeep, it’s best to choose one with a hardtop to give you a fighting chance against their sharp claws.
The Love Bug (1968): 1963 Volkswagen Beetle
If you were a kid in the 1970s like me, then this film was a staple of Saturday afternoon movie matinees. The premise is simple. A sentient VW Beetle named Herbie befriends race car driver Jim Douglas, played by Dean Jones, who races it to victory against a series of muscle cars with the help of his mechanic and roommate, Tennessee Steinmetz, played by comedian Buddy Hackett. Sporting a red, white, and blue racing stripe and the number 53, Herbie was an unlikely race car, but it did show how the reliable and affordable VW Beetle was the portent of future cars in America.
Christine (1983): 1958 Plymouth Fury
Who else but Stephen King could take a typical late-fifties sedan and turn it into an object of terror? This 1958 Plymouth Fury features a gorgeous red paint job, a contrasting white roof, and a set of jet-age tail fins. Oh, and it also seems to have been possessed by an evil spirit. That’s just a small detail when driving a vintage car like this, right? Here’s a fun fact: In 1958, the Plymouth Fury was only available in Buckskin Beige with gold trim, not red and white. Stephen King took some artistic license with Christine’s color scheme, and it was the right choice.
The Fast and the Furious (2001): 1970 Dodge Charger R/T
This remake of a popular drive-in movie from the 50s, The Fast and the Furious features some amazing cars, but none can match the Dodge Charger driven by Vin Diesel. This Charger R/T is in dead black and faces a set of modern (for the time) modified import cars. While it ends up wrecked at the end of the film, you can’t keep a good car down. The Charger was brought back for the fourth film in the series, Fast & Furious (2009). I’m just surprised Vin’s last name is Diesel, since this car is a conventional gas-powered car.
Back to the Future (1985): 1981 DeLorean DMC-12
I still remember when the DeLorean DMC-12 first hit the road. With its sleek, stainless-steel exterior and gullwing doors, the DeLorean looked like the vehicle of the future. No wonder why Dr. Emmett Brown decided to equip one with a flux capacitor, making it capable of traveling to the past or the future when the car accelerated past 88 mph while receiving 1.21 gigawatts of electricity. Unfortunately for DeLorean, both the car and the man who created it, this model didn’t last. Production issues, as well as criminal charges against John DeLorean (ultimately dismissed on grounds of entrapment), finished off the brand. You can still find used DeLoreans for sale, but sadly, none include a functioning flux capacitor.
Goldfinger (1964): 1964 Aston Martin DB5
The greatest spy in the world needs a great car. The Aston Martin DB5 is a sleek and stylish British sports car, fitting for a man working in Her Majesty’s Secret Service. However, Q makes sure that James Bond gets more than just a stock sports car. This DB5 has a few little surprises. There are rotating license plates to make it impossible to trace his car, as if everyone driving around Europe in 1964 was in an Aston Martin. He also gets a set of pop-up machine guns in the hood, or as the Brits call it, his car’s “bonnet.” I’m sure the spent shell casings did wonders for the DB5’s finish. The car can also spray an oil slick out of its tailpipe, or is that just the car telling Bond it’s overdue for an oil change? The tire slashers on the wheels come in handy when someone parks too close to Bond’s car. The final detail, a front passenger ejector seat, is something that can come in handy on a bad blind date. This DB5 started a run of Bond and other spies getting specially equipped sports cars.
Smokey and the Bandit (1977): 1977 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition (Y82)
This is the movie that saved a car. Emblazoned with the Trans Am Firebird logo on the hood, this iconic car came equipped with a powerful 6.6L V8 engine known as the Pontiac 400. This is why the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and Carrie (Sally Field) have no problem outrunning cops and dodging roadblocks while running interference for the Snowman (Jerry Reed) and his truckload of Coors beer. What most viewers today don’t realize is that back in 1977, it was illegal to sell Coors beer east of the Mississippi River, which is why running a truckload to Georgia was such a problem for the Bandit and Snowman.
The movie itself proved so successful that it saved the Trans Am model. Pontiac had introduced it in 1967, but by the mid-1970s, rising gas prices had cut into sales of the Trans Am and other muscle cars that didn’t get the best fuel economy. In fact, the 1977 model run was so low that it sold out quickly after Smokey and the Bandit became a major box office hit, making this car a real collector’s item.
Bullitt (1968): 1968 Ford Mustang GT
One of the most iconic cars from one of America’s leading brands, the Ford Mustang earned its place on this list courtesy of Steve McQueen’s police thriller. Set in San Francisco, Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, played by McQueen, chases after mob hitmen in his Ford Mustang, doing a job on his car’s suspension system by taking the hills of that city with maximum acceleration and little braking. In fact, the 1968 model in Highland Green with its sleek fastback design upstages McQueen, becoming the star of the film. Not to worry, though. McQueen was an experienced race car driver who performed many of the film’s stunts himself. The next time you see Bullitt, keep an eye out for the man behind the wheel, because it is probably Steve McQueen.
This wraps up our survey of the top 12 movie cars of all time. Keep in mind that each one is a real car that you can actually buy at a used dealer or vintage car auction. However, your DeLorean DMC-12 won’t have a flux capacitor, and we’re pretty sure the Aston Martin DB5 will not have pop-up machine guns, at least not operable ones.
