Top 10 Cars in Movies

Rodney 44 Comments

FutureCar.jpgTop 10 lists are always fun ways of starting some discussion on any given topic, and movie related topics are no exception. In the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly, the magazine lists it’s version of the top 10 movie cars.

Now remember, this is just a subjective top 10 list, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Movie Blog… so don’t shoot the messenger here folks if you don’t like the list. Ok, so here’s the top 10 cars in Movies as EW sees it:

1. The Corvette with fangs from Death Race 2000 (1975)

2. The Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

3. The `56 T-Bird in American Graffiti (1973)

4. The Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

5. The “family truckster” station wagon from National Lampoon`s Vacation (1983)

6. The Blues Mobile from The Blues Brothers (1980, left)

7. The time-travelin` DeLorean from Back to the Future (1985)

8. The Mustang GT from Bullitt (1968)

9. The Wagon from Kill Bill — Vol 1. (2003)

10. The titular star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

That’s a pretty good lists. However, I’m not sure how the wagon from Kill Bill got on there or the “family truckster”. Also, how on earth does the Batmobile and Herbie the Love Bug not make this list? Anyway, what are your thoughts? What shouldn’t be on there? What SHOULD be on there?

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44 thoughts on “Top 10 Cars in Movies”

  1. The yellow car driven by the two hot girls in the movie “Cannonball Run” was a 1977 Bradley. It was a conversion kit option available on Voltswagon Beetles from 1971 to 1979 until the Bradley Automotive Co. shut down.

  4. DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE NAME OF THIS MOVIE? IT’S ABOUT A GUY THAT RACES THROUGH HIS TOWN TO SAVE HIS SCHOOL, AND THEY BLOW HIS CAR UP AND AN OLD MAN LETS HIM USE HIS BLACK 1957 CHEVY BEL-AIR TO RUN THE RACE… IT’S A TIMED RACE THAT HATTIN BEEN DONE IN YEARS AND THE OLD MAN WAS THE LAST ONE THAT DONE IT…. HELP…PLEASE…

  5. the first car the girls drove in cannonball run 2 was a lamborghini countach correct, but what about the yellow car seen later in the movie that they drive?

    ~Justin

  6. 1. The 1969 Jaguar transformed into a hearse for “Harold & Maude”

    2. The Mustang in “Innerspace”

    3. The battle truck in “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome”

  7. Its got to be the Mini Cooper in “The Italian Job” for me. Thanks sunnydunny for sharing that list. ;-)

    Although my dad will want the Lotus from “The Spy Who Loved Me”.

    What car was that in the last Bond movie that goes invisible? That seems pretty kewl too.

  9. Hi there.

    The ultimate car movie for me is Christine.The car was built at the pinnicale of American automobile design. I think it represents the American dream of wanting to be the very best, no matter what the cost is. The car is an example of the power and decadance of the 1950’s. Chrisitne simply refuses to die. She will not be killed but is reborn after each attempt to destroy her. Her colour is red which is the most popular colour for car buffs. She is purchased by a guy still in his teens and he manages to fix her up to drive. That was my fantasy as a young man as well. I know lots of people who recall their first cars with love/hate memories. Mostly though the memories tend to be pretty good. Of course the music from the movie is very nostalgic as well. The movie is a thriller but I almost don’t see that side of it. For me it’s about how nice old cars look and are to have once they’re rebuilt to what they were like when they were new. Here are some other movies I would recommend to see.

    Two Lane Blacktop

    Hotrod the movie

    Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry

    Return to Macon County

    American Graffiti 1 and 2 (especially 2)

    Porkys 1 and 2

    These are all American cars and I don’t know how easy it will be to find some of these movies. They are great car movies though. Not much on plot but really great on the car part!!

    Also the movie with McCartneys’ Give My Regards to Broadstreet featuring his flamed Anglia is worth fast forwarding to anyway. lol. That’s my opinion anyway and if nothing else, I’m entitled to it! Hahahaha. Cheers to all and pardon my spelling. Later, Fast Eddie.

  11. Well, that’s good. I guess I’m not that big on Burt! Hahahahha!

    I did, however, find a site that listed some of the cars from Cannonball II.

    1. Gullwing Mercedes

    2. Chrysler Imperial

    3. Cadilliac Seville

    4. Dodge Daytona

    5. Corvette

    6. 1984 and 1981 Trans Am.

    I don’t know how accurate this is. Sorry. I am sure there are others.

    I got to see one of the 1966 Batmobiles last summer at a car show that I was attending.

    This summer at another show, there was one of the General Lee cars.

    You really should see some of those other movies if you get the chance. You can’t know what you’re missing!

    Bye for now and cheers, Fast Eddie.

  12. Eddie that is pretty impressive, thing is most of us wouldn’t know if you were on the level but I take you r word for it on most of them. I’m a little surprised you don’t know the cars from Cannonball 2. Give us a hand on that one.

  13. There were several cars in the Cobra movie (just like in the t.v. series of the Dukes of Hazzard) and Sly owned one for awhile.The fellow that built all of the cars for Cobra, as well as the bikes in Streets of Fire, is currently rebuilding one of those Mercs.

    I agree with some of the cars on the lists but there are others from older movies that are pretty good as well.Along with some already mentioned,how about these?

    1. Paul Mc Cartneys’ hot rod Anglia from Give My Regards to Broadstreet.

    2. Martin Sheens’ Ford coupe from The California Kid.

    3. Yes,Milners’ Duece coupe in American Graffiti.

    4. James Taylors’ ’55 Chevy in Two Lane Blacktop’ which is the same ’55 that Harrison Ford drove as Bob Falfa in American Graffiti.

    5. Gregg Henrys’ ’40 Willys drag racer in Hot Rod.

    6. Nick Nolte and Don Johnsons ’57 Chevy in Return to Macon County.

    7. Yes, Arnies’ Christine the ’58 Plymougth Fury.

    8.Peter Fonda and Susan Georges’ ’69 Charger R/T from Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry.

    9.Yes Harry Dean Stantons’ ’64 Chev from The Repo Man.

    10. Steve Mcqueens’ Mustang from Bullitt.

    11.Sean Connerys’ Aston Martin

    12. Jake and Elwoods’ 1974 Dodge Monaco from the Blue Brothers.

    13.Porky has a 1953 Hudson Hornet in Porkys.

    I hope I’m not the only one here that can remember these. Cheers. Fast Eddie from Canada.

  17. I was stunned — but happy– that British viewers rated the Bullitt Mustang as the greatest movie car of all time. What accounts for this incredible staying power, since that Mustang showed up for just 8 minutes on screen, 37 years ago? BTW, I just drove a virtually identical Mustang across the US in the Great Race (www.greatrace.com), and found that US recognition of the car is high, but I don’t think as high as in the UK. Odd, eh?

    Lew

  19. The best car movie ever has got to be the 1977 bandit trans am. This car did more for a youngmans sex life than we will ever know! heck some one reading this right now may be able to trace their conception back to this car.

  21. Looks like everyone before has completed the list with the exception of 2 more obscure cars, but still should be mentioned.

    The Corvette from Corvette Summer (to be release on DVD this month BTW LOL)

    And the Porsche turned Hearse in Harold and Maude!

  22. Leyland. Much better version. No, I don’t fancy it in pink.

    I would love a Mustang or a Shelby though.

    I wonder what would appear on the top 10 worst cars in movies? Herbie? Chitty? Any BMW? (That’ll get you for the pink comment). No seriously, what would be the worst cars in a movie?

  23. What’s wrong, Richard, didn’t fancy the S2000 in pink?

    Oh, BTW, forgot to be specific on The Italian Job, it’s the 1969 British Layland, not the 2003 BMW.

  24. Actually that’s a pretty good list. Ronin, Christine, Italian Job, 60 Seconds of rubbish…how could we have forgotten the Cannonball Run?!

    Oh, and why is the S2000 only noticed on 2Fast2Furious2Bad? The black version on the first movie was much better. Humph. Nurburgring blue is a much nicer colour anyway.

  25. Sky√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s top 30, as voted by Sky viewers. Now, remember, Sky viewers are in the main the British public, so when you ask for their favourite movie car they may see just “movie”, “movie with a car” or even “car chase”. So not all results are individual cars. Now I don√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t know my 1998 Ford Fiesta from my 1998 Mazda 121 (actually I do, it√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s the same car) so don√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t go flaming me on specific years and models if I didn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t pick the full spec up from Sky.

    30

    Vanishing Point

    1970 Dodge Challenger

    29

    Grease

    Grease Lightning (whatever it was)

    28

    Ronin

    The car chase with the Audi S8, BMW M5 and Pug 406

    27

    Pretty Woman

    Lotus Esprit

    26

    The Car

    1959 Mk 3 Lincoln

    25

    The Rock

    Chase with the Hummer & Ferrari 355

    24

    Ghostbusters

    Converted 1959 Cadillac Miller Meteor ambulance

    23

    xXx

    1967 GTO

    22

    American Graffiti

    Cast of hundreds. Notable guest choices: White 1956 Ford Thunderbird, yellow 1932 Ford Hot Rod

    21

    The Fast and The Furious

    Dodge Challenger

    20

    The Living Daylights

    Aston Martin V8

    19

    Christine

    1958 Plymouth Fury

    18

    Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

    Ferrari 250 GT California

    17

    Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

    Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

    16

    Thelma & Louise

    Ford Thunderbird

    15

    Blues Brothers

    Bluesmobile, Dodge Police car

    14

    Austin Powers

    Shaguar, E-Type Jaguar

    13

    The Spy Who Loved Me

    Lotus Esprit

    12

    Starsky and Hutch

    Ford Gran Torino

    11

    Mad Max

    1973 Ford Falcon

    10

    The Love Bug

    Herbie, VW Beetle

    09

    Cannonball Run

    Varied cast, no notable guest mentions

    08

    Batman

    Batmobile

    07

    Smokey and The Bandit

    Pontiac Trans Am

    06

    2 Fast 2 Furious

    Varied cast, notable mentions include all Japanese imports, 1970 Dodge Challenger, and the pink Honda S2000

    05

    The Italian Job

    Mini Cooper S

    04

    Gone in 60 Seconds

    Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500

    03

    Goldfinger

    Aston Martin DB5

    02

    Back to the Future

    DeLorean

    01

    Bullitt

    Ford Mustang 390 GT

  27. I agree with dave, “the last of the V-8 interceptors” that phrase still sends a chill up my spine. Mad Max was, and still is, a great and awesome movies, the man who decided to destroy the intercptor in the second should have all sorts of htings done to his nether regions.

    The ’64 chevy malibu… from 1983’s ‘the repo man.” I totally agree with you there Darren, I’m actually surprised any one thought of that car. I also have to agree with BenW, The ecto-1 should be on here. I still remember that car fro mthe movies and the cartoon series growing up.

    I’d like to give my own car for the list, The Corvette Stingray from a little movie from the 80’s starring Mark Hamil called ‘Corvette Summer’. If you havne’t seen it, your not a fan of car movies.

    Another, the red Lotus from If Looks Could Kill was interesting, it was a semi-bond remake. Kind of a what if, if an american student going to france to pass his french class and graduate high school were mistaken for the cia’s top government spy.

    The Silver Corvette From Never too Young to Die, well, not actually the corvette, the entire movie. It’s another american spy movie. Starring the guy who played Uncle Jessie with the olsen twins, Vanity, and the Lead singer of the band KISS.

    I Can’t remember it, But a White Dodge Charger, it’s from an old movie. It’s the title i can’t remember.

  29. Re Sky’s top 30:

    Sure, Richard, I’ll post them here for those with “Council telly”. Might not get through them all tonight though, but will be Sky+ing it.

  34. I second the Mad Max offering.

    The new Batmobile

    DeNiro’s RV in “Meet The Fockers”

    Harold’s Camry in “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” — just think of what that car had to go through.

  35. Best movie cars?

    Here’s the ones I agree with:

    The Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit

    The `56 T-Bird in American Graffiti

    The Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me

    The Blues Mobile from The Blues Brothers

    The time-travelin` DeLorean from Back to the Future

    The Mustang GT from Bullitt

    All good choices. But yeah, Herbie’s left off the list. The omission of Christine is also questionable, as is any car featured in The MadMax/ Road Warrior movies.

    But here’s my nitpicks:

    The ’64 Chevy Malibu…from 1983’s “Repo Man”.

  36. I’m with disorderly and Gohatto66. The Aston Martin, although it was a Vanquish, not a 5.

    Still, I’m a big fan of the Mustang GT from Bullitt – what a car, and what a scene.

    But where is the Honda S2000 GT from Fast and the Furious?!…not being biased, but that car rocks!

  38. I nominate “Mad” Max Rockatansky’s death machine from Mad Max (1979). When Max showed up with that beast, the balance of power changed abruptly.

    Barry, MFP Garage Mechanic: [describing the customized pursuit car’s supercharged engine] “She’s meanness put to music and the bitch is born to run!”

    Herbie has its own franchise, which counts for a lot, but Max’s nameless machine at least helped start a franchise.

    The problem with the Batmobile is that you’ve got to say which Batmobile. If the 2005 Batmobile is allowed in the contest its sheer coolness should take it to the top or at least number two position after the time-travelling DeLorean from Back to the Future. But I think the 2005 Batmobile should really be classified as a light armoured vehicle.

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