Make no mistake, we absolutely love Back to the Future‘s DeLorean time machine, KITT from Knight Rider, The Munsters‘ Koach and Dragula, and all the Batmobiles minus the Joel Schumacher ones. But for this round of cool-cars from the screens both small and silver, we want to hear about your favorites that aren’t the all-time greats. Not the usual suspects, as beloved as they may be. Give us your deep pulls. You know, stuff like this:
From the top, that’s the AMC Hornet James Bond corkscrew-jumps in To Live and Let Die, the Porsche 911 from Death Race (2008), Jim Rockford’s Firebird (performer of TV’s finest J-turns), and the hot-rod Fiat 500 from Lupin III–the directorial debut of Hayao Miyazaki. He’s done a few things.
So watcha got? Whether your picks are over the top (like the Damnation Alley Landmaster included in the top shot), super obscure (like the Italdesign Aztec from Frankenstein Unbound, also in the top shot) or just regular cars that are well-cast, we want to hear about ’em. And throw in some stinkers too, why not. There’s no rules.
See you in the comments!
Also The Antichrist from The Gods Must Be Crazy
Wow, another movie that NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN EXCEPT ME AND YOU.
I loved it up in the tree because they forgot to turn off the winch.
Hey, me three!
I forgot about the winch! Me x 4
I saw it in the (art) theater as a kid! Me old too!
Also me, although I don’t remember the car
One of the best movie out there – I guess there’s at least a half dozen of us that have seen it!
You few are not alone. I come from the 70s and remember the Coke bottle well.
’66 Lincoln Continental George Barris “Deathmobile” from Animal House. The vehicular equivalent to chugging a bottle of Jack 😀
I don’t know if it qualifies as “unusual” but I love the Jaguar E-Type Hearse/Shooting Brake conversion from “Harold and Maude”. I don’t know who built it, but I think it’s beautiful.
https://www.imcdb.org/i006262.jpg
This configuration probably cut the wind resistance of a stock E-Type coupe by 20% or more. I love it!
In a more nihilistic phase of my life I wanted one of these
The bullnose Bronco from Jewel of the Nile, and the Continental hardtop from the first Matrix movie.
Ooo, yes! Ford had a good couple of years there for cool movie cars, because my other favorite was Buckaroo Banzai’s “88 Jetcar”, which was a converted F-150.
Oh, you must mean my leetle mule – Pepe!
Commander Straker’s gullwing interceptor car from the bizarro Gerry Anderson spy-scifi show U.F.O.
I have two: both 2nd-Gen K5s
Charlton Heston’s (custom) Blazer from Earthquake.
Roy Scheider’s Blazer from JAWS is a close second.
Genius picks. As a kid I always loved the scene where Heston foils a car thief/looter because the guy can’t figure out the controls of the Blazer.
Chief Hopper also has a Blazer police car on Stranger Things.
Ooo, I got another one. Vinnie Terranova’s Challenger from Wiseguy, a show that me and three other people have seen.
I’m one of them.
And I’ll raise you Ray’s Vette in Stingray.
Oh, and from Wiseguy I forgot Roger Lococo’s old T-Bird with machine guns and rocket launchers.
Whatever car it is that Popeye Doyle appropriates from a citizen and races an El train with.
A 1971 Pontiac LeMans
Good call. And how about Roy Scheider’s Pontiac Ventura in the connected movie The Seven Ups?
Good movie. But is it connected? I didn’t realize.
Yep! Scheider’s character in each (Buddy Russo in the French Connection, Sonny Grosso in the Seven Ups) is based on the same real-life NYC detective.
Well, I’ll be.
That why Hackman calls his character “Cloudy.” It’s because the real-life character is called “Sonny.”
And the real life cops themselves appear in the French Connection as well, the the dubious police captain who yells at Popeye and one of the feds IIRC.
Mel Tillis & Terry Bradshaw’s NASCAR Cannonball-Run Chevelle. With a trunk full of beer.
I liked Jackie Chan’s 4WD Turbo (and rocket-powered) Subaru DL. Chan was famously contracted with Mitsubishi for all of his Hong Kong movies, so I always wondered how he felt about using a Subaru in Cannonball Run.
I’ve got to give a shout to the dark green 1977/78 Dodge Monaco from the tv series Hunter. I got to drive one of these police package Monacos with a factory 440. It was amazingly fast and handled better than you would think. These Monaco/Fury twins served as police cars and bad guy cars for just about every tv show and movie made in the 80’s. After driving one, it’s easy to understand why stunt drivers liked them so much.
I’d like to know what became of Arabella, the Ford Model A from Nanny and the Professor.
https://thewritelife61.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/image-5.png
I always loved the baby blue Jeep J10 from Tremors
Yes. Me too.
Good call.
When I was a kid we used to play Tremors at the junk yard near my house.
Like “the floor is lava” on old rusty junkers.
All fun and games until…
I’m a big fan of the Jeep-esque vehicle the Heelers have in the kids show Bluey. It definitely has the vibe of a fun adventure vehicle, even though it’s proportions are extra goofy and it’s exactly the sort of family vehicle I don’t promote. Save the vans!
I have young children so this is basically all I watch anymore. That and oddly the first two seasons of Scooby Doo Where Are You.
Edit: Also, as a child who spent a lot of time watching syndicated Columbo episodes while at my Grandmother’s house (with one TV I assure you I had no control over), I always oddly dug his Peugeot 403. Looking back, just a good car/character pairing.
I too love the Heelers’ SUV. Even the color is cool. FYI there is a toy version of it available (in case your kids haven’t already cajoled you into buying it). I’d say it’s roughly 1:32 scale, so it’s not too dinky (or Dinky).
Maybe that Toyota 2000gt from You Only Live Twice. So pretty.
I love the cars in the Godfather.
Never the focus, but always perfectly set the scene.
It’s a shame Sonny’s gorgeous Lincoln got shot to pieces along with him.
Maybe this is too hackneyed, but the P1800S from The Saint (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CV000Y9RNQ)
Also, Professor Fate’s Hannibal 8 from The Great Race (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRGOjNBESeQ)
For something more recent, that sweet, sweet Bronco that Jason Siegel drives in the Apple series “Shrinking” (which is a great series, btw).
The Leslie Special was pretty nice, too, especially with a young Natalie Wood in the passenger seat.
‘And then on Car #5, the engine falls out!’
‘Max, we’re car #5…’
The Hannibal Twin 8 it was! A family favorite movie!
How about Michael Weston’s Charger from Burn Notice. That thing gets shot at, flipped, etc, and they always fix it…
It was sold a few years ago on BaT. Thankfully it seems to have gone to a loving home. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1973-dodge-charger-4/
I’m gonna assume it’s a usual suspect, but if James Bond and Jim Rockford constitute “deep pulls”… 🙂
A 1974 Dodge sedan.
It’s got a cop motor – a 440 cubic inch plant. Car’s got a lot of pickup.
Yeah, but where are you going to get “regular” gas nowadays?
But it’s got cahp shaacks…
You’ll need to fix the cigarette lighter
Thought about mentioning that, but after the end of the film many more repairs were required 🙁
Urban Assault Vehicle from Stripes.
Oldsmobile from Beverly Hillbillies. Somehow I pictured that back when David Tracy announced he was moving to California.
Come and listen to a story bout a man named Dave
Trench foot, shower spaghetti, some folks thought him brave
Then one he day he was just a blogging dude
And up came Torch and a site with attitude
Autopian, that is. Tail lights. Obscure car parts.
Well the first thing you know ol’ Dave took a look round there
Blogfolks said ‘Dave move away from there’
Said ‘Californy is the place you ought to be’
So he loaded up the Jeep then bought a used i3
I should probably apologize to a lot of people for this, but I won’t.
Never apologize for genius.
This is brilliant
This is awesome
Coincidentally I sourced some parts for a GMC Motorhome this morning. It just might fall under “the usual suspects” though depending on your age.
If you are hoarding GM motorhome parts, seek help. If you are restoring or keeping one on the road, I bow to you. I’m not worhty!
Neither, we’re a NAPA store and they needed an A/C compressor and a drier. Although I’ve had an unnatural want for one of these for a few years now.
Ronin. Big, powerful euro-barges. Audi S8, MB 600 SEL, BMW 5 Series. Various Peugeots and Citroens. An XJ Cherokee – in France!
That movie is a masterpiece
A flippin’ Fiat 126p from FLCL.
Sunbeam Tiger from Get Smart.
(Checks name).
Well, other than that, the caddy from ‘license to drive’. Big old boat!!! Perfect car for when you’re sixteen
Yeah, that was awesome…and the Cabriolet
Yes! 1972 Cadillac Sedan deVille. Go ahead and leave the Frank Sinatra in the tape deck as well! It’s funny how when the movie came out in ’88 that Caddy already looked the part of a classic when it was only 16 years old. Somehow the movie wouldn’t be the same if it were made today and the hero car was an ’07 DTS.
Dimension W had a 2000 GT and an LFA which were well represented, but my favorite is still the pre modified 1967 GTO from xXx
Coyote X (aka Manta Montage aka McLaren M6 GTR) from Hardcastle and McCormick.
I loved the rare times they’d actually open the doors, mostly when Brian Keith got older.
Just like how rare it was to see Magnum drive around with the top in place on the 308.
I loved that show. I haven’t seen an episode in decades so I’m sure it hasn’t aged well, but I liked it enough to even record the theme song with my tape deck up against the tv.
The opening credits are on YouTube. Errrr a friend told me they are.
They replaced it with a DeLorean based version later in the series.
Because Brian Keith threatened to quit if they made him get into the original again (or so I heard).
Chuck Norris deove a Thunderbird SC in one of his movies, IIRC.
Much less Judge Hardcastle’s 1964 Corvette Stingray convertible.
And per the rules of ’80s action tv car chases, it was about as fast as a street-legal prototype race car and every bad guy driving whatever boxy sedan they had.