Many actors claim playing a villain in a film is much more fun than starring as the protagonist. “Bad guys” tend to have more interesting personalities, and this nature trickles down to the cars they drive on screen.
Almost without exception, the evil characters in movies have exceptional taste in cars. Unlike flicks where the vehicles themselves are possessed by the devil such as Stephen King’s Christine or the silly film The Car, these villain mobiles are essentially innocent bystanders. Still, the cars tend to take on this evil by association.
There’s nothing inherently nefarious about a Lincoln Mark III, but when driven by the heroin kingpin in The French Connection this black personal luxury coupe takes on a very dark image. The French license plates (and possibly French-mandated yellow headlights under the covers) only adds to this mystery of how this thing even got there.
For a ubiquitous, Camry-like Bad Guy Car you simply can’t beat a Mercedes, particularly a W126 sedan in black. Hell, even guy-you-love-to-hate JR Ewing drove one on Dallas. You can’t forget Eddie Murphy chasing one in Beverly Hills Cop:
Big Benzes also featured prominently in the Lethal Weapon movies, including a chase with a black Sacco masterpiece in the fourth installment:
My favorite car-and-villain pairing of all time? I simply can’t think of a better one than David Carradine’s character in Kill Bill and his ride of choice: A DeTomaso Mangusta.
This untamed beast with a Ford 351 Cleveland in back was a car that made Ferraris look like dainty little kiddie cars. Raw, iron fist performance under a beautiful but sinister-looking glove.
Enough of my Bad Guy Machines. What are some of your favorites?
Well, he was a TV villain, but Capt. Bernard Manzini in My Mother, the Car had quite a fleet
1916 Baker Electric Brougham, 1914 Stutz Bearcat, 1910 White Model GA Tourer, 1917 Renault Type EU roadster, 1945 MG TC Midget, Renault Type CB Sedan de Ville, makes you wonder exactly what he did for money, as an eccentric Italian-American car collecting villain in southern California. Granted, they were all cheaper back then, but he still had to pay a chauffeur
The flying Pinto wagon driven by the Illinois Nazis in “The Blues Brothers.” Best car for the worst villians.
You may close the comments now.
Hey deathspeed look over there! See it? It’s the point. I didn’t want you to miss it again. LOL
Sorry, but I guess I looked the wrong way because I am missing yours. That car alone is so pedestrian, but flying along the Chicago skyline with Nazi’s professing their love for each other it becomes positively menacing before it leaves a crater in the road. In fact, I’m sure I read on the internet it was the inspiration for Darth Vader’s Executor Star Destroyer in The Empire Strikes Back. Look it up! 🙂
Amazingly, it didn’t magically transform into the MPC 1/25 scale model kit when it took to the air.
The Mangusta could not have been more perfect as ‘Bill’s’ conveyance. The first time I saw the film I was absolutely blown away by how perfectly the car fit the character. The mangusta’s handling was known to be evil, so did that mean that only the Malevolent Bill was able to become its master and exploit its nefarious traits? I’d like to think so.
The fact that the mangusta (mongoose) is one of the few mammals immune to snake poison makes it perfect for Bill to chase a black mamba
Goldfinger’s Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville by Barker is the best.
Count Olaf’s Tatra in a series of unfortunate events is pretty cool as well.
The 6000 SUX from Robocop. Clearly the only people driving those are the bad guys.
https://www.hotcars.com/robocops-car-the-6000-sux-details/
Honorable mention should go to the Dildozer from Idiocracy.
Christine (1958 Plymouth Fury) is my favorite. The movie is decent, some of the practical effects of the car regenerating are genuinely impressive. Perfect choice of car, it even looks sinister. And the book is fantastic, it’s the first King book I ever read, at the age of 11. On the back of the book is a photo of King and a Fury, captioned “Stephen King and friend.” There’s rumors of a more book-accurate movie coming, but they’ve been saying that for over a decade now.
I read that book when I was about the same age, absolutely loved it. And I remember thinking that pic on the back with that caption was so cool.
I just watched a fairly new remake of Salem’s Lot, and Christine makes a brief cameo.
I noticed that in the Salem’s Lot remake too! She also has a cameo in the second season of Castle Rock. And in the book IT as well, giving a ride to adult Henry Bowers.
Ooh, I’ll have to watch Castle Rock, I haven’t gotten around to it. I don’t recall that part in IT, it’s been SOOO long since I’ve read that. Very cool, I love how he ties things together and leaves little easter eggs for fans. I was watching Salem’s Lot with my GF and her sister, they’re not big fans so I explained how some of them tie in together.
I literally just read one of his short stories yesterday where one of his characters remembers watching the movie Christine, so it’s funny we’re having this conversation today. He does a lot of tying things together when it comes to anything happening in Maine, even outside Castle Rock.
Speaking of King cars, if you haven’t read Needful Things, you totally should. There’s a Tucker in it!
Blofeld’s Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and “Diamonds Are Forever”
And Goldfinger’s 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III Sedanica de Ville.
And if henchmen count (after all, the Villain would have bought the cars for henchmen to use) the 1964 Lincoln Continental sedan (which magically became a 1963 Continental, sans engine, when the claw came down) in “Goldfinger”.
The Hannibal 8 from “The Great Race.” Jack Lemmon was perfect.
One bad guy car that stuck in my head was the TVR Tuscan Speed Six in Swordfish (saw it shortly after it came out). I knew nothing about TVR, but I was smitten by the car.
That’s a good now-forgotten ’00s movie. Travolta at his smarmy best and I loved his bit with constantly referencing old movies. The opening scene where he discusses the plot holes in Dog Day Afternoon has such great build as the camera slowly pulls out. And one of the better uses of then-overdone bullet time.
You nailed it, Travolta was good in those roles, he seemed to relish it.
Do D-8s count?
https://youtu.be/bOb2BqiGZGA?si=HlIqZtbNFTyTYc6k
I’m hogging the stage, I know (second post). I’ll see myself out.
Pretty much every one of the gangs’ cars in The Warriors.
https://www.imcdb.org/m80120.html
The best has to be the Turnbull AC’s bus. I feel Mercedes would agree with me here.
https://youtu.be/G7mAfvJaI7Q?si=b8VuWMJ8B3t5yNd7
1966 Chevrolet Impala 4-door from “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry” 1974
…if you consider Crazy Larry a villain, of course.
Well… he did drive it in a robbery…
Am I mistaken, or has no one mentioned the Jaguar C-X75 from Spectre?
We don’t mention Spectre in polite company.
So you’re saying it’s perfectly appropriate to bring it up here, right?
Not in front of myself or Matt. Those other mannerless herberts, knock yourself out.
Hate to be a pedant, but the Mangusta never came with a Cleveland; 289 or 302 only. The Pantera came with the 302,351 Cleveland and 351 Windsor engines.
Whatever the amalgamation of animated vehicles is the hero car in The Bad Guys, it friggen rips in that opening chase scene. And yes, I’m qualifying it as a villain car based on the movie title.
Goliath from Knight Rider was the scariest vehicle (technically a semi-truck) I ever saw as a kid.
The Jim Belushi flick, “The Principal.”
The bad guy, Victor, had a sweet, purple Impala. ‘68 I think. Also did I mention it was purple?
Nice deep cut. I always remember Belushi’s Honda Shadow from it.
With that sweet paint job. El Principal!
Gus Fring’s Volvo.
Agreed! That show had great car casting…. but that was probably the best.
Fantomas’ flying Citroën DS
I am going to throw out a video game one and says Cross’ C6 Corvette pursuit car from Need for Speed Most Wanted.
Black R55 Mini Cooper Clubman or Ferrari Mondial QV…..
Bob Falfa’s ’55 in American Graffiti.
Lumbergh and and the vanity myprshe plates come immediately to mind.
Boss Hogg’s triple white ’69 DeVille.
Was JD Hogg really the villain though? Usually it was some out-of-towners causing trouble, and since Roscoe and his “force” couldn’t handle it, the Duke Boys would take care of things with sticks of dynamite attached to arrows.
If we’re going to be squishy about Boss Hogg, how about the triple white Beetle convertible of his nephew Hughie Hogg?
Or the S2 Bentley (with a RR Grille to make us believe it was a Silver Cloud) he bought his wife, Lulu, in one episode – which was crushed by the Duke boys.
…what other differences were there?
To be fair, Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane were really more antagonists than they were bad guys. You are correct, the actual bad guys were usually from somewhere outside Hazzard County.
I seem to remember several who were paramours of Daisy.
But not Riker! He was Daisy’s true love.
Cassanova Frankenstein’s C3 Corvette limo from Mystery Men.