What Are Your Favorite Obscure But Spot-On Castings Of Cars In Film and Television?

It might not surprise you to hear that I have a lot of quirks. One of my wife’s least favorite ones is my inability to remember anyone’s name while at the same time knowing the exact make, model, year, color and option packages of the car that they drive.

Personally, I think that’s a great skill, since cars are the true window to the soul. Based on the vehicle a person owns, I can almost immediately tell if they’re confident or insecure, frugal or deeply in debt (note that I didn’t say “rich” or “poor”, since the painfully rich usually drive crap), and even if they have as many automotive screws loose as me. Let’s face it; if a parent shows up at my kid’s birthday party driving a beat up E90 stick station wagon, who gives a shit what his name is? We’re gonna be best friends.

Thanks to this strange skill of mine, with movies and television I’m a really harsh critic of car casting, particularly in smaller, supporting roles. Some get it just right while others flub it. Here’s some examples:

The show Breaking Bad really deserved some kind of award for car casting. The producers barely made any missteps, with the possible exception of Skylar’s Jeep Grand Wagoneer which is a bit too much of a “classic” car for a struggling family to own (a beat-up and worthless ZJ or WJ Grand Cherokee would have been a better choice). Everyone talks about the casting of Walter White’s Aztek as genius, but I think it might be too “niche” and trying too hard to be uncool. No, some of the bit players are better. Like this:

One of the best has to be dirty-deed-doer Mike Ehrmantraut’s black Chrysler Fifth Avenue. As we’ve mentioned before, Chrysler sedans always have an air of menace about them. Black Lincolns or Cadillac sedans are intimidating, but a Chrylser following you means your ass is certain to get kicked. The Volare/Lebaron-based Fifth Avenue is a bit pathetic compared to the Imperials of days past, and the condition is less than steller. That perfectly fits Mike’s character, an older guy that might be a bit past his prime and doing tasks he never thought he would, but sure as shit will get the job done, dammit.

The 1984 film Repo Man is a cult classic that featured the late, great Harry Dean Stanton so you can already guess that it was bizarre. The movie ultimately centered around an old, rather generic car with a strange, other-worldly cargo in the trunk.

The rather colorless 1964 Chevy Malibu was perfect: the kind of ubiquitous, almost-invisible car you’d see plying the streets of early eighties LA. Today, you’d cast a twenty-year-old bronze Camry with faded hood a dented bumper corner in the role.

The rather colorless 1964 Chevy Malibu was perfect: the kind of ubiquitous, almost-invisible car you’d see plying the streets of early eighties LA. Today, you’d cast a twenty-year-old bronze Camry with faded hood a dented bumper corner in the role.

To be honest, I found the lead character in the series Californication a bit insufferable. Hank Moody (played by X-Files actor, JFK Jr classmate and Yale PhD candidate David Duchovny) is a New York writer who moves to California with his family and tries to nurse his writer’s block with a slow descent into booze, drugs, and women. The degrading condition of the once-glamorous car that he purchases on his arrival to LA–a black Porsche 964 Cabriolet–matches the arc of the protagonist.

Like Hank, the car seems to get cooler as the filth and battle scars accumulate; far more so than if it were immaculate with a hokey personalized plate. Also, regardless of appearance both car and character can still function well enough to complete the tasks at hand.

What are similar Emmy- or Oscar-worthy car castings you can think of? Remember, you’re Autopians so forget even thinking about mentioning Bandit or KITT Trans Ams, A-Team Vans, Bluesmobiles, Delorean time machines. Other websites might be good with it but don’t bring that weak shit in here, people!

I’m talking about more obscure selections of vehicles that just perfectly enhance the characters and mesh with their raison d’etre. Don’t be afraid to call out some sacred cows either, like how could Jim Rockford afford new Pontiac Firebirds every year when he rarely if ever got paid for his work? Right?