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?
ALL Nouvelle Vague movies. All.
Lets mention the Yugos being part of some movies. The one in “Dragnet” as some sort of downgrade for the cops Pep Streebeck and Joe Friday. And all the Yugos driving around in “Drowning Mona” being a rather wird part of the whole movie.
Nick drives a wonderfully on-point orange one that barely works in “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”. Norah will eventually drive it into a fire hydrant.
* The Harts’ yellow R107 (Hart 2 Hart)
* John Wick’s ’69 Mustang
* Eddie Murphy’s Porsche in 48 Hours
* Danny Glover’s Eldorado in Switchback
* The miscellaneous background cars in Dark City, notably the DS
* The Professional (the OG 1981 movie, not Leon) features a ton of hilarious tiny shitboxes in spirited car chases
* Grace Kelly’s Sunbeam in To Catch a Thief. Classy, rare, beautiful.
“The Harts’ yellow R107 (Hart 2 Hart)”
Little known fact – The Yellow over Brown 450SL belonged to one of the production crew, and was pressed into service for that intro reel.
Oddly enough – Robert Wagner also owned the Ferrari 250GT Series II Cabriolet used in “The Pink Panther” prior to production, when it was pressed into service (and written into the script) for the film.
The worst part for me was how Jonathan totals the Ferrari in the pilot, and despite seeing it every week in the opening credits, we never see it again on the show!
Yes – Except it wasn’t a Ferrari…
…the 246GTS is a Dino.
Interesting!
Another “let’s use a car owned by the staff” story: AFAIK the 450SEL 6.9 in Ronin is the director’s own car.
The RR Silver Cloud that was sent to the bottom of the lake in “A View to a Kill”?
That was Cubby Broccoli’s personal car.
I’m surprised no one else mentioned it, but The Muppet Movie got the cars right. Particularly Fozzie’s Studebaker Commander. A bear in his natural habitat!
I am surprised I am the first one to mention this, but the car casting in The Office is masterful. Jim’s Saabaru has been mentioned, but once he and Pam have a kid they end up with a Subaru Outback which is also pretty appropriate for a family that wants something safe for their kid but still a bit interesting.
Other great car casting on the series includes:
-Michael Scott’s PT Cruiser convertible, later replaced by a Sebring convertible. The cars are exceedingly mediocre, but he gets to be the Cool Boss Driving a Convertible so it makes him incredibly happy and he has no clue how monumentally uncool the cars are.
-Dwight Schrute’s Firebird. As he said, it’s a traditional symbol of masculinity, but it’s also remarkably mechanically reliable and 100% American (for better and worse).
-Andy’s X-Terra is a perfect embodiment of someone who WANTS to be seen a certain way through his car. He thinks the X-Terra makes him more manly and attractive to women, and he immediately ditches it for a Prius once he starts trying to woo Angela and show that he’s sensitive and thoughtful.
-Kelly’s Hyundai Accent and Erin’s Ford Contour are pitch perfect “I need a car to get me to and from work and I don’t care about it” cars. Erin’s old Contour in particular just feels RIGHT for Pennsylvania.
-Bob Vance’s Yukon is exactly what the owner of a moderately successful HVAC company would drive. Not the Denali, since that’s too ostentatious, but he’s definitely as many options as can fit into the non-Denali trim.
Good one! And Stanley’s 300C, and Todd Packer’s C6, and Angela’s Caddy after she started dating the (state) senator! Damn, all these cars are well cast:)
Packer is a big WIlliam Hung fan.
There are even more not mentioned here!
Pam’s Yaris – the perfect “cute” car for a young single person
Katy’s mk4 Jetta – Even Pam said “what a cute car”, this is the perfect “hot girl” car of the time
I’m sure there are more I’m not thinking of, but great car casting overall
Louie’s Lincoln in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.
Maybe someone else has said this, but Columbo pulling his unnamed bassett hound out of a crummy 1960 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet was perfect.
https://columbophile.com/2022/02/13/the-10-coolest-columbo-cars-of-the-70s/
I always love the backstory, that Peter Falk chose that Peugeot himself from basically an overflow lot of cars at the studio. Apparently, it didn’t even run at that point, so they had to get it functional enough so it could be used in the show.
Always thought the maroon ’73 BMW 2002 driven by Brian in Backdraft was an interesting choice. At the time it would’ve been almost 20 years old, and the slightly fussy BMW (which wouldn’t start in one scene) seemed to be a good fit for someone attempting to find their place in life.
As an additional point to Mike’s Fifth Avenue, he may well have driven Dodge Diplomat squad cars in his prior life as a cop, and gravitates to the Chrysler variant out of familiarity (and possibly because its police car strengths translate to his Breaking Bad work).
As one small point, I love the Vauxhall Amperas popping up in the background of The World’s End (all of Edgar Wright’s stuff has decent car casting).
So many shows and movies featured great vehicle casting. Would any other car have captured the pure evil and sinister spirit of the 1958 Plymouth Fury from Christine? The car exudes a very menacing look and was a perfect choice, especially in the devilish red color.
Dalton’s 1987 Mercedes 560 SEC and 1965 Buick Riviera also come to mind. I believe they invoke the two sides of the main character. The MB is classy, refined, powerful, and stylish. The Riviera is old school, has a bit of a history and is rough around the edges, but will get the job done. As an added bonus, the only prerequisite for Dalton before buying the Riviera was making sure the clamshell lights worked. Classic!!
Brad Wesley’s Fox Body Mustang convertible is also a shockingly good choice for the character. This after all is a villain who has a henchman with a lifted monster truck.
I always imagined he borrowed the Mustang from his son because it didn’t fit the age group by the time I watched the Movie.
The unfortunate blue Reliant Regal Supervan from Mr. Bean is perfectly suited for its role.
Lumberg’s 911 SC in Office Space – I love how he walks around and admires it after parking.
And finally, pretty much every car from Dazed and Confused.
Linklater likewise filled Everybody Wants Some! with pitch-perfect cars for 1980.
This is probably the first and only time I have a good response to a question like this.
1971 Ford LTD Brougham from the Movie Quicksilver. Talk about menacing? Several points in this movie where this old Ford was inches from ending the “Six degrees of Kevin Bacon” game before it ever got started!
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Jim Halpert driving a Saabaru in the office. Jim always had a “I’m too cool for this job” vibe in the pre wedding story arch. Of course he drove the Saab that was too cool to be a subaru.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DunderMifflin/comments/eljrla/never_forget_that_jim_halpert_drove_a_saab_with_a/
Robert McCall’s Jaguar XJ6 in the OG “The Equalizer” series in the 80s.
Kent’s yellow Citroën DS in “Real Genius.”
Uncle Junior’s black 2nd-gen Lincoln Town Car in “The Sopranos.”
Great call on the Equalizer. It was the perfect choice for Robert McCall – stylish and action-oriented, but mature and er, older.
Robert Redford’s 912 in Spy Games. Right because it’s so precise and so close to wrong. A newer 911 would have been an easy but terrible choice, but a 912 just fits the international man of mystery on a GS-14 budget. Made me lust after 912 for years afterwards. Years that include this one.
Car castings that don’t make sense always bug me. For example, the Karmann Ghia in ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer’ is totally a “look at the cool car!” moment, not because it makes sense for a poet in SF to have that car.
There are a couple that I can think of:
1979 Renault 5 from Dude Where’s my Car? You don’t know what the car is going to be for most of the movie, and when you do see it, it’s “yeah, that makes sense.”
The Mini from The Bourne Identity. It’s kinda perfect as the beat up car to commute around Paris. Also fits down stairs.
The 1973 Chevy Malibu from Drive. Gosling even restored it for the movie because he thought it was perfect for the character. It’s also the earliest car my parents had that I remember really liking, so I’m biased.
The Mini chase of the first Bourne is one of my favorites among “non-car-movie” car chases. The qualities of small and nimble Mini are used well and the whole scene is realistic and gritty in the right way with no videogame-like CGI bullshit.
Driver’s Malibu is right up there for me with Kowalski’s Gran Torino – purposely-chosen non-hero cars. As in, easy but wrong to go with something pop-culture iconic.
In the novel, Driver originally has a late ’60s Ford Galaxie 500, which also fits.
In the 2008 Speed Racer movie one of the drivers shows up to a red carpet event in his street car, a Faralli & Mazzanti Antas V8. Most everyone would assume it’s made-up car like almost everything else in the movie, but it’s actually real. It’s also an incredibly obscure and rare car and whoever tracked one down for a 2 second appearance must’ve been a very dedicated car nerd. It would’ve been way easier to get something like a TVR or just whip up another CGI design.
http://imcdb.org/i191926.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/1b/7b/4a1b7b54052ea674782beb9beeb6f0b2.jpg
I’ll copypaste what I wrote at imcdb years ago: Ted Wheeler’s ’84 Pontiac G-body Bonneville in Stranger Things.
We only see it parked by the house in a few scenes but it suits him perfectly. I’d like to think the salesman showed him a 6000STE but he’s not ready to move on from the Brougham Era yet, and won’t be for several years to come. But even though he could probably afford something like that Lincoln the neighbors across the street have (it’s mentioned he makes a 6-figure salary in 1985), he’s just not that flashy. And if you know what a Pontiac Bonneville had been 20 years before, it adds an element of “I-used-to-be-cool” to his character.
JR Ewing’s Mercedes-Benz astral silver 450SEL (not the green 280SE from the “Dallas” pilot), Bobby Ewing’s signal red 450SL, and Jock Ewing’s silver Lincoln Continental Mark V.
Blofeld’s Mercedes-Benz Grosser 600 Pullman in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and “Diamonds are Forever”
McGarrett’s triple-black 1968 Mercury Park Lane in “Hawaii Five-Oh”
Bill’s (Alan Alda) China Blue Mercedes-Benz 450SL in “California Suite”
Police Commissioner McMillan’s dark blue early 70’s Lincoln Continentals in “McMillan and Wife” – as well as Sally’s mustard yellow MG-TD.
Mary Richards’ Mustang Grande in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”
The cocaine-white Countach in “Wolf of Wall Street”
Benjamin’s Alfa Romeo Duetto Spyder in “The Graduate”
Sir Charles Litton’s (Aka: The Phantom) grey 1960 Ferrari 250GT Series II Cabriolet in “The Pink Panther”
Audrey Hepburn’s red Autobianchi Eden Roc in “Charade”
Crowley’s 1933 Bentley 3 1/2 litre in “Good Omens”
From the TV show Simon & Simon, Rick’s Dodge Power Wagon.
48 Hours, the Porsche and the Caddy.
In the 1993 movie “Fearless,” the 1980s or 1990s Volvo Jeff Bridges used to demonstrate to Rosie Perez she was not responsible for the death of her toddler by crashing the Volvo into a brick wall at speed was a spot on vehicle choice.
The movie is pretty heavy, and I’m not sure if the director and screenplay author meant “Fearless” as an argument for our existence as being preordained, a human’s capacity for self-delusion, an exploration of grief or the structural integrity of circa-1990 Volvos. Either way, I bought whatever Jeff Bridges was selling in that movie.
Oz Cobb’s Maserati Ghibli in The Penguin suits him perfectly.
Someone once said, “Maserati is what poor people think rich people drive”, and Oz coming from very little means and promising his mom fancy clothes, a penthouse, etc means driving a Maserati is exactly the kind of career goal a wannabe gangster would have. The Ghibli in particular is outdated, unreliable, fairly powerful, but flashy: exactly like The Penguin.
and, “technically, it’s plum.”
Smokey and the bandit. Pick any car. It was perfectly cast, plus the truck.
Bob Belcher’s Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare station wagon in Bob’s Burgers. A struggling car for a struggling man.
The Ford F-150 in Mr. Majestyk. The pickup version of Charles Bronson.
The Belchers’ car is truly appropriate. It’s a car that costs them a lot of money to keep running, but they never have enough spare cash to get anything better so it just contributes to them barely scraping by.