Movies are often distinguished by certain attributes. Busby Berkeley movies had complex musical numbers, Esther Williams movies had synchronized swimming, and George Lucas movies had horribly written dialogue. But as singular and iconic as those attributes are, none of them are as immediately recognizable as a famous car.
Not every movie with a car in it will become famous, but cinema history has shown that if your movie has one that’s iconic and recognizable enough, it will help your movie get remembered long after it’s left the theaters. Can you identify the movie by the iconic cars we’ve listed here?
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1. DeLorean DMC-12
This DeLorean DMC-12 isn’t just hideously ugly – when modified, it can transport a kid in a down vest to a past where he has the opportunity to disrupt time and history.
Image Credit: Kevin Abato / WIkipedia.
Answer: ‘Back to the Future’ (1985)
“’Back to the Future” was the one and only movie ever made that could find a practical use for this ridiculous-looking car that some poor, misguided souls out there actually bought. Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, uses it to travel through time and teach the teenage version of his nerdy, nebbishy father how to punch bullies.
Image Credit: Universal Studios / Imdb.
2. 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback
This 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback embarked on a famous chase through the streets of San Francisco, inspiring many cinematic car chases thereafter.
Image Credit: Thesupermat / Wikipedia.
Answer: ‘Bullitt’ (1968)
Today, Steve McQueen’s “Bullitt” chase scene has been topped by many movies, but without the original, it’s hard to imagine movie car chases at all. Prior to “Bullitt,” car chases simply didn’t turn up in movies as frequently as they do now, and even if there have been better, faster, and more chaotic ones since, none of them would have happened without the original.
Image Credit: IMDb.
3. Aston Martin DB5
This Aston Martin DB5 was featured in this “shocking, positively shocking” espionage movie.
Image Credit: Georg Sander / FLickr.
Answer: ‘Goldfinger’ (1964)
“Goldfinger” is considered one of the best James Bond movies ever made, and indeed it’s where a lot of the Bond franchise’s gadgets originate. This is perhaps true of nothing more so than the Aston Martin that Sean Connery’s Bond drives in the movie, and which appeared elsewhere in the franchise throughout its history.
Image Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. / IMDb.
4. Mini Cooper S
This Mini Cooper S never hit your eye like a big pizza pie, but it did feature prominently in a heist movie that takes place in the country where pizza comes from.
Image Credit: Gregory Moine / Wikipedia.
Answer: ‘The Italian Job’ (1969) (2003)
In “The Italian Job,” three Mini Coopers are used by Michael Caine and his criminal compatriots in a heist and a high-speed getaway through Turin. It was remade in 2003 with Edward Norton, Charlize Theron, and Mark Wahlberg, and while it’s vastly inferior to the original, the filmmakers at least knew to leave well enough alone and keep the Mini Coopers in the new version.
Image Credit: IMDb.
5. 1961 Ferrari 250GT California Spyder SWB
This 1961 Ferrari 250GT California Spyder SWB spends most of the movie that it appears on being used on an unauthorized joyride through the streets of Chicago.
Image Credit: Accord14 / WIkipedia.
Answer: ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986)
John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is about a high school student who stays home sick from school. Here’s the thing – he’s not actually sick! Rather, he uses his absence from school to enlist two of his chums to tool aimlessly around the Windy City, and much of this tooling around happens in this Ferrari.
Image Credit: IMDb.
6. 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Ambulance
This 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Ambulance was instrumental in defeating paranormal phenomena that plagued one of America’s great cities during its Ed Koch years.
Image Credit: mark6mauno / FLickr.
Answer: ‘Ghostbusters’ (1984)
Okay, so maybe the car itself didn’t do anything. However, if it hadn’t transported the hard-working and industrious team of Ghostbusters in the movie of the same name to the site of various paranormal phenomena, millions of innocent people may have been killed by the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man, so kudos to you, 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Ambulance!
Image Credit: IMDb.
7. 1948 Ford De Luxe Convertible
This 1948 Ford De Luxe Convertible was the subject of a musical number that caused permanent injury to one of the castmates in this ridiculously popular movie musical.
Image Credit: Different_Brian / iStock.
Answer: ‘Grease’ (1978)
In the movie “Grease,” a 1948 Ford De Luxe Convertible was retrofitted to become Grease Lightning, which was also the name of the musical number. Dedicated fans of the movie may know that during the filming of this number, actor Jeff “Kenickie” Conaway hurt his back, causing him a lifelong injury from which he never recovered.
Image Credit: IMDb.
8. 1958 Plymouth Fury
This 1958 Plymouth Fury does the bidding of a nerdy teenager by bringing gruesome deaths to the bullies who torment him.
Image Credit: Accord14 / WIkipedia.
Answer: ‘Christine’ (1983)
The 1958 Plymouth Fury was the title character in the 1983 horror movie “Christine.” A demonically possessed car, Christine is only too happy to visit grisly fate upon anyone who bullies her teenage owner, but then the car also starts having problems with anyone who happens to be in the kid’s life, including his girlfriend. Doesn’t Christine know about that whole “if you love someone set them free” thing?
Image Credit: IMDb.
9. 1966 Ford Thunderbird
This 1966 Ford Thunderbird brought the two title characters in this 1991 movie on the road trip to end all road trips – in fact, the title characters never go on another road trip after this one.
Image Credit: Cars Down Under / Flickr.
Answer: ‘Thelma & Louise’ (1991)
In “Thelma & Louise,” two best friends, played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, go on a road trip that turns into an outlaw flight from the authorities. We don’t want to give the ending away but suffice to say that thanks to this car and the decisions undertaken by the lead characters driving it, there could be no “Thelma & Louise II: Electric Boogaloo.”
Image Credit: IMDb.
10. 1977 Pontiac Trans Am ‘Special Edition’
This 1977 Pontiac Trans Am ‘Special Edition’ was the vehicle of choice for an iconic actress and some other dude in this very popular road movie.
Image Credit: Sicnag / Wikipedia.
Answer: ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ (1977)
Sally Field stars alongside Burt Reynolds in “Smokey and the Bandit,” one of the most popular movies of the 1970s. Reynolds plays a bootlegger on the run from a sheriff played by Jackie Gleason, and for whatever reason that premise was enough to pack theaters for months at a time during the 1970s.
Image Credit: IMDb.
11. 1963 Volkswagen Beetle
This 1963 Volkswagen Beetle was the titular vehicle in this family-friendly comedy.
Image Credit: Public Domain / Wikipedia.
Answer: ‘The Love Bug’ (1968)
In the 1960s, the Volkswagen Beetle was a very popular car, and it makes sense that a self-contained pop culture phenomenon on wheels should have been the subject of its own movie. This is what happened with Disney’s “The Love Bug,” which featured a Beetle named Herbie, who follows a guy home at one point, something that was not considered stalking at the time.
Image Credit: IMDb.
12. 1964 Chevrolet Malibu
This 1964 Chevrolet Malibu may not have been much to look at, but it was very popular with several residents of Los Angeles whose lives are always intense.
Image Credit: IMDb.
Answer: ‘Repo Man’ (1984)
Emilio Estevez plays a punk rocker named Otto in the cult classic movie “Repo Man.” After his hippie parents give away all of their money to a television church in order to send bibles to El Salvador, Otto takes a job as a repossession agent and hunts for a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu with a curiously high price attached to it. Could extraterrestrial activity be involved?
Image Credit: IMDb.
13. This 1974 Dodge Monaco Was Not a Looker.
This 1974 Dodge Monaco was also not much to look at, but it brought two brothers safely through various intense pursuits in the greater Chicago area.
Image Credit: DowntownMe / Wikipedia.
Answer: ‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980)
In “The Blues Brothers,” Jake and Elwood Blues are reunited after Jake’s release from prison, and Elwood picks his brother up in the “Bluesmobile,” a 1974 Dodge Monaco otherwise known as a former police car. After demonstrating the car’s roadworthiness, the brothers spend the next two-plus hours of screen time causing every type of car crash imaginable, and when the movie was released in 1980, it set a record for the most cars ever destroyed in a single film.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
Image Credit: IMDb.
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