Top 10 Movie Cars

With Pixar’s “Cars” ready to pull into theaters nationwide, we got to thinking about our favorite movie cars. It was a long list, with roughly 100 entries. We gathered votes. We argued. We made snide remarks. Finally, we pared down the list and came up with our Top 10 Movie Cars. Lest you think we aren’t interested in fair and balanced coverage, we also included our picks for the five worst.

 

No. 10  2003 Mini Cooper S, "The Italian Job"

Drivetrain: 163-hp, supercharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with six-speed manual transmission; front-wheel drive

Notable Features: 200 pounds lighter than stock Cooper S; painted red, white or blue

Larger cars would have rubbed fenders with light poles and tunnel walls, but thanks to a nimble fleet of Mini Coopers, a band of conspirators manages to escape captors down congested streets, parks and subway tunnels. (Parks? Mass transit? In Los Angeles?) Computer-rigged signals aid the getaway, stopping cross traffic at red lights. Sounds like California dreaming for drivers.

No. 9  1973 Ford Falcon, "The Road Warrior"

Drivetrain: 300-hp, 5.7-liter V-8 with four-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Hood-mounted air intake, gas tanks in back, dash-mounted shotgun

Maybe if Max Rockatansky drove a more fuel-efficient car, he wouldn’t have to spend his days scouring the post-apocalypse Australian desert for gas. Of course, then his car wouldn’t be tough enough to take down the marauders he’s after, and we doubt it would have received as many votes. Fortunately, Mad Max’s Falcon police interceptor has all the right goodies: Side exhaust, a supercharger and giant, dust-kicking tires. Gas mileage? Fuggedaboudit.

No. 8  1958 Plymouth Fury, "Christine"

Drivetrain: 305-hp, 5.7-liter V-8 with three-speed automatic transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Rewinding odometer, bending sheet metal, bloodlust for young guttersnipes

Never mind that Christine runs amok all night killing people — voters loved the idea of a self-repairing car. That it’s curvy, red and fast probably helped, too. Still, we would have liked to have seen her kick some bulldozer tail at the end.

No. 7  1959 Cadillac Ambulance, "Ghostbusters"

Drivetrain: 325-hp, 6.4-liter V-8 with two-speed automatic transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Tailfins, flashing lights, sirens, attached ladder

Though it plays a relatively small part in its film, the Ectomobile is the finest medical movie car to date. What it lacks in brute force it makes up in style, with red tailfins, strobe lights and more roof gear than a fire truck. Should there ever be a remake, our pick for the new Ectomobile would be the Dodge Magnum.

No. 6  1968 Ford Mustang GT 390, "Bullitt"

Drivetrain: 325-hp, 6.4-liter V-8 with four-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Fastback roof, higher engine note than the Charger

Never mind the continuity mishaps; Just tell yourself there were a lot of green Volkswagen Beetles in San Francisco that day. The seven-minute chase scene between Frank Bullitt’s Mustang GT 390 and a hit man’s 1968 Dodge Charger is among the best of its kind. Voters gave Bullitt’s car the edge because, in the end, you have to root for the good guy.

No. 5  Batmobile Tumbler, "Batman Begins"

Drivetrain: 340-hp, 5.7-liter V-8 with electronic throttle; electric motor for silent operation; jet engine for jumps

Notable Features: Armor plates all around, voice-guided navigation system, power driver’s seat

Batman’s Tumbler stretches the definition of a car, but voters insisted it belongs on the list. Most vehicles are either nimble or tough, but the Tumbler is both: it vaults between rooftops and charges through barriers. Cops spout ineffectual one-liners, and it turns their cruisers to scrap. The cabin doesn’t look very comfortable, but given the tank-like exterior, it’s a wonder Batman even has a place to sit.

No. 4  1964 Aston Martin DB5, "Goldfinger"

Drivetrain: 282-hp, 4.0-liter six-cylinder with four-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Bulletproof glass, machine guns, incessantly beeping radar screen

Save for the anemic BMW Z3 1.9 in “GoldenEye,” Bond cars are top-notch — the list includes Aston Martins, Bentleys and Lotuses — but voters agreed the champ is the Aston Martin DB5 in “Goldfinger.” Not only is it gorgeous, it outruns and out-gadgets all of its competitors. Plus it gets plenty of screen time with the best Bond, Sean Connery. Any dissenters, of course, are welcome to ride in the “power” passenger seat.

No. 3  1974 Dodge Monaco, "The Blues Brothers"

Drivetrain: 275-hp, 7.1-liter V-8 with three-speed automatic transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks

You usually don’t come out ahead when swapping a Caddy for a Dodge — unless the Dodge has a 440-cubic-inch V-8. The Bluesmobile would be our pick if we had to outrun the better half of Illinois police, not to mention a neo-Nazi outfit and a country and western band. The car falls apart in the end, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a vehicle that could survive “a mission from God.”

No. 2  1961 Ferrari 250 GT, "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off"

Drivetrain: 280-hp, 3.0-liter V-12 with four-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Cherry-red exterior, wire grille, Cameron-sized tonneau compartment

This movie is probably responsible for thousands of teens cutting class to joyride in their father’s car. Of course, none hold a candle to Mr. Frye’s convertible Ferrari. It won votes for all the obvious reasons: It’s red, Italian and bloody fast. If our fathers owned something like this, we’d ditch Econ 101 in a heartbeat to take a spin — especially if Dad didn’t lock the garage. (And yes, we know this was a kit car.)

No. 1  1981 DeLorean DMC-12,"Back to the Future"

Drivetrain: 1.21-gigawatt nuclear/electric hybrid with five-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive

Notable Features: Gull-wing doors, 16-port twin exhaust boxes, Flux Capacitor

This was an overwhelming choice for voters, and why not? Doc Brown’s smoke-spewing DeLorean achieves time travel at 88 mph, thanks to a lithium-powered nuclear reactor and onboard Flux Capacitor. By the end of the first movie, it runs solely on trash — and flies. That’s still futuristic two decades after the movie debuted. Sure, the ignition seems to have some reliability issues, but this car easily won our hearts.

Honorable Mentions:

1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, "Smokey and the Bandit"

The Magical Car, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

1963 Volkswagen Beetle, "The Love Bug"

See our picks for the Top 5 Worst Movie Cars.

Comments

[Keith L. Dick]

No. 9 1973 Ford Falcon, "The Road Warrior"...

After all these years I finally have my answer to what that car was...

Now I can go to my Grave knowing... hehehe

[Bigshow]

Blah! Elanor from "Gone in 60 Seconds" will always be #1 in my heart!

[Bad Angus]

Where's the General Lee? Honestly, I can't decide if it fits under best or worst, so I can't blame you for punting on it...

[Eleanor]

U GUYS R MISSING THE FASTEST MOST BEAUTIFUL MOVIE CAR EVER! I would have given #1 to Eleanor the 1967 Mustang GT500 from Gone in 60 Seconds!

[Steve Bolander]

I had to look twice to realize that the deuce coupe from American Grafitti did not make the list. How can the ultimate hot rod which has spawned thousands of look a likes not rank higher than a trashy "Blues Brothers Car." Here are the cars that should have also made the list, Herbie, the California Kid, Milner's Deuce Coupe, Falfa's 55 Chevy, the bandits trans-am, and how about an honorable mention to some TV movie cars, the phantom truck from "Duel" and the "Munsters" family car and grandpa's coffin on wheels.

Your list was obviously not assembled by car guys, how else do you explain the Italian Jobs mini cooper. tsssss.

[marlon]

your cars sucks why don't you have a sixteen

[JT]

Bullitt was a nice touch. But where is the 427 Shelby Cobra from "Gumball Rally"? Or the Ford GT40 from "A Man and a Woman"?

[...]

where's the audi a8 from the transporter2 or all of those cars in fast and the furious and 2fast 2furious? come on now people!

[hemi]

wtf...what about the challenger from vanishing point????

[Jeff Simons]

you forgot the fastest chicken in the south and the TransAM from Smokey and the bandit.

[King]

Gone in 60 seconds? Per-lease....Fortunately they didn't take cars from bad movies such as gone in 60 seconds (remake) and Fast and furious.My favourite was always the Persuit Special V8 Interceptor from Mad Max.From TV shows it's the black Ferrari Daytona convertible from Miami Vice.

[Audrey]

I will have to agree with the comments on the famous Elanor "Gone In Sixty Seconds"car.I can't believe it didn't make the top 10.

[unhookt]

This article was stolen, verbatim, and reposted on Autospies.com at http://autospies.com/article/index.asp?articleId=7619&categoryId=9

Is this not plagerism?

[Dave T.]

unhookt:
Thanks for pointing that out. Unfortunately what Autospies did was rerun a press release we sent out about the list verbatim and there's a mention of cars.com in the first paragraph. So I'm guessing we can't do much about it even though a link would've been appropriate. Thanks for looking out for us!

[Josh T.]

Fast and the Furious? Bull. Those jap crap cars don't deserve to be on this list, especially being computer generated to go faster than they could. Either of the Eleanors (73 Mustang Mach 1 or 67 Shelby Mustang) would have been fine choices.

[taylor]

ok

[mario]

what about gone in 60 seconds & the fast and furious

[Matt]

If you want a good car for this lineup you'll need the mach 1 mustang from the more action packed original gone in sixty seconds. I also can agree about the cars from the gumball rally. But what about K.I.T.T. And also some of the cars on that list were useless. The italian job. common now. and the Ferrari from Ferris Buellers day off what did that do. I wouldn't remember that car from that movie it was sitting in my driveway.

[AC]

There's one car that's desperately missing though it didn't come out in a theatre but in a show series and I'd have to say was sexier, more mysterious, pleasure to look at than all these put together...not to mention it started my own love for cars. This car is the black monochromatic '65 Corvette Stingray in the mid-eighties show "Stingray". Nothing compares.

[doesnt matter]

General Lee? Eleanor? How about the real batmobile...i think thats a little more popular than that stupid tank. Starsky and Hutch Gran Torino???? Never heard of The Road Warrior or Christine, therefore never heard of or seen those 2 cars, but the Monte Carlo from Training Day was also a pretty sweet car

[Arem UKRAIN]

Back to the future is the best film
DeLorian is the best car

[George]

I would have to add the Vanishing Point Challenger and the Bullitt Charger to the good list. Could also add most of the cars from Gumball Rally and the Chrysler concepts from "The Wraith". The bad list should have the busses from "The Big Bus" and "The Gauntlet" as well as the van from "Barb Wire".

[malvin romero]

c'mon people its simple that the ferrari 250gt
is the best

[Aaron Peterson]

As a lifelong Back To The Future fan and a DeLorean owner, I was glad to see that the time machine was chosen as number one, as it should be! (Just an FYI: in the movie the time machine was plutonium powered, not lithium)

[Weissman]

´95 Toyota Supra Targa 3.0!!! in flipflop orange with green and silver stripes;)!!!

[josh]

What the hell, where was the 1967 shelby gt500 (Eleanor) from gone in 60 seconds, or the 1969 dodge charger (General Lee) from dukes of hazzard, and why is a mini cooper even in the list.

[Jeffrey]

I'd like to add mu favorite: the Mercury Grand Marquis John Candy drove in "Uncle Buck" (with the delayed backfire.)

[rasterbator]

Boy, I can't believe it. A top ten list of cars in movies without Herbie the Love Bug. You guys blew it big time. Herbie should be in the top 3.

[Steve]

Hey what about the BLOWN 57 CHEV from "running on empty"? An absolute CLASSIC!

[James]

The General Lee is NUMBER 1 (01 to be exact) in my book, with K.I.T.T. as a close #1.5 Those two are all that!

As for the F&F movies... As a Charger fan, the ending of the first movie pissed me off... the 2nd makes up for it though (despite the culture of "Ricers" it popularizes).

[Chris]

As far as Movie cars, you missed a couple that had HUGE starring roles in the MOVIE itself! Come on!!!!

The Charger from Dirty Mary Crazy Larry - Now THERE's a cool movie car! Fast loud and bright, everything you WANT in a getaway car!

The Challenger from Vanishing Point (the ORIGINAL) Cool car fast and rugged. No Fast and frivilous Toyota could survive all that dust in Death valley not to mention it was a for real muscle car with a ig block and pistol grip 4 speed!

Eleanor from the ORIGNIAL Gone in 60 Seconds. Fast cool NO computer enhancements (F&F PLEASE!) And she did all HER OWN STUNTS!

[Winston Harris]

I love cars

[PAPI]

super guau

[Josh]

cmon KITT is where it was at... The best TV or Movie car ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dan A]

My personal Top Ten:

10. Herbie
9. Bond's DB5
8. "Ferris Bueller's" Ferrari
7. Bandit's Trans Am
6. The California Kid
5. The original Eleanor (not the awful remake)
4. The "Two-Lane Blacktop" '55 Chevy
3. Millner's Deuce Coupe
2. The "Vanishing Point" Challenger
1. TIE: The Mustang and Charger from "Bullitt"

Why a crap '74 Monaco, a butchered DeLorean, and a Batmobile made the Top Ten is beyond me!

[Zach]

Why isn't the General Lee on the list? It should be number 1. Since the Dukes movie it can now be classified as a "movie" car aswell.

[Bill Laidlaw]

According to Monstervision, the car in the Mad Max movies is a Holden (Australian car company) which probably used a 1970s-era Chevy Nova with their own fenders substituted for Nova fenders. Holden also made their version of Fords, but not this time. angelfire.com/mn/nn/MadMax3.html

[Bill Laidlaw]

Someone mentioned the early Martin Sheen TV-movie California Kid. I don't remember the make and model, but it's the same car used in ZZ Top videos. I've always been afraid of those backward-opening doors in case the driver starts up while I'm getting out...looks cool though. And it was agile enough to outrun evil Vic Morrow's souped-up police cruiser on the hairpin curves.

[Jason C]

I must say the list was well done. I could say all those cars were memorable. If i had to add a car to the list it would have to be the family sport truckster from Chevy Chases movie " VACATION" MAN WHAT A VEHICLE!

[Jason C]

I just realized it was on the worst list. Boy do i feel dumb but it still should be on the greatest list.

[Sammy Stillwell]

Please send us the route to the Cars movie games.
Thank-you!!!

[angie]

even my 8 year old knows that the number #1 car should of been The General Lee what the hell is a mini-cooper doing on the list?

[Miguel Garrido]

The Real number 01 by far far far: "The General Lee". The orange 69' Dodge Charger.

[Miguel Garrido]

and.... in the battle for second place: 69' Challenger Kowalsky, 55' Mercury of Cobra, the red Ford Grand Torino of S & H, Eleanor, Coyote (nobody remember Hardcasttle and McCormick??), the TransAM from Smokey and the Bandit, The Black GMC of The A-Team...... COME ON!!!! OPEN YOUR MIND and REMEMBRER and think for a little bit more time.

[Cory]

I agree with up top how ever this is a nice line up I love Ferraris and the 61 250 GT is drool worthy along with the Enzo of today but I think we need the Shebly up it's one of the Cobras that is worth it maybe its just new generation mantality.

[Justin]

Cars
made in 2006
c,
Justin Ross

[Alex]

We love the little movie you people puty together. We love the movie Cars and hope to see more sited about it on the web!!!! Peace.

[KRfan]

C'mon We need KITT yeah the talking t/a from Knight Rider. "TURBO BOOST!"

[shaikh mirage]

i love it

[lea]

hola soy de ARGENTINA no ban a entender pero soy fana tico de cars asike chau:)..............................................................