To celebrate the annual Oscar winner’s announcements in Hollywood on Sunday 26 February, here is our list of the most iconic cars to star on the silver screen in no particular order.
Bandit’s Trans Am – 1977 Pontiac Trans Am (Smokey and the Bandit)
One of those cars that you just have to include. The Bandit Trans Am popularized the dream of tearing across America with a V8 underfoot and flashing lights in the rear-view mirror.
Mr Frye’s Ferrari – 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder SWB (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
Like the Trans Am, Ferris Bueller’s ultimate joyride – the Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder – reminds us of that dream of freedom, of bucking the authorities and doing whatever we want.
Bumblebee – 1977/2009 Chevrolet Camaro (Transformers)
For a robot in disguise, you’d think Bumblebee would want something less conspicuous than the then-new Camaro. Then again, he couldn’t have made much cooler a choice…
1960s Batmobile – customized 1954 Lincoln Futura (Batman: The Movie)
The original, the iconic. There is no bettering the custom Futura Batmobile, even with something akin to a tank.
Charlie’s getaway Minis – 1968 Mini Cooper S (The Italian Job)
Of course, power is nothing without control. So the humble Mini is no doubt the better companion in the greatest movie heist of all-time than any Lambo would have been
Greased Lightning – 1948 Ford Deluxe (Grease)
To survive high school in 50s America you needed bravado and ego, something John Travolta in a leather jacket delivered in spades. A Ford Deluxe hot rod is the only car to match.
James Bond’s Lotus Esprit S1 (The Spy Who Loved Me
This would have to be Bond’s coolest car were it not for the history-wide Aston Martin association. The ultimate 80s wedge is also arguably the coolest submarine of all-time.
Herbie – 1963 Model 117 Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle (The Love Bug, etc)
No cars are characters quite like Herbie the Love Bug, beating the colorful characters of the Cars films to automotive sentience by 38 years
Doc Brown’s DeLorean – 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (Back to the Future)
It’s a tough battle at this point for most iconic car of all-time. Doc Brown’s time-travelling masterpiece will always be in the running.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – customised Paragon Panther (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
The original car that had us looking at our cars and then looking to the skies. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of the ultimate cult classics. We’re in little doubt that no car has taken to the skies in cinema and garnered such a gasp as this.
James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 (James Bond movies)
Bond’s original Superleggera-bodied masterpiece is immortal, probably because they keep wheeling it out. Why? Because it will never be bettered, for Bond or any other movie.
1980 Lamborghini Countach LP 4005 - as seen in Cannonball Run
Another iconic car — not just in the movie world — is the Lamborghini Countach. With its outrageous styling, a poster of this car was found on every gearhead’s wall back in the 1980s and ’90s
1966 Alfa Romeo 1600 Spider Duetto - as seen in The Graduate.
The Alfa Romeo featured in The Graduate wasn’t a perfect car, and in several scenes sounds like a V8 instead of the four-cylinder model it really is. As is common with Italian cars, the Alfa’s reliability is also questionable. Despite this less than stellar appearance in the movie,
Dukes of Hazzard' 1969 Dodge Charger
"Two good old boys," Bo and Luke Duke, drove around Georgia in their 1969 Dodge Charger eluding the Hazzard County police in the CBS series that ran from 1979 to 1985. The car also returned in a 2005 film.
