1) Porsche 928
Risky Business, 1983
Tom Cruise’s breakthrough film is a rite-of-passage Eighties classic. Director Paul Brickman cast the 928 because it was less obvious than a 911.
2) Porsche 917
Le Mans, 1971
Strictly speaking, not a movie car, but the motorsport-dominating 917 is the savior of Steve McQueen’s otherwise misfiring vanity project.
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3) Lamborghini Miura
The Italian Job, 1969
Aosta Valley, Lamborghini, Quincy Jones soundtrack: in many ways, the opening sequence is the greatest three minutes of any film, ever.
4) Ford Deuce Doupe
American Graffiti, 1973
George Lucas’s ’73 classic helped reignite America’s fading hot rodding subculture. The star car is a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe.
5) Batmobile
Batman, 1989 and Batman Returns, 1992
Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman reboot was the movie event of the year, partly thanks to the director’s Gothic aesthetic. Genius production designer Anton Furst reimagined the Batmobile as a priapic hot rod, with a huge jet turbine front and center, and air intakes for the afterburners. Side-mounted grappling hooks and a central spar enabled it to rotate through 180 degrees, and the car could encase itself in full body armor. Forget that there were two Chevy Impala chassis welded together underneath.
6) Mirth Mobile
Wayne’s World, 1992
AMC’s Pacer enjoyed a postmodern afterlife courtesy of Mike Myers’ Saturday Night Live spin-off. Unlike the similarly uplifted DeLorean, the Pacer really was rubbish, and therefore perfect for duty in this tale of gormless suburban rock fans Wayne and Garth whose cable TV show becomes unexpectedly huge. The Pacer, meanwhile, was described by its maker as the ‘first wide small car.’ Schwiiiing? Not so much.
7) Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto
The Graduate, 1967
The last car to be signed off by Italian design maestro Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, a ’66 series one Alfa Spider didn’t just shuttle Dustin Hoffman’s character Benjamin between existential crises, it symbolized ’60s America’s youthful hunger for freedom, sex and sticking it to The Man. Much as that dream would be scuppered by the Vietnam war, so would the lissom little Alfa run out of fuel at the critical moment in the film’s denouement.
8) Bumblebee
Transformers, 2007 onwards
In the Transformers universe, Bumble Bee is an Autobot and one of Optimus Prime’s most trusted lieutenants in the battle to defeat the Decepticons. In Michael Bay’s highly nuanced, Bergmanesque Noughties film franchise ($4.3 billion and counting), he’s disguised as a classic ’70s Camaro to begin with, before upgrading to the current model. Well, it explains those gaping shut-lines, if nothing else.
9) Lotus Esprit Turbo
For Your Eyes Only, 1981
Bond cars are indivisible from Bond movies, and the obvious choice is the DB5. But if 1981’s FYEO is the connoisseur’s film—bringing 007 back to Earth after Moonraker’s excesses—then the Esprit Turbo S3 is a more informed choice than the white submersible in The Spy Who Loved Me. A white Turbo is destroyed early on. The other car was bronze to stand out more sharply for the scenes in Cortina. Looked great with skis, too.
10) Ford Econoline
Dumb and Dumber, 1994
Although officially banned from Top Gear, the only adjective appropriate when it comes to the Mutt Cutts ‘shaggin’ wagon’ is ‘iconic.’ Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, the duo who provide the emotional and intellectual heart of the Farrelly brothers’ debut masterpiece, embark on a journey of discovery from behind the wheel of a Ford Econoline van, expertly modified to resemble a shaggy dog. (NB: there’s a Lamborghini Diablo in the film, too, but it’s not disguised as a giant dog).
11) Ferrari 250 GT California Spider
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986
In a parallel world, director John Hughes would be as revered as Spielberg. Ferris Bueller is one of his best, an escapist fantasia where the guy bunks off school in spectacular style, gets the girl—and the car... a Ferrari 250 GT Cali Spider. Only it was a replica, created by Modena Design and powered by a Ford V8. The real thing is worth many, many millions. Bueller...
12) Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
Smokey and the Bandit, 1977
Second only to Star Wars at the box office in 1977, this tale of a getaway driver and his trucker friend duelling with the law may as well have taken place in a galaxy far, far away, as that’s what the Deep South looked like here. It’s essentially one long car chase, with a Pontiac Trans-Am (indestructible, obvs), Burt Reynolds in his moustachioed prime, and a sheriff called Buford T. Justice. For a while, we all wanted CB radios.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
