1) 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am in Knight Rider (1980)
Arguably the original autonomous car, Knight Industries Two Thousand—better known as KITT—was a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Cousin to the Camaro, crime-fighting KITT piloted the 5.0-liter V8 under the hood all by itself using artificial intelligence, science...and of course, some technical tinkering from female professors—such was culture of the day.
2) 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (KARR) in Knight Rider (1982)
The Knight Automated Roving Robot, aka KARR, was the prototype to Knight Rider’s KITT. Referred to as its evil twin, where KITT (the goodie) was programmed to protect life, KARR (the baddie) was programmed for self-preservation. Inexplicably indestructible despite falling off a cliff, the CPU from KARR never really died, providing quite the cliffhanger to the popular series.
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3) 1963 Volkswagen Beetle in The Love Bug (1968)
This 1963 movie plays on the cutesy appeal of the 1963 VW Beetle. ‘Herbie’ can drive itself, negating the need for the driver for his races. But because it’s so lovable, it makes friends with humans and beats the baddies (literally), anyway...mildly ironic when VW is looking for its autonomous driving software to be ‘accident-free.’
4) 1969 Chevrolet K-20 in Super Hybrid (2011)
Shapeshifting from 1976 black Chevy Nova into a 2004 red Corvette C5 and a whole host of other models, Super Hybrid is the car that doesn’t ‘run on fuel [but] blood’ instead. Sounds stinky, and yes, you did just read ‘car’ and ‘shapeshifting’ in the same sentence. This freakily possessed motor feasts on anyone that tries to drive it. Probably doesn’t help your deep-seated concerns about AI.
5) 1958 Plymouth Fury in Christine (1983)
Longstanding member on the list of murderous cars, the 1958 Plymouth Fury depicted in the corny horror favorite Christine is another demonically possessed motor. Less science—though plenty of violence—Christine’s demented ways possess her driver, too. Which is as outlandish and nonsensical as it sounds.
6) Johnny Cab in Total Recall (1990)
Fortunately, the robot taxi depicted in the 1990 movie Total Recall brings us back to the land of science and computer coding. Johnny Cab is arguably a more accurate vibe of taxis in the future. The humanoid quipping sarcastically to Arnie might have a better sense of humour than today’s ChatGPT-based robots, though.
7) GM Ultralite concept in Demolition Man (1993)
Demolition Man depicted the year 2032 and featured a number of GM concept models. Sandra Bullock’s police dept-issued Ultralite not only drives itself, but also enables on-the-road video-calling. As wild as this would have seemed in the early ’90s, it turns out these movie creatives were surprisingly visionary.
8) 2004 Audi RSQ in I, Robot (2004)
The 2004 Audi RSQ was a historic concept created specifically for a whole nine minutes in the Will Smith movie I, Robot. As he would expect to be in 2035, Smith reads through documents behind the wheel of his fancy German motor until he takes over control, weaves through the approaching robot army, and saves the day (but of course). We salute the use of computational limitations.
9) M274 Mule in Maximum Overdrive (1986)
The best bit about the horror genre is its ability to take the mickey out of itself. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the 1986 flop Maximum Overdrive, when a comet crosses Earth making machines sentient, including this M274 Mule military 4x4. Rebelling against their masters, lots of driverless vehicles, deaths, and plot holes ensue. But, like Fast X, it’s enormous fun, so there’s that.
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10) 1962 Ford Anglia in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Moving away from demonic possession and computer-science wizardry to actual wizardry, the 1962 flying Ford Anglia in the second Harry Potter film is a wonderful literary device that gets the pre-teen scholars around the small issue of driving without licences or insurance. Magic.
11) 1989 Batmobile in Batman (1989)
In the Keaton-Nicholson-Basinger classic that is 1989’s Batman, the tricked-out self-driving hot rod was an amalgamation of Chevy Caprice, Buick Riviera, and other scraps powered by a C6 Corvette engine. It was built in the UK for director Tim Burton and inspired decades of driverless Bat-led creations.
12) 1992 Ford Explorer in Jurassic Park (1993)
Self-driving Ford Explorers as featured in the original Jurassic Park didn’t need drivers, relying on electrified tracks. Less futuristic than some on this list, but still a measure of autonomy and much like the pods found on campuses and at airports these days. Not great for trying to make a hasty getaway from human-munching dinosaurs, mind.
13) 1997 BMW 750iL (E38) in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
James Bond movies are always a reliable resource for fancy gadgetry and hot cars. In Tomorrow Never Dies, Pierce Brosnan merrily remote-controls his BMW 7-Series before (spoiler alert) crashing it into a shop window. Guess you can do that when you don’t fear injury. Technically not a self-driving car, but it at least looks like it is.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
