5 Most Iconic Movie Cars of All Time

Vehicles are rarely seen as the stars or main characters in movies, with the possible exception of the Pixar animated film Cars. But sometimes cars do become Hollywood legends in live-action movies like the five iconic movie cars listed below.

This list could be three times longer of course and could include James Bond’s famous Lotus Esprit and Aston Martin and even the Batmobile. But for the sake of this article, we’ve whittled it down to cars that featured prominently throughout the movie and actually became important‘characters’ in the plot. Some of them even have names! Here are 5 movie stars –of the four-wheel variety!

5. Bullitt(1968) -1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback

The King of Cool, aka Steve McQueen, stars in the1968 action-packed classic movie Bullitt, which features a deep emerald green 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback, which was the ‘hero’ of the movie. There are many famous car chase scenes filmed in and around the streets of San Francisco, which are spectacular.

4. Smokey and the Bandit(1977) -1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

In this 1977 action-comedy starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Field the car driven by Reynold’s character ‘the Bandit’,is a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. It becomes the most memorable aspect of the film, and director, Hal Needham often referred to it as one of the movie’s stars characters. Smokey and the Bandit was a huge box office success and turned the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am into an American muscle car legend.

3. Christine(1983) –1958 Plymouth Fury

After buying a vintage 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine, teenager Arnie Cunningham soon discovers it has a mind of its own. The demonically possessed, murderous car becomes one of the main characters(and obviously the bad guy!) in this 1983movie based on the famous Stephen King novel. John Carpenter’s Christine has since become a cult classic.

2. Back to the Future(1985) -1981 DeLorean DMC-12

Everyone should be familiar with this one -I don’t care how old(or how young!) you are. Back to the Future’sfamous DeLorean is a time-traveling machine that shot Michael J. Fox to international stardom. It had to reach 88 MPH to “make the leap” into time travel in the movie, but had only 130 horsepower 2.9 liter V6 engine in this reality. This is an actual car and although it was a commercial flop, it will live on forever in our imaginations as the car that first took us Back to the Future.

1. King of Iconic Movie Cars: The Love Bug(1968) ‘Herbie’ -1963 Volkswagen Beetle

You can’t help falling in love with the iconic VW Beetle –even the headlights look like kind human eyes. And so it’s no surprise that a cute, sentient anthropomorphic VW called Herbieisthemain character in the1963 Disney comedy film The Love Bug. Herbie is a white VW sporting red, white and blue racing stripes, with a racing-style number53 emblazoned on its bonnet. Herbie was featured in numerous films over the next decades, including Herbie Goes Bananas(1980) and Herbie Fully Loaded(2005), making the VW Bug an iconic brand and Herbie a beloved household name. Herbie was also the first self-driving car!