Top 5 most iconic cars in films
After featuring the top 5 most famous cars in movies, it’s time to move it up a gear and feature iconic cars – some of which only made it to the big screen rather than the road.
Next week will be most iconic cars from British TV, and you can bet there’s a car for everyone in that line up; be it four wheels, or even three!
In the meanwhile, here are the most iconic vehicles in film picked by Business Insider (because my brother Jared and I are still arguing over the the top 5 most famous cars!).
5. 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM
The 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, was a box office success that would lead to a trilogy of films and several spinoffs. But what many people remember most about the movie isn't the acting, but the featured car.
The 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, complete with gold-accented black paint and a huge spread-winged firebird graphic on the hood, roared its way to fame from the first frames in which it was seen.
4. 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback
Without the cars, the 1968 film Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen, would have been, well ... nothing. Car chases define the action-packed classic, and the deep emerald green 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback was the "hero car" of the film. The car was featured in a famous car chase scene in which the drivers, with McQueen himself at the wheel in many shots, screeched around the streets of San Francisco. (A special mention also goes to Keanu Reeves in John Wick with his 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1.)
3 DeLorean DMC-12 Time Machine
Had the 1985 film Back to the Future been made a few years earlier, the DeLorean Motor Company may have survived its infancy. Sadly, the upstart automaker went bankrupt in 1982.
Fortunately for the maker of the unique gull-wing doored, stainless-steel-bodied sports car, the DeLorean DMC-12, franchise's producers thought it was the perfect starting point for their now iconic time machine.
2 1964 Aston Martin DB5
The 1964 Aston Martin DB5 may well have become famous of its own volition because the vehicle was as much a work of art as an automobile. But when featured as legendary spy James Bond's ride in the film Goldfinger, the car became an on-screen icon.
Two Aston Martin DB5 were used in the Goldfinger film: one fitted with Bond's gadgets for effects, and the other for driving scenes. The DB5 is also back in action in the next Bond film, No Time to Die, plus Aston created a limited number of the Goldfinger car this year.
1. The Batmobile
Though it's one of the most iconic on-screen vehicles of all time, various versions of the Batmobile predate the on-screen appearance by many years, with its debut feature in the Batman comic book series as far back as the 1930s.
In 1966, the Batmobile served a critical role as Batman’s go-to vehicle for saving the citizens of Gotham City in the first season of Batman TV show. The Batmobile was modelled after a Lincoln Futura concept car with a front steel "slasher" blade, 15in single-ribbed Rader Wheels, and a U-shaped steering wheel designed to resemble the yoke of an airplane.
Since its debut, the Batmobile has made appearances in all sorts of films, both animated and live action, most recently seen in the 2016 Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice movie and will appear in the 2021 film, The Batman.
