Movie car stars

San Diego Comic-Con is a big deal for any movie-buffs out there and whether you’re in attendance or simply hanging on for the latest TV, movie and game trailers, it’s always a thrill to see the latest from your favourite actors and directors.

If you’re anything like us, big-name actors and super special effects won’t be the only draw to the next box-office smash. Iconic cars are one of our favourite parts of many films, and with so many ridiculous rides gracing the screens over the years, we thought that now is the ideal time to showcase some of our favourite film cars, from distinctive designs to far-fetched capabilities. Did your favourite move motor make the list?

Bumblebee

Image source: Experience Days

One of the most iconic cars of The Transformers franchise made his ‘live-action’ debut in 2007, as the ferocious Chevrolet Camaro, with the core character re-birthed from his original state as a 1977 second-gen Camaro into the all-new fifth generation, we know and love.

Equipped with a 275bhp V8 engine and a perfectly aerodynamic sculpt, Chevrolet made no compromises when designing this new model. The all-new Camaro was featured in the film, two-years ahead of its actual return to the market, prompting Chevrolet to design a running concept, purely to be used in the movie. Utilising the moulds seen on the 2006 Camaro Concept seen at that this auto shows, Chevy seemed pretty confident in their relaunch with Transformers fuelling interest even further.

Bumblebee has seen some modifications over the years, including colour updates and paint schemes, however, the next time we see Bumblebee on the big screen will be in the self-titled standalone film. Taking place 20 years prior to the first film, fans of the franchise can look forward to seeing a vintage ‘Bee who is more closely modelled on the original design aesthetic from the first wave of Transformers.

Batman The Dark Knight

Image source: The Guardian 

With Christopher Nolan well-known for creating ‘real-life’ elements in his movies, instead of relying on CGI and after-effects, you better believe he had a working Tumbler built for the first instalment of his Batman franchise; Batman Begins. During the design process, Nolan teamed up with designer Nathan Crowley to build the working tumbler, inspired by a Lamborghini and a military-style Humvee. Nolan was quoted as wanting to create “something that would have the presence of almost a tank-like vehicle, but also with the speed and grace of a sports car”.

Equipped with twin forward-firing machine guns, rocket launcher, integrated fire-extinguisher and heavy-grade body armour, the body is a mixture of carbon fibre, fibreglass and steel. To manoeuvre all this tech, the Tumbler sat on a 5.7-litre Chevy V8 and a gearbox producing 400bhp, making this the ultimate vehicle for all of Batman’s high-speed chases.

Ghostbusters

Image source: Auto Trader 

Probably one of the most recognisable and iconic pop-culture vehicles is the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Cadillac. This retrofitted 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance made its debut in the original 1984 release and has since cemented its place in the hearts of fans everywhere.

Despite the original Ghostbusters low budget, the production team were able to see through the second-hand car’s lack of power and charisma, before fitting it with gadgets and gizmos galore, providing it with all the equipment to take on New York’s ghostly problems.

The initial designs, by Dan Akroyd, would have seen the Ecto-1 painted all black with flashing white and purple strobe lights. This idea was later canned due to directors noting that the black car simply wouldn’t show up during the night scenes. Furthermore, Ackroyd’s concept had the car possess its own supernatural powers, including the ability to dematerialise, unfortunately, this too was thrown out in the design process.

Suicide Squad

Image source: Autos Magazine 

The Vaydor, driven by the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad, has quickly become a fan favourite. The striking pink body, created by Florida-based company Vaydor and designed by Matt McEntergart was mounted on the chassis of a ten-year-old Infiniti G35 to achieve the signature look. Complete with a roll-cage bolted into the modified chassis, the choice of a Vaydor/Infiniti hybrid was considered slightly unorthodox and unusual for this iconic character, with the majority of fans expecting a purple Lamborghini to make an appearance.

Tricked out in white leather, completely customised and equipped with a furious Nissan V6 engine fueling 1,000bhp, this Frankenstein-esque car was the perfect choice for such an eclectic and completely bonkers villain, such as the Joker.

Back to the Future

Image source: Wikipedia

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?”

As one of the most iconic movie cars of all time and a staple point of this eighties classic, we simply couldn’t create a list our all-time favourite film cars without the inclusion of the DeLorean DMC-12. Often referred to simply as ‘the DeLorean’ it was the only model ever produced by the company by John DeLorean’s ‘DeLorean Motor Company’, for the American market from 1981 to 1983.

The fictional suped-up time machine version was slated to use 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power, the equivalent of 15 typical commercial jet engines, which allowed it to jump through a time.

With the first prototype cropping up in 1976, only around 9,000 DMC-012’s were ever made before the production halted in early 1983. With panels of brushed SS304 stainless steel, bar the three 24-karat gold limited edition cars created, the body was fixed to a fibreglass underbody which was then affixed to a double Y steel frame chassis which was actually derived from the Lotus Espirit platform. Powered by a Peugeot-Renault-Volvo 2.85 litre V6 engine and equipped with instantly recognisable Lamborghini Countach-style gull-wing doors, the DeLorean is truly one of the most iconic movie cars to date.

“The way I see it if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?”