We certainly love our movies here at Forever Geek. In many movies cars play a very big role and we are fans of cars as well. Actually there are three things we particularly like in/about movies: Great movie title sequences, special effects and robots and last but not least cars.
So we went ahead and compiled a list of the geekiest cars in movies.
While selecting these cars it was imperative for us that we chose only modified cars, so no Eleanor (Shelby GT500).
Gadgetmobile
The Gadgetmobile is based on a 1964 Lincoln Continental Convertible and designed by Brenda Bradford. The Gadgetmobile can speak, track Inspector Gadget’s location, camouflage itself and move its tires upwards, among other things and thinks its stands above the laws (and does not need to respect speed limits).
American Graffiti Hot Rod
Millner’s yellow hot rod in American Graffiti is a ’34 Ford Coupe, carrying custom “THX 138” license plates, which refer to THX 1138, George Lucas’ first movie.
Fab1 Thunderbird
The Fab1 in the 2004 Thunderbirds movie was a heavily modified Ford THunderbird and provided by the company itself. The Thunderbird on 6 wheels is completely road legal and has been featured in Top Gear. The car has bullet-proof, run-flat tires but ca not fly.
Minority Report Lexus 2054
The Lexus 2054 in Minority Report is a concept car running on fuel cells, with advanced safety features, including biometric security systems.
The car, painted in blue this time, also features in Micael Bay’s The Island.
I, Robot Audi RSQ
Built on the chassis of an A4 this Audi concept car, designed for product placement has 2 reverse butterfly doors and the Multi Media Interface (MMI) driver-to-car control system.
This collaboration was a first for Audi and similar to the previously mentioned Lexus concept car in Minority Report.
Judge Dredd Land Rover
22 Land Rovers 101 Forward Control were converted with fiberglass bodies for the movie Judge Dredd and only one had a functional interior for inside shots. The NY Cab is not road legal and had no floors. To see out the windshield you had to tilt your head to one side or the other and lean forward, this basically requiring a second person on board to look out for traffic.
Star Wars Land Speeder
Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder actually was a modified car. Numerous problems hiding the wheels were encountered. Easiest was to photograph the car from angles not showing the wheels. In longer scenes the Land Speeder had a reflecting skirt, mirroring the sand beneath.
Blade Runner Spinner
Sinners have been used in several movies (See also The Fifth Element Taxi further in the list). Main characteristic is that the cars can take off vertically. In Blade Runner the Spinners are mainly used by the police to patrol the city. The Blade Runner spinner has been designed by Syd Mead.
Tumbler Batmobile
When Warner Bros decided to reboot the Batman franchise with Christopher Nolan at the helmet, the Batmobile was reinvented. Contrarily to previous Batmobile, the Tumbler was made around functionality. Instead of being one beautiful car with many gadgets, now it was a practical vehicle with rather ugly looks.
1990 Batmobile
When Batman made his first box office appearance on the widescreen, he needed a new car. Much meaner and darker than the 1954 Lincoln Ventura used in the TV series. Gotham was darker and so was the car.
The Batmobile in “Batman” (1990) was built on the longer platform of a Chevrolet Caprice, while producer Tim Burton opted for the platform of a Buick Riviera for “Batman Returns” (1992). The exterior of both Batmobiles was similar and all built-in gadgets were functional.
DeLorean Back to the Future
Who had ever thought that a car, based on a failure like the DLorean, could have become this iconic?
Although based on a fairly vanilla DeLorean, the BTTF car was a genuine flux-capacitor powered time machine. No one would have imagined the DeLorean could reach the needed 88mph to activate the time machine, but it really did (in the movies at least).
Lotus Esprit James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me
James Bond’s Lotus Esprit is probably the most understated Bond car but came with lots of special features: rear firing mud sprayers, full ‘underwater’ kit turning the car into a fully operative submarine, surface-to-air missiles, depth charges, underwater smoke screens and torpedoes. A Bond car as you’ld expect them.
Ecto-1 Ghostbusters (1959 Cadillac Ambulance)
The original Ecto 1 recently was listed on Ebay but with $45.100 the reserve was not met.
Motor Blade
Kaneda’s Bike – Akira
From the poplaur Akira movie, not much is known about Kaneda’s bike. Only very little information about the build and construction/design has been released. There is a big Japanese subculture, building replicas. You can often buy a customized replica.
The Fifth Element Taxi
The cab in The Fifth Element is a spinner car as well. All cars in this movie are spinners and there are very interesting trivia about the car designs and their decorations in the movie.
Speed Racer Mach 5
Speed Racer Mach 5 featured the same original button steering wheel as the car in the anime series. Most of time the car was hung from a crane and effects were computer generated.
Herbie
Although only a slightly modified VW Beetle, Herbie has managed to win the hearts of many kids and adults over the years.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Paragon Panther)
Bumblebee Transformers (1977/2009 Chevrolet Camaro)
Contrarily to in the series, Bumblebee is a Chevrolet Camaro in the 2007 feature Transformers and not a VW Beetle. According to Michael Bay, producer, Bumblebee stands at 17 foot tall as Autobot.
Honorable mentions
- Mini Cooper S – The Italian Job 2003
- KITT
- Doc Hudson – Cars (1951 Hudson Hornet)
- 14K’s 1980 Porsche 911 in Death Race
Space Robin
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