- A car is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think “movie star,” but there are a select few that have become Hollywood legends.
- Batman simply wouldn't be the same without his Batmobile. Neither would James Bond without his 1964 Aston Martin DB5.
- Here's a look at our list of the 10 most famous movie cars of all time.
While cars are rarely the stars of movies, except perhaps in the Pixar film "Cars," motor vehicles often play critical roles in films. James Bond's globe-trotting adventures would be a lot less exciting without his fleet of heavily armed and armored cars prepared by Q. And the Caped Crusader would be considerably less impressive if he had to spend all his time running around on foot.
Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" wouldn't have been nearly as memorable without the now-iconic car chase featuring a menacing Dodge Charger on the hunt for the hero's 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback.
The cars on this list so greatly enhanced the films in which they were featured that they transcend the individual movie, becoming part of the greater cultural landscape.
Certain star cars like General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazzard," KITT from Knightrider, and the A-Team van were left off the list. Even though many of them have taken their turn on the big screen, their fame is mostly centered around their time on TV.
Without further ado, here is our list of the most iconic cars in cinematic history:
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10. 1963 Volkswagen Beetle Herbie
The 1968 American comedy "The Love Bug" put a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle front and center as the main character of the film. But this was no ordinary punch buggy — It was a sentient VW named Herbie who sported red, white, and blue racing stripes and would, perhaps surprisingly, be featured in a half-dozen films over the decades following the release of the original.
9. 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance Ecto-1
Ecto-1 is the name the "Ghostbusters" gave their odd, now-iconic Cadillac featured in the 1984 film.
The car, heavily modified for the movie, was strange enough looking even without the added lights, sirens, and fantastical detection hardware on the roof — the 20-foot long, 6,500-pound 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance had huge tail fins and a massive front end bearing multiple lights and a big, shiny grill.
8. Lotus Esprit S1 Wet Nellie
The Lotus Esprit S1 featured in the 1977 James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me" was part car, part submarine, and completely awesome. So much so, in fact, that none other than Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk purchased the original submersible vehicle a few years ago and says he plans to restore it into a working submarine once again.
Of course the movie featured two different vehicles, one a regular road-ready car, the other a unit created specifically for the underwater scenes. But “Wet Nellie,” as the movie car was known, looked great above or below the waves.
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