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Volvo: Safety Beyond the Star RatingsThe Stories Behind Famous Movie Cars
Movie magic on screen takes a lot of work off screen. We dig up the stories behind the most famous movie cars of all time.
Silver Screen Secrets
We love cars. And we love movies. From The Fast and the Furious to Ford vs Ferrari, car movies had the capacity to stoke automotive excitement and obsession like nothing else. Sometimes the stories behind the cars on screen are just as compelling as anything we see in the final edit. Below we regale our readers with the stories behind the stories of some the most famous movie cars of all time.
Goldfinger – Aston Martin DB5
First seen in the third Bond flick, Goldfinger, James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 became synonymous with the fictional British super spy. Originally, Ian Fleming (the novelist upon whose novels the Bond films are based) had written in a DB3, but filmmakers chose the latest version of the Aston Martin, the DB5, for the movie version. Initially, Bond’s car only had the smoke screen for gadgetry. It was not long before the production crew began cooking up increasingly quirky and ingenious add-ons. The film’s director, Guy Hamilton, came up with the flipping license plates after having recently received a few too many parking tickets. From there, the car gained its grease gun, bullet-proof shield, tire shredding hub caps, concealed machine guns, battering ram bumpers, and the ejector seat. Check out this article for more on James Bond cars.
Gone in 60 Seconds – Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang(s) of Gone in 60 Seconds, both the original 1974 movie and the 2000 remake have been surrounded by contentious litigation for much of the past 20 years. The original, low-budget cult classic was written, directed, produced, and starred H.B. Halicki. The cars used in that movie were 1971 Mustangs given 1973 grilles to make them look newer. Following Halicki’s untimely death in a stunt gone wrong, rights to Gone in 60 Seconds and the Eleanor Mustang name went to his wife, Denise Shakarian Halicki. She licensed the rights for the 2000 remake starring Nicolas Cage and company. It was in this version that Eleanor became a Shelby GT500. When Carroll Shelby went to copyright the Eleanor GT500 Mustang, with the hopes of building and selling replicas, his company was sued by Halicki. She won the initial court case in 2008 and continued to vigorously defend the copywrite in court against others applying the Eleanor name to GT500 replicas. The Shelby Trust eventually counter-sued and prevailed in court, freeing the Eleanor name.
Bullitt – Ford Mustang
The 1968 Highland Green fastback Mustang GT from Steve McQueen’s Bullitt is one of the most famous movie cars of all time and features in one of the greatest car chases of all time as well (here’s a breakdown of the chase, too). Two cars were used in filming, with McQueen doing some of his own stunt driving on the undulating streets of San Francisco. After filming had wrapped, Warner Brother’s employee Robert Ross bought one of the cars which changed hands a few times before coming into the possession of Robert Kiernan in 1974. Kiernan kept the Mustang for decades before his son finally had it restored, even displaying it to the surprise of many, at the Detroit Auto Show in 2018. The car was auctioned off in 2020 to an undisclosed buyer for $3.7 million, the most paid for a Mustang at auction.
The Love Bug – Volkswagen Beetle
Disney’s The Love Bug is the tale of an anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle who helps a down-on-his-luck racer get the girl, foil the bad guys, and return to the winner’s circle. Eleven cars were used in filming of various vintages, though Herbie was ostensibly a 1963 ragtop Beetle. There are a lot of cool details about the filming and lore of the film, which we dive into here, but here are a few choice items. The number 53 for Herbie’s racing livery was chosen by the film’s producer Bill Walsh who was a big Dodgers fan who gave the car the number 53 after Dodger’s pitcher Dan Drysdale. The Herbie name came from the punchline of one of actor Buddy Hackett’s comedy routines. The cars in the first film do not have Volkswagen logos as Disney did not have the rights to use them. After the success of the first film, VW was happy to have their logo in subsequent Herbie movies.
Bad Boys – Porsche 911
Will Smith’s character in Bad Boys, the 90s buddy-cop action hit, drives a very special, very expensive Porsche 911. Does he care there aren’t cup holders? No. Does he care if you drop French fries between the seats? Very much so. The turbo 3.6L had 355 horsepower and was one of just 1,500 produced in 1993/94. After filming the car was owned for a time by the movie’s director, Michael Bay. The car sold at auction in January 2022 for $1.4 million.
Thelma and Louise – Ford Thunderbird
Thelma and Louise set off on a fishing trip in which Louise’s 1966 Thunderbird is the vehicle of their escape from their mundane lives. After running from the law for much of the movie, that same 66 Thunderbird becomes the vehicle of their defiance as Thelma and Louise drive it off a cliff into the Grand Canyon to escape capture. In actuality, the movie’s climax was filmed at Dead Horse Point Utah, not the Grand Canyon. The two stunt cars used for the jump had to be stripped of weight to ensure they sailed off the cliff rather than nosedived un-cinematically. One of the surviving Ford Thunderbird hero cars used in filming now resides at the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles, bearing signatures from cast and crew.
Mad Max – Ford Falcon XB
The original Mad Max film was about as low budget as it gets. George Miller and his team created an indelible classic and spawned a new cinematic universe despite only having $20,000 to budget for all the movie’s cars. For the MFP police cruisers, Ford Falcon XBs were chosen. Max’s V8 Interceptor, aka Last of the V8 Superchargers, was given an assortment of modifications that included quad side pipes, a rear spoiler, flared fenders, an all-black paint job (the original had been a rare white and black factory combo), and the non-functional blower, borrowed from a drag racing team. After filming had concluded, the car was given to crew mechanic Murry Smith as partial payment for his work (I did mention this was a shoe-string budget, right?), and the supercharger returned to the racing team.
The same car returned for work on the sequel The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) and was further modified. The Max’s Interceptor gained two fuel tanks sitting in the cut out trunk, a new blower, a new paint job, and the interior was gutted, with new features added like a doggie bed, new blower switch, netting, and other details. For Mad Max: Fury Road the Interceptor was reimagined once again, now built using two V8 Ford Fairmonts, with a six-cylinder coupe for the demolition scene. The car was resurrected once again by Immortan Joe’s war boys as the Razor Cola, sanded free of paint (so shiny) and given a double blower complete with a skull on top. For more on Australian cars like the Falcon XB, check this out.
Baby Driver – Subaru Impreza WRX
Baby Driver opens with a bank heist/car chase across downtown Atlanta in a 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX. For the scene’s many drift-happy stunts (or gags as they’re referred to in the industry), the car was converted from all-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive. The movie’s director is a big music fan and his inspiration for the movie was directly connected to the song Bellbottoms by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, which plays across the movie’s first chase scene. Hearing the song two decades prior, he’d felt the song would be perfect for a car chase. And boy did he prove himself right, going so far as to edit to the beats of the song to best punctuate Baby’s sick driving skills. Among the movie’s best gags is the WRX making a double, 180 in, 180 out, escape through a tight alleyway.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder
The first thing car fans want to know about the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is, did John Hughes and company really toss one of these ultra-rare cars out a window? The answer is no. In fact, not only were no Ferrari harmed in the making of the movie, there were no Ferrari’s involved in the filming at all because all three cars used in production were replicas. The replica cars were built by Modena Design, who were subsequently sued by Ferrari for using the company’s badges on the cars without permission. So onerous was the litigation that Modena Design was forced out of business. The question non-car people ask about this famous film Ferrari is, would Cameron’s dad really love that car more than his own son? It’s possible, considering just 56 Ferrari 250 California GTs were built in 1961 and they now typically auction for more than $15 million dollars.
Back to the Future – DeLorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 is both the most obvious and most unlikely of movie cars. Right around the time things were unraveling at DeLorean Motor Company, Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale were brainstorming the time machine for their upcoming movie, Back to the Future. Gale had originally envisioned something built from a refrigerator for Doc Brown’s time machine, but Zemeckis felt a mobile time machine would work better cinematically. When he came across the DMC-12, it clicked. They’d found their time machine. Three cars were built for the first film, a hero car for close ups, a stunt car (which was unusually highly detailed), and a third car with the front end cut out for camera mountings that was used for interior shots. The DMC-12’s speedometer only went to 85 mph so production members installed a different speedometer that went to 95 mph to accommodate the DeLorean’s necessary 88 mph time travel speed. Check out our full article for more details on the Back to the Future car.
