When it comes to dream cars from movies or even rides from TV series, we have tons of favorites to choose from. Think K.I.T.T from Knight Rider, or General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard; or even that killer Nova from Death Proof.It gets difficult to choose dream cars from sci-fi movies mostly because of the hefty flights of fancy that come along with each car. Sci-fi movies can show just about anything when it comes to vehicles. Some vehicles can fly, turn into submarines, or even take you back to the future, pun intended.When it comes to the imagination in the movies, the sky is the limit, or rather, space is. So here are the 10 coolest rides from the sci-fi movies that made the mark, some which may have failed BO but turned into cult classics later on. We’ve seen these cars on screen, and yes, we’d love to take them for a spin.
10 The Taxi: The Fifth Element (1997)
Allegedly, director Luc Besson fell in love with the drawing of a taxi he spotted in the French comic book “Valerian and Laureline – The Circles of Power” And so, the hero, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) turned into a taxi driver from a factory worker, and thus the taxi was born.
With a horseshoe grill and slit windows with some strange fender skirts, it was driven. Or should we say flown, by Dallas. It could detect threats, jam police scanners, and manage some high-speed pursuits as well as escapes. Who wouldn’t want some of that?
9 Lola T70: THX 1138 (1971)
Now, before you got too excited considering this was a joint project by George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, remember this was a sci-fi movie from 1971, set in a dystopian future. The cars were imagined as turbine-powered ones, had flashing lights like jets, and even ran to the soundtrack of an F86 LeSabre jet.
These were Lola T70s in disguise, long past their brief halcyon days. That said; the powerful whine of the V8s made many people complain to the cops when the filming was going on. We just love the fact that these were original racing cars, shown to go near the speed of light in the movie.
8 M577 Armored Personnel Carrier: Aliens (1986)
So, given the current scenario of viruses and missiles and everything else in between hitting the human race, an armored personnel carrier is sounding more attractive, by the minute. This is why Ellen Ripley and her gang searched planet LV-426 in something that looked like a tank from an acid nightmare.
They called it the APC, and it’s the M577 APC, with a chassis of bonded titanium. In the movie, it packed all the firepower you needed, but considering Ripley was up against the Xenomorphs, a nuke would have been better.
7 Ford Crown Vic: Men In Black (1997)
To have the men in black, alien hunters from a covert agency that defends the earth from the likes of giant cockroaches and more, drive in what was the quintessential police car was hilarious. The Ford Crown Vic looked as unassuming in black, as did any other cop car.
But this one had a treat for agents Kay and Jay, in the form of a weapon-loaded trunk, and a certain button that brought the twin exhaust thrusters in the rear, propelling the car at jet speeds. It would be a perfect foil to NYC traffic, no?
6 Lexus 2054: Minority Report (2002)
They could have called this movie The Endless Running of John Anderton, aka Tom Cruise, because that’s mostly what he does, throughout. But somewhere midway in the movie, as Cruise grapples with Colin Farrell, he’s built into one cool car, on the assembly line.
The Lexus 2054 was an actual project car, although it did not have all the gimmicks of the movie car. In the movie, it had a verbal interface, was autonomous, and played music matched to the mood of the driver. So yes, we do want it, pretty please.
5 Light Runner: Tron: Legacy (2010)
This can make us forget the Spinner from Blade Runner, almost. The Light Runner was even cooler than the Light Cycle motorbikes from Tron, and it looks like an absolute dream. A swooping race car design with huge wheels, with light in them. What’s not to like?
In the movie, it’s Olivia Wilde’s wild ride, and has an arsenal onboard plus seems to be made of titanium, considering it can punch through walls without breaking into a sweat. A handy thing to have in a dystopian setup.
4 Spinner: Blade Runner (1982)
So we just said that the Light Runner can make you forget the Blade Runner, right? We lied. In the 1982 hit, Harrison Ford plays cop Rick Deckard and owns the coolest car ever.
It can drive on the tarmac like a normal car, take off vertically like a helicopter, and also hover, and fly through the air on jet propulsion. Almost like an EVTOL. Heck, it’s the future, 30 years from the past.
3 Landspeeder: Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
If you ever looked at the Landspeeder and felt that it looked a tad like the Reliant Robin, you aren’t all that off because it was based on the Bond Bug, another British three-wheeler.
No, it could not and did not hover, that was all CGI and special effects artists John Stears who also made the Jedi lightsabers, the C-3PO, and R2-D2 robots as well as Bond’s Aston Martin DB5. The wheels were hidden using mirrors and camera tech and a broom taped to the underside made the plume of dust illusion.
2 Gigahorse: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
As much as we love the V8 Interceptor from the Mel Gibson starrer when it comes to wacky, futuristic, and the plain bizarre, one has to look to Tom Hardy’s version of Mad Max: Fury Road. The Gigahorse wasn’t the hero car but belonged to the baddy. It was two Cadillac Coupe de Villes, molded together.
Two big-block Chevys went into powering it, with twin superchargers. If that’s not perfect enough for a world gone crazy, it also had a four-blade cowcatcher, harpoon gun, and a flamethrower on board. Anything you need to have a great dystopian day.
1 DeLorean DMC-12: Back To The Future (1985)
The DeLorean DMC-12 was the car that took John Delorean down because this heavy, stainless steel oddball turned out to be a thirst trap when it came to money. With gull-wing doors, and an engine not capable to take it to high speeds, the DMC-12 would be largely forgotten but for its use in the Back to the Future trilogy.
Who does not want a car with a flux capacitor in the back seat, capable of moving you through time and thrilling speeds?