Though the various truths about movie cars hurt, they are absolutely awesome to watch. Whenever a car or any type of wheeled vehicle is the star of a movie, it's pretty much always guaranteed to be a genuinely badass piece of machinery.
They don't have to be modified or a certain kind of vehicle, as long as they look cool and are seen doing something cool during their screen time. While almost all movie cars that had some sort of purpose were cool, and some were quite bad, there were a few that were quite simply the best ever. (WARNING! Spoiler alerts below!)
10 1977 Pontiac Trans Am
Pretty much every enthusiast, and even non-enthusiast, recognizes the '77 Trans Am as being the star car in the Burt Reynolds flick Smokey and The Bandit. The title of the film is quite literal as the car was referred to as the Bandit in the movie.
Off the silver screen, this was a pretty serious car. The T/A version used the 400 ci (6.6 liter) V8 which made a seemingly small 200 hp. Don't let the small power output fool you, however. This car was an absolute hoon to drive, it looked awesome doing all its stunts in the movie, but their values have shot up.
9 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX
A red WRX? The color choice can best be described as unusual, as everybody knows the only color that a WRX and WRX STI should be is WR Blue Mica. But the red body makes this 2006 WRX, seen in the first few minutes of 2017's Baby Driver, all the more interesting.
Reportedly, all of the cars used during filming really were WRX models, and not just regular Imprezas in disguise. Driven by Ansel Elgort's character Baby, this car was most notable for pulling off some insane stunts while being tailed by a number of police cars. Definitely a cool choice for a movie car that makes the enthusiasts happy.
8 1999 Peugeot 406
Don't confuse the French Taxi franchise with the American remake starring Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. The latter was terrible, but the French series is awesome, and it features one of the most unique and badass cars of all time.
Whenever protagonist and cabbie Daniel's fares need to arrive somewhere quickly, by flipping a bunch of switches, he brings out a variety of modifications to make the car "even faster." Featuring a ton of period-correct modifications and pulling off some pretty heroic driving, Taxi's 406 is definitely a notable, and surprisingly obtainable, movie car.
7 1982 DeLorean DMC-12
This one absolutely needs no introduction. Famously turned into a time machine by Doc Brown in the Back to The Future trilogy, the DeLorean is one of the most notable and instantly recognizable movie cars of all time.
Though in real life, the DeLorean was a rather flaky car, to say the least, everyone loves it due to its appearance in the movies and its heroic antics, helping the heroes return everything in their lives to normal by traveling around different periods of time.
6 Matt Reeves' Batmobile
Admittedly, this is a car from a movie that hasn't been released yet, and won't be until 2022, but it's such a cool design that we couldn't help but include it. In a sea of endless DC Universe reboots, 2022's The Batman will see Bruce Wayne (played by Robert Pattinson) behind the wheel of a truly epic Batmobile.
The Batmobile itself has gone through over a dozen revisions throughout the history of the character, including the animated shows, but this design sticks out. It perfectly illustrates the not-fully-developed character nature of Batman in this movie, with a design closely resembling a 60s muscle car. The movie itself looks awesome too, so we're definitely looking forward to seeing it in action.
5 1967 Shelby GT500 "Eleanor"
Though the original Eleanor from the 1974 release of Gone in 60 Seconds is different, we still prefer the version from the 2000 reboot, starring Nicholas Cage. It's the perfect embodiment of a modified 60s muscle car, and everyone who's seen the movie adores this car.
It's very tastefully modified, with just a touch of modern design added to it, but the overall package works amazingly well. Among other things, it was seen doing crazy near-death stunts while escaping the police, and we can't forget about the famous GO-BABY-GO nitrous button, allowing Raines to escape on the LA River.
4 Audi RSQ
Around a decade and a half ago, you couldn't go anywhere on the internet without seeing at least one picture of this car. Looking at its design, it's easy to understand why. It looks like a first-generation Audi R8, but as it might have appeared in Back To The Future Part II's 2015.
Of course, this car appeared in I, Robot where it was driven by the main character, Detective Del Spooner. It is a very obvious product placement, but it served its purpose, and it fits right in with the movie's dystopian future, and it serves Spooner quite well in his work.
3 The Tumbler
Even though the latest Batmobile design is by far the coolest, save for the Lincoln Futura in the '66 TV show, the Tumbler is still an absolutely badass vehicle. If there's anything the exterior design of this vehicle says, it's that everyone should get out of the way.
The Tumbler was used by Batman in all the movies directed by Christopher Nolan, including Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Famously, a replica of the Tumbler was used by Team Galag during the 2014 Gumball 3000 rally. Amazing dedication to recreate such a complicated movie car.
2 1963 Aston Martin DB5
Aston Martins have always had a place in the James Bond series of movies, but none of them are quite as notable as the 1963 DB5, first driven by the titular character in 1964's Goldfinger.
Since its debut, the DB5 has appeared in several other movies in the franchise, and if the trailers are anything to go by, it's set to appear yet again in No Time To Die next year, which is awesome to see. With all the gadgetry concealed beneath the beautiful, classy exterior of the DB5, this is definitely a car worthy of a British spy.
1 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390
Driven by the legendary Steve McQueen in Bullitt, this Mustang has been featured in one of the most iconic car chase scenes in history, and it achieved legend status the moment it first appeared on the silver screen in 1968.
This car is so legendary, Ford themselves acknowledge its appearance in the movie and have commemorated it with several special edition Mustangs throughout the years, including one in 2001, 2008, and recently in 2019. The original movie car resurfaced a couple of years ago, and it's now worth millions. We think it's 100% worth it.
This is just a fraction of all the cool cars that have appeared on the silver screen over the past few decades. Even when electric cars take over the world, we hope that they still get a lot of screen time in good movies, and we hope filmmakers continue to feature cool cars on the silver screen for years and decades to come.