Death Proof, like the rest of the Grindhouse series of movies made by Quentin Tarantino, is a homage to the B-movies of the 70s.
It is a movie that was never supposed to be a classic, but the way it honors the car movies from that era makes it truly noteworthy in its own right. The plot is pretty thin, even if the writing is excellent, and the chock-full of references to other famous movies/people, it intentionally draws you in with a slow buildup before the action starts.
Everything centers around Stuntman Mike and his Death Proof cars, cars that he turns into pretty elaborate murder weapons.
10 The Nova
Although the Chevrolet Nova is still flying under the muscle car radar, this is not your average early 70s Nova, which is emphasized by that V8 soundtrack.
The actual car indeed had a hopped up V8, and naturally was a stunt car driven by an ex stuntman with murder on his mind. It looks menacing in matte black and is the perfect villain car.
9 Homage To The Stunt Car
The whole movie pays homage to something that is usually concealed in car movies, highlighting the role of the usually unsung hero, only to then turn it into the villain.
Stunt cars are carefully built vehicles, and they go to great lengths to highlight that fact, using the Nova as the perfect illustration of what a stunt car really looks like, both inside and out.
8 Teen Dreams
One of the surviving Novas was sold on to the real stuntman for a token sum of $500, a bargain for any muscle car, let alone a movie car with this pedigree.
He subsequently gave the car to his teen son, a dream first car for any enthusiast. A stroked 350 which was good for over 400 horsepower, good thing it was, well, death proof…
7 Vanishing Point References
Throughout the movie, there are several references to other films, but as the second group of would-be victims are introduced, the theme was dedicated to the cult classic movie Vanishing Point.
The desire to track down an old Challenger exactly like the car from Vanishing Point became a central theme, and it becomes clear that this is in fact the real “hero car” of the movie.
6 440 Magnum
In the movie, the Challenger simply had to have the 440 engine because that is what was in the Vanishing Point Challenger.
Most of the cars used in the making of that movie were indeed 440s paired with 4 speed manuals, but there was evidently one 383 Magnum paired with auto, and that is what was under the hood of the Death Proof Challenger, although it bore 440 badging on the hood.
5 Mopar Duel
With the old Nova obviously out of commission, Stuntman Mike fittingly switched his allegiance to one of the most famous Mopar movie cars, the Charger, which also got a wicked matte black finish.
It was a great choice of car, with concealed lights and its iconic hood, it just looks angry no matter what angle you look at it.
4 Challenger
Some tried in vain to attribute some meaning behind the choice of a white Challenger, but in truth it just works better on screen, and matt black is a color void, suitable for stunt vehicles or camera cars.
In Death Proof this really was a battle of good vs evil, a pure car chase with a little added drama in how he caught the protagonists with their pants down, so to speak, as they were busy attempting a stunt of their own with somebody else's car.
3 Charger
As cool as the “hero car” is, the coolest of all the cars that hog screen time might be the Charger, as it has some serious movie car roots.
It has the wheels from the famous “General Lee” Dukes of Hazzard cars, the same paint job as the Charger in Bullitt and the same number plate as the Charger in Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (a car chase film from the 70s).
2 Mustang
Although the Mach 1 doesn’t get quite as much screen time as the other muscle cars, it is still chock-full of subtle references.
The main one being Elanor, the hero car from the original Gone in 60 Seconds movie. This was a 71 model specifically altered to look more like the 73 model used in that movie.
1 The Duck
The chrome hood ornament found on both of Stuntman Mike’s cars, that of a rather angry looking rubber duck, was first used in the movie Convoy.
If nothing else, it is his signature, a strange nod to how we all have our own subjective taste when it comes to car accessories, no matter how stock we leave our cars, there will always be something that makes a car unique to us and this was something Stuntman Mike retained.