They inspire us, they move us – they drive us. Since as long as we can remember, we’ve watched in awe and amazement as Hollywood pumped up the car to legendary proportions. Whether it’s the trusty, crime-fighting companion from the darkest, deepest depths of the Batcave, or the orange, barn-storming thunder of a big block Hemi, we watched. Amazing cars (and trucks) that embodied larger-than-life personalities were smashing through jam-packed, downtown city streets, thundering across the open deserts and shooting through twisty back roads. We sat, slack-jawed, as slow-motion sequences and special camera angles made 100’ jumps look like 500’ jumps. These hero cars were indeed, invincible.

The sad truth is – they were not invincible; and even though they never may have jumped as far as Hollywood would have you believe, the extreme physical stress experienced during stunt filming took a devastating toll on the movie cars. The Dukes of Hazard production destroyed hundreds of Dodge Chargers; they averaged one car per “jump,” (or around two per episode) as it would work out.

Despite the vulnerability of our favorite cars in the actual shooting of these stunts, film productions employ fleets of cars specially fit for specific filming requirements. Typically, there is one “hero” car with a support fleet of stunt cars and special camera rigs. The stunt cars take the brunt of the destruction and are specially built to handle extreme operating conditions. With such a large roster of vehicles on site to depict a single vehicle, it’s extremely rare to see a replica car that’s even worthy of measuring against any “Hero” image that a high-budget production can concoct – but that didn’t stop these guys from trying.

18 Ford Gran Pintino

You remember Starsky and Hutch and the easily-recognizable, bright-red Grand Torino as one of the most popular automobiles in America for a brief moment in time. Maybe not as noteworthy today as the Dukes of Hazard; the bright red and white-striped Gran Torino is a beast of a car in its own respect that came to usher out the muscle car era with a little bit of dignity and grace.

Well, here’s to spitting in the face of all that the Gran Torino tried to represent – somebody decided to take that paint scheme and wipe it down the sides of a Ford Pinto - like it was going to make it any less of a Pinto.

17  Back To The Shameless

I don’t even know where to begin with this one; it takes but a fraction of a second to recognize the tribute, but there’s not enough time in the entire day to adequately process the blatant disrespect and downright blasphemy that you see before you. I don’t know if he’s a bigger DeLorean or Back to the Future fan; but judging by the looks of his craftsmanship, he doesn’t know what he’s doing either way.

16 Bruce Bucks

You seem to have to have a superhero-size bank account to even follow in the footsteps of the mighty Bruce Wayne. His Tumbler is a big boy toy that’s nearly impossible to live up to, no matter which way you chop it. Many people have tried – and every single one of them has flopped – miserably.

One guy decided not to even swing in the same ballpark. Instead, his Tumbler was created from the chassis of a golf cart with heavy modifications and a lot of black paint. It was listed for $17,000 – and actually sold! I’m still going to have to say, that seems like a steep asking price for what you get – despite its ability to simultaneously double as a Star Wars tribute.

15  Optimums Prime

Speaking to you as a former truck driver, I’ll tell you where this guy triumphed (and where he fell way short) at his attempt to re-create his very-own class-8 tribute to the legendary Optimus Prime. First of all, he gets points for actually using a tractor; and secondly for putting a little bit more effort into it than slapping a double-sided Transformers emblem where the Western Star logo went.

This helps give his tractor-tribute some scope of depth; thumbs up there. No matter how much chrome you throw at your new-model tractor, however, Optimist Prime is supposed to be a cab over Kenworth – not whatever this thing is. It’s actually a fairly nice Western Star – but “nice” isn’t Optimus.

14 Mystery Machine Madness

About the only thing this guy and his van share in common with the real Scooby Doo gang (and their Mystery Machine) is a psychedelic paint job, a few psychedelics that have nothing to do with paint and a shaggy appearance. This guy doesn’t even try hard enough to keep his tires properly inflated; how could we reasonably expect anything adequate – let alone halfway-exceptional?

My real problem with this whole situation, however? He’s the type of guy to turn his windowless, 1980s panel van into an iteration of the beloved children’s icon (and with a face like that, no less). Stranger danger?

13 Wally What?

Here’s a car that I have resented since the moment I first laid eyes on it – and have never learned to like it anymore ever since. They say you just have to give it time and eventually things grow on you. This is true, things do grow on you – I have grown a chip on my shoulder filled with overflowing disdain for the lackadaisical manner in which this movie prop was constructed.

It is literally just a few extra lights slapped onto a little bit of custom fiberglass and sheet metal – decent work, but it almost looks like they let the “DeLorean guy” design it. This is really the best they could do?

12 Mortimaster

I’m not one to usually root for the bad guy – but this bad guy just does is so good I can’t stop! Optimus Prime may now feature the latest-and-greatest Western Start technology that a modern tractor can offer, but this vintage Kenworth takes movie tributes to a whole new level. He has the paint scheme nailed down correctly (give or take), and the transition from cartoon to conception is very on-point.

If you think the outside is all nice and pretty, you have to take a peek under that cab and see what type of fire it breathes. As you would expect, the engine is garnished with the same, immaculate artistry that wraps the outer sheet metal; the fully-functional tractor looks pristine from just about every angle. (My name is Nathan, and I endorse this tribute. Take a picture – this is a rare moment.)

11  Foxbody Fall Out

This original Batmobile iteration is actually uglier than the Futura from which it’s based upon; the Lincoln Futura transformation was at least significant in its own, historical right (as well as professionally-done and nationally acclaimed). It may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s still cool to see.

This one, however, would only be worth looking at if you stuck a rag down the filler neck of the gas tank and lit it on fire. Not surprisingly, this Batmobile was based upon the 5.0 Fox body; signature design cues are almost discernible in the grill (once you know to look for them).

10 Eleanor

Here is a very polarizing car; and one a bit harder to identify than your “standard” Mustang. If you don’t know what it is, don’t feel bad – this is just one of the biggest piles of trash that ever rolled out of a Ford assembly line with the Mustang namesake. The Mustang Mach 1 signified the complete disconnect between everything a Mustang was, and the direction it was heading.

Few of you may recognize it from the 1974 Gone In 60 Seconds movie. It featured one of the longest car chases in history (it feels like it anyway). It’s the 70s, so they refreshingly lack the excessively-silly (and physically impossible) “stunts” we’re acclimated to; but it’s about 10 minutes of Mach 1-shredding footage that consumed who knows how many Mustangs in the process.

9 Ecto 1

It’s a 1959 Cadillac Professional chassis that was built by the Miller-Meteor company - a subsidiary of Wayne Works. It all sounds like something out of a Batman prologue, but the famous, end-loader hearse was actually more common back in its day then we would think. Nonetheless, there is a big difference between a ‘59 Cadillac hearse and a ‘96 station wagon that tried to follow Ecto’s footsteps.

If we want to start from the front bumper and work our way slowly back, you would probably need a lawn chair with an ottoman, bag of popcorn, a blanket, and a pillow. Just think of all the Pokémon he could’ve been catching while he wasted precious time putting this thing together.

8 Burton’s Bat

To most comic book fans, owning an authentic Batmobile is nothing more than a pipe dream. We all know it is, but we still hold onto that sliver of hope in the back of our heads that maybe, one day it will become a reality. One audacious, Australian bat-lover decided that “the pipe ends here,” and decide to fabricate himself a very convincing Burton-Batmobile.

It is a completely hand-built, street-legal attention-getter that he can legally go and pick up groceries in – but he’s never able to leave the parking lot without a swarming horde of kids wanting to “see Batman” and sit inside the Batmobile. (It’s literally that convincing.)

7  “Bandit Edition” 840hp Trans Am

It’s hard to know what side of the fence you want to be on with this one. If you are a general motor fan, you will probably have a slight affinity for in some capacity, even if it isn’t your cup of tea. Ford fans probably won’t care for it unless they grew up on Smokey and the Bandit, and there are not enough Pontiac fans in the world for their opinion to count in the first place.

Although some of the design cues are a little bit different (like the T-top and the retro-grille styling), it pulls off the look of what you would think a “Bandit Edition” should look like rather well for a sixth-generation Camaro. (Whenever I want to hate it, my brain keeps reverting back to the 840hp rating; it’s hard not to want to “see how it feels,” no matter how ugly you think it is.

6 The General CitiCar

It’s small. It’s ugly. It’s weak and it’s slow; the Vanguard CityCar General Lee tribute is about as far away from a General Lee as it gets. About the only thing this little car has going for it at the moment is a paint job forged with the impression of indestructible performance.

Despite the highly-contrasting engineering of the CitiCar and the Charger (and their intended design-use), it’s probably most peculiar that an electric-powered excuse for a prototype needed to be painted like a big block legend to gain any fame and media attention.

5 Herbie the Love Bug

Whether or not you grew up on the tales of “Herbie,” The Love Bug is a question of individual upbringing. But there’s a more-than-likely chance that you have at least heard of the sentient anthropomorphic, pop-culture icon that lovingly brought a 1963 Volkswagen beetle to literal-life on the big screen in the late-‘60s.

It's good old Walt, so you can expect it to deliver a gleeful gallivant through a make-believe world where cars can listen to the things you say (and respond back accordingly). This is actually a movie tribute that’s fairly easy to produce; any solid, rust-free pre-’67 will do. As easy as Herbie is to recreate – it feels strange and unnatural when you see it done to a “new” Bettle.

4 Rotary-Piston Cup

Indeed, it’s a strange sight to see – an MX-5 personifying Lightning McQueen in the fictional land of Cars; the racecar that battled it out in the “Piston” cup. In this case, it would more appropriately be named the “Rotary” cup, but no one at tuner nation seems to mind.

You have to admit – although this is one of the laziest attempts in history to ever re-create a popular movie car, there is something to be said about the stunning likeness that simply putting a sunshade in the windshield can achieve; this little MX-5 looks exactly like Lightning McQueen if you squint your eyes.

3 Doc Hudson’s Hornet

The retired racecar appeared in the 2006 blockbuster as Doc Hudson and is modeled after the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet.” The extremely rare Hornets were only produced in the early ‘50s as Hudsons; they would eventually fall under the AMC umbrella for the latter half of the decade.

The functional “step-down” floor pan design afforded the Hudsons with a lower center of gravity, allowing them to excel in racing roles despite their land-yacht handling proclivities. Since the movie version of the car is nearly an exact replica of the Fabulous Hornet, a replica of Doc Hudson can easily be exacted with the simple installation of a few blue-eyed windshield covers.

2  Big-Boy Toys

Even big boys need their toys, and heavy duty record drivers are no exception. Here is another Cars fan who apparently liked the movie enough to wrap the entire exterior of his Peterbilt wrecker in a high-quality landscape of the Cars land. It’s blasted conspicuously across the truck from the chrome grille all the way back to the stinger – and that’s a lot of truck.

This just goes to show that you are never too old to play with toys. It’s either that, or he decided to capitalize on the amazing marketing opportunity presented to him by having been named after a Pixar movie character – he’s the owner of Marvin’s tow service, after all.

1 Third-Generation Monaco

It’s a full-size, C-body, Chrysler design stamped into the 1974-model year Monaco; a poster-child transition sedan of the day. Vague hints of performance struggled to retain surface area on the exterior styling as the big body sedan transitioned into the automotive industry’s response to oil scares energy shortages.

As ugly as the car may be, the ’74 Monaco is a nice looking car in its own right. (There’s something oddly special about a mid-‘70s land-yacht.)Trying to transition this, however, into a new Chevy Impala platform loses a lot of the nostalgia, and looks more like a bad Halloween costume that you should’ve spent more money on.

Sources: overdrive online, curbside classic, & motortrend