Race Party’s Top 20 screen cars of all time

While 2020 has thrown some major obstacles in our way, we thought we would take some time out for a bit of fun and look at our top 20 cars from TV and movies over the years.
From classic models and high speed muscle cars, right through to cars that astound us with their capabilities, here are Race Party’s favourite cars from both the small and big screens....

1. Knight Rider - KITT, Pontiac Trans Am
For any kid growing up in the 80s, KITT was the coolest car around. The sleek black lines with the flashing red light on the grill looked super stylish, and it was armed with an array of gadgets that helped Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff in his breakout role) defeat the bad guys every week. KITT was so cool that we could even overlook that whiny voice the producers equipped him with! 

2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - Ferrari 250 GT Spyder
When Ferris needs a ride to pick his girlfriend from school, Cameron’s old Alfa Romeo just won’t do. Instead, Ferris convinces Cameron to take out his father’s pride and joy, his bright red Ferrari GT Spyder.  While Ferris, Cameron and Sloane enjoy a day in downtown Chicago, two parking attendants enjoy an afternoon of high speed fun in the Ferrari.
A horrible slip up when trying to reverse the odometer sees the luxury car fall through the glass wall of the raised garage and flip upside down to the ground below. 

3. National Lampoon’s Vacation - Ford LTD Country Squire
While he didn’t get the Sports Wagon he ordered, the 'Wagon Queen Family Truckster’ that Clark Griswold and his family drove across the country to get to Wally World sure saw plenty of action. With metallic pea green colouring and faux wood panelling on the side and bonnet the wagon was such a hit that it was recreated in real life for people to buy.

4. Speed Racer - Mach 5
Built by ‘Pops’ Race for his son Speed to drive, the Mach 5 is not only the fastest racer on the track, it has a set of secret abilities activated by pressing one of the eight buttons on the steering wheel. From super grip tyres, circular saws and auto jacks, the Mach 5 coupled with Speed’s racing abilities proved a tough force to beat. Despite numerous attempts to steal the Mach 5 away from Speed, the good guys always won at the end of the day.

5. Grease - Ford De Luxe and Ford Super Deluxe
While the restoration job done on Kenickie’s Ford De Luxe was no doubt impressive, it was the red dream Ford Super Deluxe that really stole the show during the song Greased Lightning. With extended fins and a see through bonnet, the car was also seen at the end as Sandy and Danny not just drive away, but the car takes to the sky and flies off!

6. Magnum PI - Ferrari 308 GTS
Another sleek and stylish car from the 80s, the Ferrari in Magnum PI was almost as famous as the private investigator played by Tom Selleck. The car was seen every episode, driving around the Hawaiian islands as Magnum solved crimes with style and flair. If you could pick any car to drive around Hawaii, this would definitely be on the shortlist.

7. The Spy Who Loved Me - Lotus Esprit
James Bond has driven some amazing cars throughout his film career, perhaps most famously an Aston Martin, however for sheer wow factor it was impossible to go past the Lotus Esprit he drove both on land and underwater in The Spy Who Loved Me. When needing a quick getaway from chasing villains, James turns the Lotus into the water and quick as you know it, the car is at the bottom of the water being driven via periscope. Clear of danger, Bond drives out on the other side of the river to safety.
Fun Fact: The car used in the movie was bought by Tesla founder Elon Musk in 2013 for $1 million dollars!

8. Back to the Future - Delorean 
With an unpainted steel body, gull wing doors and rear mounted engine, the Delorean owes its place in history on the Back to the Future series. When Doc Brown created his time machine out of the famously mocked and derided Delorean, it’s place in pop culture folklore was sealed for eternity.
Let’s be thankful that the writers of the original Back to the Future movie didn’t go with their original idea of Marty travelling through time in a refrigerator!

9. Wayne’s World ‘Mirthmobile’ - AMC Pacer
Not only is the AMC Pacer the perfect ‘Mirthmobile’ for the peculiar yet cool Garth, with curved glass rear windows and distinctive flames painted down the side panels. It is also the setting for the movie’s most famous scene. After a quick chat with a limosuine at a traffic light, the boys get into a classic rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. 

10. Herbie the Love Bug - VW Beetle
One of Disney’s most successful live action movies, the character of Herbie appeared in a number of movies that had him racing cars, catching diamond thieves and even cracking a counterfeiting ring! A reboot starring Lindsay Lohan was released in 2005 with somewhat success.
While there were many cars used for filming, only one was rigged with all of the tricks such as shooting oil. This model is owned by the star of the first movies, Dean Jones

11. Starsky and Hutch - Ford Gran Torino
Before Knight Rider and Magnum PI, the cops with the coolest car were Starsky and Hutch. The Red Gran Torino with the white strip down the side was so popular that the Ford motor company released a special edition Starsky and Hutch paint job edition.
The car was also seen in the 2004 remake starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. 

12. The Munsters - Custom ‘Monster Koach’
While Grandpa Munsters coffin racer (the excellently named Drag U La) was built for speed, our favourite has to be the Monster Koach. A ‘monster-like’ creation of three vehicles, the vehicle was made up of three Ford Model T bodies and was almost 6 metres long! The car cost around US$18,000 to build, which doesn’t seem that much: until you consider that the build was back in 1964 - that works out to approximately $150,000 today!

13. Smokey and the Bandit - Pontiac Trans Am
With a bright gold eagle adorning the hood and wheel rims to match, the Pontiac Trans Am driven by the Bandit is very eye catching: not necessarily what you want when trying to evade the law. While helping a big rig deliver a truckload across state lines, Bandit time and time again gets involved in chases with Sheriff Buford T Justice and his troopers. 
Star Burt Reynolds claims that before the movie was released a Pontiac executive promised him a free Trans Am if it was a hit. While the movie was a smash, unfortunately for Burt the executive retired before he got to claim his reward.

14. The Dukes of Hazard ‘ General Lee’ - Dodge Charger
From the bright orange paintwork, the confederate flag on the roof or the blaring horn, The General Lee soared around the roads and through the skies of Hazard County, as Bo and Luke Duke helped Uncle Jessie and Daisy to thwart the up to no good Boss Hogg and his corrupt Sheriff Roscoe.
Each week not only did the boys pull it off, they did so with a car chase that involved some form of incredible jump in the General Lee.

15. The Blues Brothers ‘Bluesmobile’ - Dodge Monaco
When Jake walks out of prison to find his brother Elwood is there to pick him up in an old police cruiser he is not impressed. A fee minutes a jump over a raised bridge later and Jake has changed his tune. Over the rest of the movie, the ‘Bluesmobile’ is involved in a number of chases, including a classic pursuit through a shopping mall.
At the time of filming, The Blues Brothers held the world record for the most number of cars crashed in a movie!

16. Mad Max ‘Interceptor’ - XB GT Ford Falcon
Fury Road turned up the power on Mad Max machines, but it is the original that is still the best in our hearts. The supercharged V8 driven by Max was pure muscle, and in an era where Australian films had little impact elsewhere, the raw power of George Miller’s, Mel Gibson starrer, broke records for national productions and put the Australian industry on the world scene.
Sadly though, while highly impressive looking, in reality the supercharger that is bursting out of the bonnet is nothing more than decoration.

17. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Custom inspired by Mercedes
In the classic movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is seen flying over fields, with bright red and yellow wings, complete with spinning propellors. Six models of car were used in filming with variations of models specifically for flying and water related shots.
Fun fact: Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson bought one of the cars at auction and has it displayed in the WETA studios in New Zealand.

18. Thelma & Louise - Ford Thunderbird
The perfect car for a cruising adventure, the Ford Thunderbird was chosen by director Ridley Scott as it didn’t need to be modified for filming. The seats allowed angles for people sitting in the front and rear, and the lack of a roof provided maximum camera access. While 5 cars were used for filming, including the iconic cliff scene at the end, one of the 5 sold for more than $70 thousand dollars, complete with signatures from stars Geena Davis and Brad Pitt.

19. The Italian Job - Mini Cooper S
Be it the original cars and movie starring Michael Caine, or the remake starring Mark Wahlberg using the revamped models, both Italian Job movies used the speed, manoeuvrability and small size of the Mini Coopers to pull of the perfectly planned heist. The driving sequences through the streets of both Torino (1969) and Los Angeles (2003) back up the old saying, ‘It’s not the size that counts, it’s what you do with it!”

20. Cars ‘Lightning McQueen’ - Inspired by Chevy Camaro
The star of 3 major movie pictures, Lightning McQueen is one of Pixar’s greatest character creations. Voiced by actor Owen Wilson, the Lightning McQueen character goes on many adventures and learns valuable life lessons along the way.

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