Our favourite cars from movies and TV

If you’re like us, you’ll routinely take note of the cars that appear in your favourite movies and TV shows.

***1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R – 2 Fast 2 Furious***

Some movies and shows are renowned for their cars, and as car lovers it’s hard not to be enamoured with such hero vehicles. Some examples that come to mind include the Fast and Furious and Mad Max franchises, as well as animated movies like Cars.

There are too many famous vehicles that fall into this category, and all are special in their own right. For that reason, we asked the CarExpert team what their favourite cars from movies and TV are.

It’s a brief break from all of our new car coverage, and our team had complete freedom to choose any car from any of their favourite movies and shows of any age. Of course, links to new cars on sale were welcome, but not necessary.

Feel free to share your favourite cars in the comments below!

Paul Maric: 1981 DMC DeLorean – Back to the Future

Without fail this is the coolest cinema car. This 1980s movie classic showcased a car from a company that was virtually going bust and propelled it onto the world stage.

The story behind the brand reads as a fiction drama, but the reality behind it all is genuinely unmatched.

The car itself wasn’t very good – by the end it used an average engine and some of the parts used in the first generation of these cars haven’t stood the test of time.

Nevertheless, even today the car looks unreal – and I’d love to own one, one day.

DeLorean brand has recently reinvented itself and revealed plans for a new electric vehicle (it’s one of the few brands for which a premium electric car actually makes sense) and its own crypto token called the DMC Token with a series of NFTs.

Marton Pettendy: 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback – Bullitt

The 1968 cult classic Bullitt not only helped catapult Steve McQueen to fame, it contained what’s still widely regarded as one of the greatest car chases in cinematic history, up there with other epic real-world pursuits that defined The Italian Job, Ronin and The French Connection.

It began more than an hour into the film and lasted almost 11 minutes on the hilly streets of San Francisco, where Frank Bullitt – a take-no-prisoners cop played by McQueen – used a four-speed manual 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback to hunt down the crime mob kingpin who killed his witness.

But Bullitt/McQueen was also instrumental in making Ford’s then-new Mustang a household name in the US, where the original car later became the most expensive Mustang ever sold at auction.

When Ford reunited McQueen’s grand-daughter Molly for the launch of its born-again Mustang Bullitt limited-edition at the Detroit motor show in 2018, marking the 50^th anniversary of the film, she said: “Now maybe I’m a little bit biased… but it’s crazy, you talk to people about great car chase movies and it still remains the gold standard”.

Interested in buying a Ford Mustang? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

MORE: Everything Ford Mustang

James Wong: Nigel Gearsley (Aston Martin DBR9) – Cars 2

My obsession with Aston Martin goes a long way back. In fact, I have a number of them in my Hot Wheels collection that I used to broooom-brooooom along the floor at home in my primary school days.

It makes sense then, that one of my favourite movies as a kid was Disney Pixar’s Cars, and that my all-time favourite movie car is Nigel Gearsley the Aston Martin DBR9.

Based on the GT1-class DBR9 race car, Nigel Gearsley is named after Sir Nigel Gresley – one of Great Britain’s most famous locomotive engineers who designed both the Flying Scotsman and Mallard steam trains, the most famous locomotive and the fastest locomotive respectively.

Fun fact: before cars I was obsessed with trains, and I actually have a wooden model of Sir Gresley’s Mallard that I received as a gift from my grandmother, and the Flying Scotsman was my equal favourite because of its beautiful design and distinctive green paint job.

Anyway, while Nigel Gearsley the movie car doesn’t make too many cameos in Cars 2, he’d easily be my character of choice in one of the spinoff video games. Tally ho!

Interested in buying an Aston Martin? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

MORE: Everything Aston Martin

Jack Quick: 2003 Honda S2000 – 2 Fast 2 Furious

I grew up with the Fast and Furious movies and there are so many iconic vehicles that I could easily pick for this.

One that always sticks in my mind is Suki’s bright pink Honda S2000 from 2 Fast 2 Furious. I’ve always loved the ricer Veilside body kit and decals, and the pink flames that shoot out from the exhaust are to die for.

Another element that always has me enamoured is the adorable animated character on the car’s dashboard display. In the words of Suki, “bend over boy”.

In terms of a modern equivalent to the Honda S2000, there isn’t anything currently offered from Honda, though the closest from a competitor brand would be the Mazda MX-5 roadster.

Interested in buying a Honda? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

MORE: Everything Honda

William Stopford: 1977 Pontiac Firebird Esprit – The Rockford Files

There are just too many to mention.

The James Bond franchise alone gives me a bunch, from the Toyota 2000GT convertible made specifically for the Sean Connery-led You Only Live Twice, to the Aston Martin DBS destroyed in Casino Royale.

Speaking of epic driving scenes, how about the Dodge Challenger in Vanishing Point, or the Audi S8 in Ronin?

That’s not to mention the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger seen in Bullitt, which has one of the best car chase scenes of all time.

While we’re talking about gorgeous Americana, how about the Oldsmobile 442 driven by Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man?

But I’m going to go a little left-field here and pick a famous Pontiac Firebird – no, not KITT from Knight Rider or the Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit, but rather the subtle gold-coloured Esprit driven by James Garner in The Rockford Files.

This show was before my time (though I did watch – and love – some older mystery shows growing up, like Murder, She Wrote), but I’m a huge fan of the second-generation Pontiac Firebird, specifically the 1977-78 models which were featured on this show.

In contrast to the overtly sporty Formula and Trans Am, the Esprit had a subtler look that may have put the pony car’s styling in the best light. The gold was also a very period colour. This was no ordinary Esprit, however, as the show’s producers reportedly used sportier Formulas and removed their visual enhancements.

I don’t want to give Hollywood another unoriginal idea, but just what would Jim Rockford drive in a reboot of The Rockford Files?

When Knight Rider was unsuccessfully rebooted in 2008, several years after the Firebird left production and around the same time Pontiac itself was being shuttered, KITT became a Ford Mustang. In a subtle colour, I could see that working for a modern-day Rockford Files.

Jordan Mulach: The Pursuit Special (1973 Ford Falcon XB GT) – Mad Max

Initially my pick was going to be Steve McQueen’s Bullitt 390 cubic-inch Ford Mustang fastback, or even the former cop-spec Dodge Monaco from The Blues Brothers.

There could only be one answer though: the XB Falcon Hardtop Pursuit Special from the original Mad Max.

Though the original Pursuit Special was based on a Monaro – and is subsequently stolen by the Nightrider, who perishes along with it – it’s the XB which became famous and remains so more than 45 years after the film was released.

Even the yellow Interceptor which Max drives in the film’s opening scene is a thing of beauty, though it is hard to believe those Dunlop Aquajet tyres could’ve been up to the job of high-speed chases.

As soon as the Pursuit Special comes into frame with its black paint, with its Peter Arcadipane-designed Concorde nose and (non-functional) Weiand 6-71 supercharger with injection hat sticking out of the bonnet, something inside me is awakened.

And that sound… my word, the Cleveland is a great sounding engine when it’s kicked in the guts. The l-l-last of the V-V-V8s which sucks nitro is one hell of a thing. No wonder Max went back on his resignation.

But beyond that, the longevity of the Pursuit Special is nothing short of impressive. After appearing in the original 1979 film, it was again featured in 1981’s Mad Max 2 (most commonly known as ‘The Road Warrior’).

Though it missed out on a cameo in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome alongside Tina Turner, it starred once more in the opening scene of 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and again in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga this year.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever see an Australian car play a more prominent role in an important series again, but I’m glad it was arguably the best Falcon ever that got a starring role.

Interested in buying a Ford? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

MORE: Everything Ford

Max Davies: 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX – Baby Driver

It’ll never not be incredibly cool to see a car you love on the big screen. For me, the car is the hawkeye Impreza WRX, and the movie is 2017’s Baby Driver.

There are a handful of cool cars in that movie, but the WRX driven by Ansel Elgort is the only one that really catches my eye, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way.

With its bright-red paint job and aftermarket black wheels, it’s by no means as classically iconic as some of the other cars here, but the fact it looks like a relatively normal non-STI WRX is something cool in itself – and it even works to the car’s advantage in the movie.

Better yet, it’s the very first hero car you see in Baby Driver, and the epic opening scene sets the pace for the rest of the film, even if it is only around five minutes long.

A WRX getting thrown around the streets and alleys of Atlanta is a special sight, and it’s made better by the fact all the driving looks plausible with appropriate shifts, pedal inputs and steering movements – unlike the infinite-shift 57-speed gearboxes featured in the Fast and Furious series.

That’s not to say it’s all entirely true-to-life, but even Subaru purists likely won’t be annoyed. While the iconic flat four rumble can be heard throughout (aside from the odd non-boxer rev flares), those with a keen eye will notice that some of the manoeuvres would be hard to pull off in an all-wheel drive Subaru.

That’s because among the fleet of Subarus on hand for the filming of Baby Driver, a couple were converted to rear-wheel drive with higher power outputs to be able to pull off the various drifts and slides. In total, five different WRXs appear in that one scene, with the RWDs doing the heavy lifting.

There were reportedly loads of differently modified other WRXs prepared too – some automatics with drive controls strapped to the roof, some standard WRXs loaded with cameras, and even a 240kW version with the performance internals from a real STI.

While it’s a shame that it doesn’t appear again after the opening scene, it was a relief that it wasn’t crashed on-screen. One of the fleet even sold for nearly US$70,000 at auction once filming was done, which may well have been bought by a member of the film crew.

Interested in buying a Subaru? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

MORE: Everything Subaru Impreza
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Josh Nevett: 1994 Toyota Supra – The Fast and the Furious

I attribute my passion for all things cars to three cultural icons – Top Gear, Need for Speed, and the Fast and Furious franchise.

That makes it tough to select a single standout car, but it’s hard to go past the fourth-generation Toyota Supra driven by Brian O’Conner in the original Fast and Furious film for a few reasons.

First of all, just look at it. That orange paint scheme is memorable in its own right, and stands for everything JDM. The Supra is also one of the film’s hero cars, driven by both Brian and Dom Toretto.

Without that movie, the Mk4 Supra may not have reached the legendary status it now occupies in the annals of Japanese automotive history, culminating in the development of a fifth-gen model that’s still on sale today.

Sidenote, I actually came across a replica of the orange Supra while in Tokyo earlier this year and I must say it’s equally striking in person!