Unless your movie’s a fantasy or set in a historical setting, it’s going to feature cars in some form or fashion. That’s just one of the many realities of cinema. And it’s not really that hard to figure out why that is when you think about it – movies are just a reflection of our daily lives, and in reality we use cars to get everywhere and do everything. Some countries, such as America (which, you know, produce 99.9% of all movies that the world cares about) rely so much on cars that public transportation is barely even mention! And since we, as human beings, have a tendency to like things which help us and we are exposed to often, is it any wonder why so many of us have a car fetish? Hollywood knows this perfectly well, and as such has attempted to turn certain cars into “icons” for quite a while, mostly for advertisement purposes. The majority of the time, their attempts are pretty laughable (yeah, take a shot whenever you watch a Marvel movie and see the characters driving a car with a very obvious logo on the front), but sometimes, in some very rare occasions, it actually works! Let’s take a look at the five most iconic vehicles from the big screen!

5. Herbie

Herbie is often considered to be the very first car icon of Hollywood, debuting in 1968 with “The Love Bug” and having a pretty successful career up until the modern day, with six movies under his belt. Of course, I’m referring to Herbie as a “him” instead of as “it” because he’s entirely sentient, capable of driving himself and even expressing himself! How is he sentient? Is it magic? Is it science? Is it the black arts? Is it the power of love? Is it bored Disney executives looking for a new live action hit? I don’t know! It doesn’t matter! What matters is that, through some unknown means, we got an unshakeable movie icons that made Volkswagen Beetles everywhere look just a little bit cuter. Herbie would go on to drive on the road to a love bug empire… Right up until a movie starring Lindsay Lohan put him in the scrapheap in 2005. We’ll never forget you, Herbie!

4. Bond’s Aston Martin

Bond has driven a whole lot of cars over his 24 movies – I mean, that’s kind of his thing! In every movie he’s got his toys, his girl and his car. The tradition has been going on since the 60s, so naturally, we’ve got a whole lot of toys, girls and cars to choose from when picking favorites. My personal favorites, in that order, are the crocodile suit from “Octopussy” (which was actually referenced with a very similar item in one of my favorite games, “Metal Gear Solid 3”), Pussy Galore from “Goldfinger” (because come on now), and, of course, the Aston Martin, which is so popular and so beloved that it has appeared in twelve movies in the franchise – that’s literally half! I’m not going to go into too much detail about it because I already wrote an entire article about it, but let’s just say, it’s a thing of beauty! If your heart didn’t skip a beat when Bond unveiled it again in “Skyfall”, you’re not a real fan.

3. ECTO-1

When there’s something straaaaange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Well, whoever it is, they better have a damn fine ride with which to arrive! Leaving the 60s for a little bit, we’re moving onto the 80s, which were another incredibly iconic decade for, uh… Practically everything, really. We got some of the best music, some of the best cars, some of the best music, some of the best everything in that decade! Honestly, when I think of the 80s, there’s two movies that pop into my mind, one of which we’ll get to a little bit later, and the other is “Ghostbusters”, the comedy that started a franchise… Which died pretty much instantly the moment the terrible sequel was released. Awkward. But hey, on the bright side, we got one of the coolest cars ever! In the movie, the Ghostbusters kind of cobble their equipment together from whatever it is that they’ve got available, and their vehicle really portrays that – the thing does not look safe to drive whatsoever, but at least it looks cool as hell!

2. The DeLorean

“The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?” You know what, Doc Brown? I absolutely agree with you. When you hear the word “time machine”, what’s the first image that pops into your brain? I’m willing to bet that it’s either a blue police box or a silver car with gullwing doors! It’s definitely not… Whatever the hell they used in the 2002 movie “The Time Machine”. Can you remember without looking it up? I sure as hell can’t, because it just wasn’t as stylish as travelling back in time in one of the coolest cars ever invented! Indeed, the time machine from “Back to the Future” made DeLoreans so popular that they’re still the most sought-after cars out there, thirty years after the movie’s release! They’ve become a symbol of pop culture, appearing everywhere from books like “Ready Player One” to videogames like “Hotline Miami”. You can’t stop the DeLorean, and frankly, you shouldn’t. It’s the coolest car on the planet, and the best way to travel through time! But if the coolest car ever is only No. 2 on this list, what could possibly be No. 1?

1. The Batmobile

Yep, the top spot could only be taken by a car that is literally so cool it couldn’t possibly exist (because it’d cost roughly $10 million to construct). There’s no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the Batmobile is the most iconic movie vehicle ever! Which one? All of them! The 1960s car, as goofy as it was, was actually what gave food to the notion that Batman should have his specialized Bat-themed car (throughout his early history Batman just used whatever normal car he used). Then we have the Tumbler from “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, which did what Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies did in general and brought a very goofy concept into a realistic setting by essentially turning the Batmobile into a Bat-Tank. But by far the best-looking one is the Tim Burton Batmobile, which looks stylish as hell. No other car has even come close to looking as remarkably good as that version of the Batmobile, and perhaps none ever will again. I can’t think of any other vehicle more worthy of the No. 1 spot!

You know that feeling when you’re watching the races (even more so if it’s live), where you wish you could be driving one of those cars. Whilst becoming an F1 driver might be quite a task to achieve and not everyone is really made for it, there is a company who have been (for some time now) making It possible. Or at least as possible as it gets. “Your choice, your dream” as they say on their official site. Well, that would be true if you had a minimum of £300,000 sitting in your pocket for that particular dream. I am going to get you familiar with this not so widely popular but nonetheless – outstanding car – the Spanish Tramontana.

There are not many hand-made vehicles nowadays, so that alone makes it quite unique. The brand was spotted by our beloved Top Gear back in 2009 but officially launched in the UK only last year. High technology with top quality luxury materials for both, exterior and interior, no Tramontana is exactly the same. Just to give you a taste of it, imagine carbon fiber, titanium, gold and the best wood, aerodynamic leather seats, placed with ideal weight distribution in mind. And in that, you can race with the wind at the astonishing 325km/h. And the best part? It is road legal. Yes, that’s very much the spirit of it – bringing the race design and experience to the average driver (ahm…average, average…you know, half-a-million-euro-spare-cash kind of average but still).

Each car is tailored to its new owners’ taste – colour, materials, technical specs etc. The mid-range Tramontana XTR features the V12 engine aimed more at pure track performance. This particular model can reach 62mph in less than 3.3sec. Only 12 cars are produced each year.

All models are impressively light, given the technical specifications – produced with carbon fiber, they all don’t go above the 1350kg mark. The range-topping R model (currently the one available to UK audience) is available with two different engines. A twin-turbocharged 5.5-litre V8 from Mercedes and pumping out up to 710 hp or the naturally-aspirated Audi-sourced 5.2-litre V10 engine with 592 hp. All cars are produced by a small team of Formula 1 engineers based north of Barcelona. An order takes between one and eight months to complete on average. The car is already sold across Europe, US and the Middle East. The design (as you may have already spotted) is a bit of a discussion point and I think very nicely covered by the head of UK development, Shami Karla – “It’s a Marmite car, you’ll either love it or you don’t. When you see it, you’ll be blown away. The cars will go to people who are complete petrolheads. Many of the supercars which are around the £1 million mark aren’t achievable for most people, whereas our cars at this price are. There’s nothing that’s so extreme for this price.”

The aim of the company is to bring the F1 experience and sensation to the regular drivers and in all fairness, design or not, they have achieved that. They are also toying with the idea to have electric models in the not too distant future and models that are fully and only for racing. Let’s wait and see. Ah, and before I leave you, let’s hear it purring.

For the ones of you who may wonder what’s the jump there, let me clarify. You know I wrote about my favourite Chevrolet recently, well see, maybe some of you already know but let’s voice it for the rest – this is the car make that has won the most NASCAR races up to date. And that’s not a small achievement. And besides, in February this year, on the 21st to be exact, back in 1921, the National Association for Stock Car Racing (yep, NASCAR) was incorporated officially. So to celebrate the birthday I thought I will write up a post on the topic for my fellow car lovers.
Presently one of the most popular sports and a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide, this started probably not the way you would imagine.

In Europe, Daytona Beach became known as the place to set world land speed records and the mecca for speed enthusiasts. In the States though, during roughly the same period, the Prohibition was forcing people to try figure out methods of delivering moonshine – a homemade type of whiskey. And as you can imagine, having a fast car that can beat anything the authorities can come up with was the way. The cars were quickly getting better and better, starting with (don’t laugh) engines from ambulances (that was the best the market had to offer!) and then building on and improving that until at some point the races between the performance enhanced cars became a source of pride, entertainment and yes, profit, themselves. Shortly after regulations and order was required as with any other activity for it to prosper and develop. A mechanic under the name of William “Bill” France Sr. (1909-1992) from Washington, D.C., who in the mid-1930s moved to Daytona, rose to the bait as he was getting tired of dishonest promoters and organisers. This is how the idea of NASCAR was born, with its official incorporation in February 1921. France was officially the first NASCAR’s president shaped and influenced the development of the sport over the next few decades. (I am pretty sure there was some betting going on as well, but I would need to look into this further…do people bet on car races nowadays? I’m curious now…another day, another post, let’s not digress).
The races quickly developed and evolved, in the 50s the first official tracks were opened in South Carolina and many more followed with thousands of happy races and sport enthusiasts and plenty of new records set.
In 1972, France’s son, William France Jr., took over the presidency of NASCAR as his father retired. To him we can safely give the credit for making NASCAR a global organisation, known and loved not just in certain areas of the USA but across the globe.
At present, as with everything it seems, races are even going digital – with the likes of iRacing – an online simulator for professional racers and driving enthusiasts. The platform partners with NASCAR and a number of other real-world racing organizations and series, creating a close to reality experience for players. Now this is something! Virtual reality is the next big thing with some of the latest devices being able to track and react to anything, down to your head movement and gaze! Sky is literally the limit here, so let’s all wait and see what’s on the line for us, moto fans, both on and offline!
Trust you had fun as always, see you soon!