Top 11 Cars from Movies and TV
- CJ Tiernan
- Dec 11, 2025
- 8 min read
By CJ Tiernan
We've all had a moment when watching a movie where we saw something that doesn't exist in our world and thought "aw man, I wish that was real." Whether it is a place, a person, or a thing, we've all had that desire. For me, it is often the mode of transportation the characters use. I just want for there to be flying cars already. C'mon, people. Let's make flying cars a thing. In lieu of that reality, we can simply appreciate all the cool stuff we see on screen (and be thankful for what we do have, I guess). Below is a list of my Top 11 favorite Cars that I can ever remember seeing in a movie or a TV show.
1. DeLorean - Back to the Future
I can't decide if it's better or worse for Back to the Future that the DeLorean is a largely failed organization. I think the rarity of the car makes it even more singular. The gull wing doors, the flux-capacitor, the metal exterior all lead to an unbelievable aesthetic. Add in the fact that it can travel through time, and this car is the dopest of the dope. Doc Brown took a car known as a commercial flop and spun it into the greatest car in pop culture history.
2. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
This is another reclamation success story. Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) buys this hunk of junk off the side of the road or a junkyard or something and turns it in to a grand marvel of a car. It can fly and float on water and carries the Potts family to far away places. It's unique, foldable wings and facade as a former race car create such a unique look. Even though this movie came out in the '60s, I'd still sign up for this car today (except that I don't know how to drive a stick very well so I don't know if that would be a great idea).
3. Batmobile - Batman
There are many to choose from here. You've got the heavily-modified 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept Car that Adam West and Burt Ward cruised around inside of during the TV show. The one from the Tim Burton movies that is like 90% front-end with just enough space in the back for a rocket engine and Michael Keaton. There's the Tumbler from the Christopher Nolan trilogy. And not to be out done, we have the muscle car from Robert Pattinson's The Batman. Regardless of which is your favorite (I'd go with the Tim Burton one for the look or the Tumbler for practicality) they are simply awesome. They have gadgets up the wazoo and they're built to go really fast. Sometimes they even fly, or at least fall with style, or turn into motorcycle. In a word: Iconic.
4. Mystery Machine - Scooby-Doo
The coolest van that has ever happened is the Mystery Machine. While we've all been conditioned to avoid suspicious vans and strangers with candy, this bad boy is grandfathered in on the good side. Four young adults and their dog solving mysteries uninvited is absolutely totally casual. Some might go so far as to call it the norm. How else do supernatural mysteries (that ultimately turn out to be a white guy with a makeup and wardrobe budget) even get solved? The meddling masters of the Mystery Machine, that's how (and a pup named Scooby-Doo).
5. Mach 5 - Speed Racer
The Mach 5 is tricked out to the gills. It's like if all the fun things that got added to the vehicles in Pimp My Ride were practical and placed inside of an already functioning race car (and deployable at the press of a button). The title character (his name is actually Speed and his parents built the race car so one could genuinely argue he was built for speed) is attempting to win a race and is always up against some conniving organization or corrupt syndicate that is trying to rig the race and win by dirty tricks. As such, they justify using trinkets, doodads, and gadgets (like using jacks to jump over something or being able to become bullet proof or to turn the car into a submarine). They are defensive, not offensive, implements so I guess the cheating is okay. Plus, Speed's younger brother has a pet chimp and his older brother races under an alias so Speed is the chill one of the family.
6. The Magic School Bus - The Magic School Bus
Ms. Frizzle's magical mode of moving kids is fantastic. It can be shrunk down small enough to traverse the inside of a human being or travel through time to bypass teaching and learn from the sources like Galileo and Einstein or just cruise the ocean floor checking on the coral. I'm now realizing that almost every single one of my favorite cars can also fly and survive travel through water. Seriously, when will they just make flying cars. I feel like the Jetsons promised us flying cars way back in the '60s and we're still waiting (FYI, because the flying car in the Jetsons never drives on land and only flies - and folds into a briefcase - I did not include it on my cars list and will wait to deploy it on a similar list for spacecraft). Write your local congresswoman, people. We've got to be the change we want to see in the world. Flying cars! Flying cars!
7. Light Cycle - Tron
I'm a big advocate for people staying alive, so I'm not a huge fan of the destructive nature of the glowing trails left behind from a Light Cycle. They seem to be designed specifically to permanently erase data from the game (so when a human becomes digitized, it can be fatal). Other than that, these things are sick. They seem to go so fast and, at least in the sequels, are sleek and stylish. I am willing to accept a debate that a cycle is not a car, as a separate motorcycle license (and thus a separate trip to the DMV) is required to operate it. Feh. My list, my rules.
8. Ecto-1 - Ghostbusters
An ambulance/hearse is a unique choice for the go-to vehicle of supernatural-vanquishing superheroes but that's the '80s for ya. The '80s were weird, man. Also, the original script for the movie (written by Dan Aykroyd) was WAY more insane than the finished product and about 100 pages longer (still shorter than his first script for the Blues Brothers which was 324 pages long). Plus, it was called Ghost Smashers which is somehow even more sexual than the line from the theme song that says, and I'm quoting here, "busting makes me feel good." Anyway, the aesthetic of both the movie and the car is stupendously remarkable.
9. Bumblebee - Transformers
To be fair to the Michael Bay version of Bumblebee, those Camaros are quite lovely even when they aren't "robots in disguise." However, when they are, they're even cooler. I like the use of the radio as the method of communication. It's a fun quirk. Plus, as an Iowa Hawkeye fan, I love me that black and gold color scheme. Additionally, as it seems that Bumblebee ends up in charge of protecting a civilian all the time, it seems excellent that he's great at driving. Both Transformers (2007) and Bumblebee (2018) are in my Top 200 movies of all time so I am partial to those iterations. I didn't watch the show as a kid. I am aware that it was originally a VW Bug, though, so quite an upgrade in my humble opinion (IMHO).
10. Turtle Van - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Speaking of watching TV shows as a kid (and strap in for an old reference here), my parents used to take me to Blockbuster Video to rent VHS copies of the late '80s TV show. It was wonderful. Leonardo was my guy. Apparently, in the original text (it was a comic book but I hold it such high regard I refer to it the same way one might refer to The Bible) they all had the same color headband and then when it became a show, they changed the titular ninjas's uniforms to be less uniform to sell toys. As my college professor once said, "No one wants to be sold anything, but people love to buy." Aw man, I had so many TMNT toys. I had a vehicle that had spiky rollers on the front that I fell on knee-first once and achieved scar status. But the best one was the van. Those heroes in a half shell had so much bulk they simply wouldn't fit in a standard car, so they went all out and invested in a van that was turtle-themed with cannons and various other armaments. So sick! I dressed up as Leonardo for Halloween a couple years in a row to show how big a fan I was (shout out to my mom who sewed the costume and pretty much made it up from scratch).
11. Foot-Pedaled Cars - The Flintstones
While this one wouldn't necessarily be my favorite one to pilot, as it comes with a heavy helping of exercise, it is undoubtably iconic. This thing is like the grandfather of the steamroller. Two giant stone wheels span the width of the vehicle, no windshield so you can't get moving too fast, and powered by foot. Nevertheless, if it came with a side of living with dinosaurs, I 'd be 100% in. I mean, the Flintstones have a freakin' pet dinosaur (and they got so inventive with name they just used the first two syllables of dinosaur). When the car tips over courtesy of the brontosaurus ribs in the opening credits, I bet they had to recruit all of Bedrock to get that thing tipped back upright again. What a heavy beast.
Final Thoughts
I'm not anyone that will be mistaken for a gear head. I've changed a handful of tires in my day and my oil a few times but I'm no Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny. I'm not the one you come to when you want to hear about Positraction (I don't even know if it is deserving of being capitalized, I'm simply attempting to show proper respect on the off chance it's due). But when I see a car that looks cool, or can do something a normal car can't, I sit up and take notice (and maybe point dramatically at the screen to recreate the Leonardo DiCaprio meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). I like what I like and I can't always delve into it with much more detail than that. Good news for you: if I'm way off the reservation, you can let me know in the comments where I've led the flock astray. Thanks!
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