One thing movies are famous for doing is making cars famous. If auto manufacturers want to sell a car, they need only plant it in the right film, then go count their profits.
That’s not a vetted statement. One could safely assume that putting your car in a movie is a smart act of marketing, no?
If that’s true, these cars are the exception. They are the silliest cars, most of them altered beyond recognition, to grace the silver screen.
Doc Brown’s De Lorean
1981 De Lorean DMC-12 | telegraph.co.uk
The car that made three movies or the three movies that saved a car. The De Lorean car company still lives to this day, unhurt by the celebrity status afforded from the movie franchise. Today’s De Lorean enthusiasts can buy the new version in all electric. Sadly, it does not yet fly or travel time.
The Ecto-1
1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor | digitaltrends.com
The Miller-Meteor was an otherwise depressing car, made for transporting the injured or dead. For the Ghostbusters, it only needed “some suspension work and shocks. Brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear-end… Only $4,800,” according to Ray. That’s if you didn’t count the rings, mufflers, and wiring…
The Bluesmobile
1974 Dodge Monaco (police package) | fatmovieguy.com
The car they drove through a mall, which they had to buy to demolish; not the car, the mall. That scene singlehandedly placed this movie as one of the most expensive movies ever made at the time. The car, the boys picked up at a police auction, where, “they were practically giving them away.”
George Barris Batmobile
154 Lincoln Futura Custom | autoblog.com
So many cars have donned the title “Batmobile,” but the original featured in Batman: The Movie, was a heap of smoothed out silliness. For car fans, it gets a pass per the George Barris branding, but we all know it was a silly whip.
The Family Truckster
Ford LTD Country Squire | evilatom.com
The base vehicle, the LTD, beneath the Truckster is barely recognizable. This is the quintessential ’80s wagon, a relic of forgotten ’70s style elements. You could overlook the car if you could see it through the eight high beams.
Pepe the Little Mule
1982 Ford Bronco XLT Custom | classicmotorsports.com
The Little Mule known as Pepe sports a powerful V8 under that hood. Pepe could go anywhere per the four-wheel drive. It was also bulletproof and fireproof because you never know.
Garth’s Mirth Mobile
1976 AMC Pacer | twitter.com
The Pacer made our list of The 5 Weirdest Production Cars That People Actually Bought. That was without the custom flames. It may look like Captain Silly’s car, but the Mirth Mobile happens to be a good place to rock out to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Buck’s Pussy Wagon
1997 Chevrolet C-2500 Silverado Fleetside | killbill.wikia.com
Is it offensive? Yup. Is the name offensive? That too. Not only is this crew cab the most obnoxious color combination, the name says so much about the driver. The only good thing about this vehicle is how easy it would be to find it in a parking lot.
Shaggin’ Wagon
1984 Ford Econoline | forum.phish.net
Why yes, yes, this is a company vehicle. How’d you know? The giant sheep dog driven by Harry and Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber may get terrible milage, but at least it’s ugly.
The Van
Chevrolet Step Van | complex.com
The whole thing is made of weed, a play on the inventive ways the real life cartels crafted for transporting drugs into the United States. This one, driven by Cheech & Chong, goes up in smoke by the end of the movie. But, one could remake it by welding tailfins on a hunter-green Chevy Step Van. One could also shoot the moon if he tried.