Famous Movie & TV Cars

This will be a different type of post. No theory. No review in any form. No focus on trivia (just a few fun facts). It might be described as simple information and commentary. 

Famous Vehicles from Film and Television

Sometimes a vehicle outgrows being a mere prop. It becomes so iconic it is recognizable and celebrated years after release of the film or the TV show has stopped production. This post is about five of those, the ones I consider the most famous. It is not to say the film or TV series would have worked with the car plus any cast, story, etc., but it is to say it was important to its success. I will briefly describe the vehicle for those who might need a reminder, but this will not be the auto enthusiast's level of specs. I will then discuss why I think it is iconic including why its notoriety has endured, also briefly.

Batmobile

Let us start with the Batmobile used in the 1966-1968 Batman television series and the 1966 feature film. It is built from a 1950s Lincoln concept, dubbed the Futura. It is black, trimmed in red with red Bat-symbols on the doors and center hubcaps. Other notable features include the double-bubble windshield and fins of the Futura concept and a number of gadgets to aid the Dynamic Duo in their battle against crime. While the popularity of the series certainly contributed to the adoration of its Batmobile, it's really almost a "chicken-or-the-egg" situation since this Batmobile is nearly as associated with Batman as key components like Adam West, celebrity villains, and campy humor. Beyond the series' status as a landmark in the history of Batman, its Batmobile has endured because it is unique in design and set precedents any well-received Batmobile has at least some shared characteristics, including the one in the 1989 film and its sequel, Batman Returns, the one in the 1992-1995 animated series, the Tumbler in The Dark Knight trilogy, Bat-fleck's in the DCEU, and Pat-man's in the most recent film, 2021's The Batman. In fact, I suggest this last one is a reflection of the 1960s Batmobile, only in line with the film's aesthetic. "Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed."

Herbie, the Love Bug

There is something intriguing about a living machine (or at least one that simulates life), and I am sure there is some deep rooted psychology behind that intrigue. Sometimes, it is meant to provoke fear like killer cyborgs and possessed dolls. But, other times, it is the fantasy of finding a friend like no other, loyal and independent. Herbie from The Love Bug (1969) and its sequels better fits this latter description. He (just does not feel right referring to Herbie as an "it") is a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, pearl in color, with a red, white and blue racing stripe left of center down the length of the car, bumper to bumper. His racing number is 53, black in a white outlined circle, and is on both doors, the front hood and rear engine compartment lid. By the time you have watched through The Love Bug, you are on the cusp of believing the little car really was alive, and that is Herbie's charm. This notoriety has lasted because it is the centerpiece of a classic Disney film and it is difficult to forget the image of a VW Bug decked out as a race car. "It's heart. That's what it is: heart."

General Lee

The General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard is the primary transportation and race car of cousins and aspiring professional stock car drivers Bo and Luke Duke. It is also basically a member of the Duke family. It is an orange (though the exact paint color is in dispute) 1969 Dodge Charger with the number "01" in white-trimmed black on each door, which are welded shut, keeping with its race car purpose. The Confederate flag (more on this at the end of the post*) along with the words "General Lee" down each length of the flag is painted on the roof. Its horn played the opening bar of “Dixie.” Like Batman, the series was popular and linked to the car's notoriety, but the short-lived Coy and Vance era proved John Schneider and Tom Wopat (Bo and Luke, respectively) were also essential to the show's success, as an example of "it's not just the car." The General in its central vehicle role in a television series heavy in stunt work involving fast vehicles and a whole lot of jumps equated to being inevitably famous in its own right, though. No other vehicle on this list can boast a Johnny Cash song, that's for sure. Aside from these attributes, its endurance is due to being a classic of the muscle car era with a very distinctive paint job, causing instant recognition. A reunion television movie twelve years after the series ended, another three years later, and an insulting feature film five years after that are proofs of this endurance. Fun fact: General Lee is not in one episode at all, the first season's third, "Mary Kaye's Baby." "Yeeee-hawww!"

Ecto-1 (aka Ectomobile)

Of all the vehicles in this post, the Ghostusters' Ecto-1 has a base model that might be the least exciting. It is not a unique concept car. It is not the extremely popular "people's car." It is not a classic muscle car. It is not a challenge to the traditional. It is the least exciting...until you dig a little. It is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Sentinel, a Cadillac chassis completed by the separate company Miller-Meteor as a combination car (an ambulance/hearse hybrid typically easily switchable between the two), making it the only vehicle here with two manufacturers. After conversion to the Ectomobile, it more closely resembles an ambulance in color scheme, white with red tail fins complete with emergency lights and siren and a deployable rack for the team's proton packs. The Ghostbusters logo adorns both front doors and the rear. Its extensive use in one of the best films of the eighties made it an instant icon. You can't do Ghostbusters without it, as necessary as proton packs and ghost traps. A sequel and poorly received remake each had their own versions before a legacy sequel brought the original Ecto-1 back, though it had its upgrades, too. Fun fact: That poorly received remake, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, used a Cadillac Fleetwood hearse as its Ectomobile. Its year model? 1984, the same year the original film was released. "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!"

DeLorean Time Machine

Peculiar to the DeLorean in Back to the Future is it's not only a famous vehicle, but also a famous piece of time travel equipment along with the TARDIS from Doctor Who and Phone Booth from the Bill & Ted franchise. It is an unpainted 1981 DMC DeLorean (sometimes informally known as a DMC-12), so the stainless steel body is in clear view. While still distinctively a DeLorean including its gull-wing doors, it is heavily modified. Inside, time circuits with activation lever, display, and destination keypad were added along with the flux capacitor, which makes time travel possible. Externally, a pair of large vents are on the rear near a plutonium chamber to power the equipment (1.21 gigawatts!), later replaced by Mr. Fusion, a miniature nuclear reactor that uses household trash, as the primary power source. Like Herbie, the DeLorean time machine is essential to the plot of the films, and that is the beginnings of its iconic status. Besides the continued popularity of the film trilogy, it has endured because, as alluded to in the entry on the Ecto-1, it was built from a vehicle that attempted to challenge the entire automobile industry, though unsuccessfully in the end. Without John DeLorean's legal troubles, who knows what might have happened? "...if you're going to build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style!?"

Honorable Mentions: 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback and 1968 Dodge Charger R/T from Bullitt

These cars are both classics in themselves, though the popularity is likely somewhat boosted by the 1968 film, Bullitt. There are other iconic vehicles whose appearances pre-date the film, and one of those is on this list, the 1960s Batmobile. The reason these are honorable mentions is because of their participation in the first modern car chase in film. Around ten minutes in length, it is real cars on real location, has camera angles from inside the vehicles and Steve McQueen as the titular Det. Lt. Frank Bullitt did much of his own driving. Its influence can be still be seen in car chases to this day. Fun fact: General Lee is a 1969 Charger, and in 1997's The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!, the only car to have ever beaten the General in an overland race is a 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback, very appropriately numbered "00".

One thing these vehicles all have in common is how they contributed to their respective film(s) and/or TV series. It was difficult to find different ways to write almost the same thing about each but it boils down to this unanswerable question: Did the famous car become so because of the reception of its movie or show, or was its film or series' success linked to the featured car? 

Before I conclude with the statement promised above: Next time in two weeks...Into the fray with trilogies!

*A statement about the Confederate flag: I do not condone racism in any form. Before I continue, that must be known and clear, because this is an account of a journey, albeit told briefly and oversimplified. I simply do not want any jumping to conclusions until I am done, then you are welcome to disagree or not. Here goes... As the debate about the display of the so-called Confederate battle flag gained attention, I had mixed feelings, mostly due to my fandom of this show since childhood. On the one hand, I had never thought of it as a directly racist symbol. I was raised and still live in the rural south. During my childhood and teenage years, I do not recall it being very commonly displayed. But, I always felt it was merely a symbol of regional pride, at least as a rule. That did not mean one was proud of every past action, but focused on the brighter and universal points: the hospitality, the food, the community, etc. But...on the other hand, as often occurs, the debate brought out the worst in some people. Suddenly, the flags were everywhere. Suddenly, what I hope is a loud splinter group were crying foul and not listening to any other viewpoint. Eventually, I came to this conclusion: This flag is being used as a symbol of hate. Those who are the target of this hate are unable to tell when it is and when it is not, which boils down to it might as well be in all cases. No one, NO ONE should have to live in a state of fear. This country claims freedom and that right should be unalienable to all people. I agree with its removal from government sites. I agree with Mississippi's decision only four years ago to alter their state flag and remove it. If it were specific to the Confederate flag, I would support a national ban on its display except in historical context, and that regulated somehow. For that is in the spirit of remembering ugly history so it is not repeated. That is how I see the General Lee, historical display. To that end, this past January marked the 45th anniversary of the television debut of The Dukes of Hazzard. Also, the Dukes would help out anyone in trouble, even when it put them in danger. I am not suggesting that actions on a fictional show offset the real atrocities committed under the flag. But it should say the creators and participants were not intentionally making any racist statement and were instead focused on the warm, friendly atmosphere that used to be a part of southern charm.