Our Two Cents: The best “bad guy” car in a movie?
There was a fun little chat going on amongst my co-workers of Hagerty Media, as we were discussing our favorite “bad guy” vehicles in movies. After the first few comments I knew we had our next episode of Our Two Cents, so have a look at which car we loved to hate. Or hated to love, because the car was so cool but was driven by the wrong character?
Either way, we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions, as there are plenty of movies with bad guys with good cars!
1971 Chevrolet Nova – Death Proof
“Oh, it’s for sure Stuntman Mike’s Nova from Death Proof” — Greg Ingold
1958 Plymouth Fury – Christine
“I’m going with Christine, because it’s hard to picture a car more villainous than Christine in the fiery Fury scene.” — Eddy Eckart
“Christine. The car is literally evil (but Greg is also right about the Death Proof Nova).” — Eric Weiner
1977 Cadillac Fleetwood – Escape from New York
“Definitely gotta be the Cadillac Fleetwood with chandeliers in the movie Escape from New York.” — Cameron Neveu
1973 Mustang – Gone in 60 Seconds
“Having just watched the original Gone in 60 Seconds for the first time, I’m gonna nominate Eleanor, the 1973-ish Mustang. (“ish” because it’s cobbled together from like a 1971 car but with 1973 model year features.)” — Joe DeMatio
Porsche 911 Slantnose – Condorman
“The black Slantnose Porsche 911 belonging to the glass-eye’d Soviet spy and leader of the feared Prognoviach in the Disney classic Condorman. I wore out the VHS tape of this movie as a kid, mostly rewatching the car chase scene over and over again. Sure, the hero car was cool, but the slantnose 911 was the car I wanted and still want to this day. Might even be willing to sacrifice an eyeball for it …” — Ben Woodworth
BMW M5 (E34) – Ronin
“Since (John) Frankenheimer is on the mind lately, I’ll put a word in for the BMW M5 getaway car in Ronin. Surely one of the best car chase sequences ever filmed. All live action, no CGI.” — Aaron Robinson
2000 TVR Tuscan Speed Six – Swordfish
“The TVR Tuscan Speed Six, obviously!” — Matt Tuccillo
Peterbilt 281 – Duel
“It isn’t a car, but the Peterbilt 281 in Duel, the made-for-TV movie directed by a 23-year-old Steven Spielberg in 1971. The truck, driver unseen, chases a hapless Dennis Weaver, driving a Plymouth Valiant, across the California desert. I once interviewed Weaver about something else, but I had to ask about Duel. He said the truck was scary just sitting there.” — Steven Cole Smith
1968 Dodge Charger R/T – Bullitt
“How about the hubcab-shedding 1968 Charger from Bullitt? The Mustang gets all the love, but the Charger was getting air and drifting through San Francisco, too.” — Brandan Gillogly
1977 Pontiac Lemans – Smokey and the Bandit
“I’ve got to go with the 1977 Pontiac LeMans driven to death by Sheriff Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. The slow destruction of the car and the corresponding decimation of Justice’s morale perfectly complement one another.” — Stefan Lombard
“Every time I saw Pontiac’s iconic blocky front end on the road, I’d hear the booming trombones/tubas from the movie. Good times.” — Sajeev Mehta
1979 Pontiac Trans Am – Joe Dirt
“Kid Rock’s Trans Am in Joe Dirt.” — Alex Sobran
1970 Ford Thunderbird – Diamonds are Forever
“Bunkie Beak Bird. Brown body. Brutalist building. And a sinister Bond villain that stuffs Agent 007 in that trunk? Perfection!” — Sajeev Mehta
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Gotta add another Bond villain car here – the Falcon Ranchero that Oddjob drove in Goldfinger, mainly to haul the mobster-containing-crushed-cube-of-a-car down the street. The car, even though not really anything special from an automotive standpoint, stands out to me because the driver is one of the coolest villains ever, and because it has a very gruesome cargo in its bed.
That Ranchero was supposed to be carrying the entire crushed Lincoln, I don’t think so. It would have weighed only about 3 tons!
Note how that cubed Continental 4000 lbs if it’s an ounce doesn’t compress the springs on that Ranchero one bit…good old air shocks lol. The 13″ wheeled bias tires of the era must have been tough!
Well yeah, and ol’ Oddjob wasn’t exactly a lightweight either. Those Rancheros were some sturdy rigs for sure.
Magic of Hollywood!
…and air shocks! 😀
From this list the Peterbuilt from Duel . But if Christine is on the list so should 1977’s The Car .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6-yVoJTCo8
They had the car in an episode of Futurama! The Were-Car! Bender was bitten by one and turned into it every nite at Midnight.
Gotta agree on the Peterbuilt and The Car. While Christine’s penchant for killing was motivated by vengeance and vice, The Car was just on a murderous rampage. All three of these flicks are must see!
Goliath from Knight Rider…at least that’s what I would have said when I was 7
Never noticed the T bird in Bond.
The Bond Bad Guy Car was Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce. That trumps all others.
The car from the movie The Car.
The Saleen Decepticon from Transformers.
How about the chick in the F355 spyder in Goldeneye? That was always my favorite from the Bond films.
Definitely the chopped Lincoln from The Car. Built by the Barris shop.
If it is a TV show it was General Burkhaulters Six wheeled Benz.
THIS! I would ask Sgt Schultz, but I hear he didn’t see anything.
The Creeper Truck from Jeepers Creepers. It’s a 1941 Chevy COE. DK’s carbon-accented Nissan 350Z from Tokyo Drift.
My four-year-old would say “Crusher” from the show Blaze –a cartoon monster truck that the bodywork is inspired by a big rig. Crusher is the actual villain of the show too, in the Disney tradition of (modern) Pete that is always forgiven/allowed to stay in the group.
It is a cool monster truck concept. Other trucks in the show are more kids-show goofy like dinosaur and animal based ones…
Zed’s Harley
How about the Happy Toyz semi from Maximum Overdrive? Bonus AC/DC sound track.
After having read over the responses and even watched clips of a few of the “nominees”, it’s hard to argue with the Peterbilt in Duel. Almost that entire movie consists of creating tension while we wait to see what it’ll do next and where it’ll pop up (shots of Weaver glancing into his rearview mirror are equal to anything in Psycho when it comes to creating suspense). Christine is actually about an evil car, while in Duel, it’s actually the driver who is murderous. But they succeeded in making the truck into the villain – especially since it just looks so creepy. Christine comes close, but Duel is the whole enchilada in my book!
The chase scene in Ronin is epic.
Duel for my baddie vehicle.
The M5 works for me. The chase scenes are great. This started off OK and got stronger at the end.
The Pontiac Grandville in the Seven Up’s. Point of reference driven by the same guy that drive’s the Bullitt Charger. Epic chase through my neighborhood.
Any car movie that doesn’t include Vanishing Point is not much of a list.
…’cept this isn’t a “car movie” list – it’s a “movie car list”…