The Most Iconic Cars of TV and Movies

In honor of the popularity of this week’s blog highlighting the original Batmobile, today’s entry focuses on some of the most iconic cars television and the big screen have ever seen. Have you ever wondered the make, year and model of any of TV and movies’ most famous automobiles? Here are the answers to a few of them.

 

Scooby Doo Mystery Machine: In the cartoon series that has undergone a number of variations and recreations since its debut in 1963, the Mystery Machine – the crime-solving youths’ vehicle of choice – was based on the shape of a customized 1963 Ford Econoline van.

 

Starsky and Hutch: During the 1970s cop thriller, detectives David Starsky and Kenneth Hutchinson drove a shiny 1975 Ford Gran Torino bearing the infamous white stripe. Paul Michael Glaser, who played Starsky, said the car looked like a “striped tomato” when he first saw it.

 

Smokey and the Bandit: This action film starred, among others, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason and Jerry Reed. The first Bandit movie – along with the two sequels – introduced two generations of the Trans Am to the public.

 

Magnum P.I. Ferrari: The private investigator’s original car was supposed to be a Porsche, but because the automaker wouldn’t do any special customizations to their cars, the show’s producers switched to the now-famous 1977 Ferrari 308 GTS.

 

Knight Rider: What iconic cars list would be complete without a vehicle that had a logic module to talk and communicate – that could speak multiple languages? Named KITT, the original version was a customized 1982 Trans Am. A later adaptation would see a KITT car made from a 1991 Dodge Stealth.

 

Dukes of Hazzard: Arguably one of the most recognizable television cars of all-time, “General Lee” was a 1969 Dodge Charger that accompanied “the Duke boys” on their adventures during the show that ran from 1979-1985. At the time of this writing, the car is owned by professional golfer Bubba Watson, who says he will soon be painting over the large Confederate flag that adorns the front.

 

Back to the Future: In honor of the movie’s anniversary, this car must be on any list such as this! The DeLorean time machine is based on a 1982 DeLorean DMC-12, in which Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly make history of their own.