50 Coolest Movie Cars

The Love Bug (1968)

The Car: Herbie, the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, later to be found going to Monte Carlo or going bananas.

Coolest Detail: When Volkswagen refused permission for its brand to be mentioned, the famous insignia was removed from the car… although it reappears during the sequels, allegedly because the films could help halt dwindling sales of the Beetle.

Vanishing Point (1971)

The Car: Delivery driver Kowalski's latest job is to make it from Denver to San Francisco by Monday in a 1970 Dodge Challenger. But where's the challenge in that? The speed demon reckons he can do it by Saturday afternoon.

Coolest Detail: The fact that few modifications were needed - the car was deliberately chosen for having the suspension and horsepower required for the film's action.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

The Car: Bond went for a modern look in the mid-70s with this customised Lotus Esprit S1, as cool underwater as it is on land.

Coolest Detail: The car converts into a submarine, complete with anti-aircraft missiles. Ludicrous? Yes, but entirely befitting for the exaggerated Roger Moore era of 007 movies.

Bullitt (1968)

The Car: A green 1968 Ford Mustang GT, just the ticket for a style-conscious police lieutenant like Bullitt who might need the extra juice to chase a pair of Dodge-driving hitmen.

Coolest Detail: The fact that star Steve McQueen did much of his own driving (although the more dangerous elements were handled by Bud Ekins).

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Car: The 'Ectomobile' driven by Venkman, Stantz and Spengler is a customised 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance.

Coolest Detail: Frankly, the fact it's used to hunt down (and, later, transport) ghosts across Manhattan, something made explicit by the car's none-more-cool logo.

Goldfinger (1964)

The Car: The classic 007 vehicle - so iconic it popped up again in Skyfall - is this Aston Martin DB5, which was actually the manufacturer's original prototype for the then brand new model.

Coolest Detail: The car is kitted out by Q Branch with everything you'd expect, not least a handy ejector seat for getting rid of unwanted passengers.

Batman (1989)

The Car: This sleek, 260 inch-long upgrade of the classic D.C. Batmobile was designed by the late, great production designer Anton Furst to complement the Gothic overtones of his Gotham City sets.

Coolest Detail: Take your pick: machine guns, bombs, grappling hooks. As The Joker wanted to know, "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

Batman Begins (2005)

The Car: Faced with making Batman realistic, Christopher Nolan revolutionised Bruce Wayne's transportation by introducing the Tumbler, a heavily-armoured military prototype invented by Lucius Fox.

Coolest Detail: Amazingly, Nolan's original brief to production designer Nathan Crowley was to build a model Tumbler out of Play-Doh, making this one of the few cars on this list that could have been designed by a child.

The Italian Job (1969)

The Car: Charlie Croker's 'self-preservation society' needed a nifty set of wheels to pull off the titular Turin-set heist, so why not buy British with three patriotically-coloured Mini Cooper S's?

Coolest Detail: The film's producers were so adamant that they'd use Minis that they not only had to buy several models because manufacturer BMC didn't donate enough, but actually turned down an offer to use Fiats instead.

Back To The Future (1985)

The Car: The DeLorean DMC-12, the 1980s definitive attempt to make a car of the future, gets the ability to actually travel into the future courtesy of some tinkering from Doc Emmet Brown.

Coolest Detail: Well, there's the whole matter of "when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit" - but admit it. As a kid, you were most impressed that the doors opened upwards.