The animated film ‘Cars’ came to us from Pixar in 2006. It’s one of Disney’s best successes, adored by children and parents alike. Though these cars aren’t real, individually they represent some of the most popular classic cars on the road. Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, is a ’51 Hudson Hornet, a famous NASCAR stock car nicknamed “the Fabulous Hudson.” Filmore (George Carlin) is the classic ’60 VW Bus. And lovable Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) is a ’59 Fiat 500. Representing classic 1950s automobiles is Flo, a ’57 GM Motorama show car. And we can’t forget Lizzie, a ’23 Ford Model T.
Owen Wilson voices the main character, an ego-heavy racer named Lightning McQueen, whose problems direct the storyline. It’s no wonder the band of anthropomorphic cars enamored kids. Toddlers sit for hours driving their Matchbox cars around, making them talk to each other in their world of pretend- ‘Cars’ animated the way kids play.
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry
Based on Richard Unekis’ novel 'The Chase', 'Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry' stars Peter Fonda and Susan George. Released in 1974, the car chase movie also stars a yellow and black striped 1966 Chevy Impala and a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 440.
Filmed on location in the back roads of Stockton, California, with plenty of space to race muscle cars, NASCAR hopeful Larry Rayder (Fonda) steals cash from a supermarket to finance racing ambitions. He planned to buy a race car. Fleeing from the heist, the racing enthusiast runs into Mary, she tags along, and they complete their outlaw team. More than a third of the film is dedicated to wild car chases and superbly staged crashes, so don’t look too far for a plot. It is what it is, a summer release with low cinematic ambitions.
Thunder Road
This classic 1958 crime-thriller stars Robert Mitchum, a tough-as-nails Korean War vet who served as a military policeman. When he comes home, he leaves law and order behind to run the family moonshine crime ring. Struggling with PTSD and his conscience, he is adamant about not allowing his younger brother to get involved with the moonshine business while battling city gangsters who are trying to take it over. Scenes depicting cars ripping down Tennessee dirt roads at top speed to deliver the goods plus epic car chases make 'Thunder Road' the best moonshine movie ever made.
Mitchum was the executive producer and he wrote the original story. Fun fact: He co-wrote and recorded one of the songs on the soundtrack called “Whippoorwill.” It became a surprise hit.
Fast Five
Here’s a movie that is truly about the cars. Heck, it’s a whole franchise all about the cars. In fact, 'Fast Five' (2011) is the fifth installment of the 'Fast & Furious' franchise. It is also a sequel to the 2009 film. So, why are these movies so popular Universal Pictures has made at least 10 Fast & Furious movies? Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Dwayne Johnson. Oh, and the cars. 'Fast Five', also known as 'Furious 5: Rio Heist', serves as the pivoting point in the Furious movies from street racing to heist action movies.
The first awesome car featured is a Ford GT40. But the opening scene also includes a classic 1971 Pantera muscle car and a 1965 Corvette Grand Sport. The movie hosts a parking lot full of various cars, it’s like a potpourri of automotive brawn. Notable, however, is the 1970 Charger manned by the strapping Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel). O’Conner (Paul Walker) is behind the wheel of a 1972 Skyline. And, to top the list, a Koenigsegg CCX. Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) claims the rare carbon-fiber hypercar. He brags, in the movie, that his car is the fastest car in the world and one of only four ever made.
Death Proof
Billed as a “crash course in revenge,” 'Death Proof' is another foray into cinema by the renowned Quentin Tarantino. The 2007 film stars Kurt Russell, a psycho killer former movie stuntman named Mike, who has a fetish for assassinating young women. Co-stars Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd (there has to be a lot as he kills them off one by one), Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamila Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Zoë Bell are the objects of Tarantino’s sexploitation theme. The exploitation horror flick pays tribute to 1970s slasher muscle car movies.
Most importantly, the car. Mike calls his muscle car death proof, and he uses it to kill the young girls by smashing head-first into his victims. He receives minimal injury since the car was built as a stunt car, the reason he calls it “death proof.” The revenge part, if you don’t mind a spoiler, happens when three of his victims survive and come after him as a team. His murder weapons, incidentally, are a 1970 Chevy Nova, a white 1970 Dodge Charger, and a 1969 Dodge Charger.