Cars, as long as they've been a staple in American culture, have also been a staple in movies. From their use as extensions of the characters that drive them, to plot devices to move the characters from one place to another. Sometimes it's just blatant product placement.
A great car used in a great movie can become more than just a prop, setting, or product. It can become an iconic part of what makes a movie something great.
1966 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood)
While Tarantino's latest outing has several prominently featured cars from the 60s, none are shown as often or as, to put it bluntly, coolly as the Coupe de Ville being driven around Hollywood by Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth. While he also drives a 1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, and we also see an early 50's MG being driven by Rafal Zaweirucha's Roman Polanski with Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate by his side, the huge yellow Cadillac is the star of the show.
Seeing Brad Pitt drive it around 60s Hollywood, singing along to the tunes and getting himself into trouble with the Manson Family is exactly what Once Upon A Time In Hollywood needed to make the movie another Tarantino classic.
The Batmobile (Batman v. Superman, Justice League)
While it's uncertain if we'll ever actually get to see this iteration of the Batmobile ever again with the franchise likely being rebooted, it was still an epic and worthy entry to the Batman mythos. Opting to ignore the grounded reality of the Dark Knight trilogy, Zack Snyder chose to make Ben Affleck's Batmobile something straight out of a comic book.
Huge, physically impractical, and sporting machine guns and all sorts of Batman gadgets, the Batmobile was one of the best highlights of the hit-or-miss DCEU movies.
1969 Mustang Boss 429 (John Wick)
The car that kicked off the plot of this decades best action franchise (yes, we know it was the dog, but the Russians only originally came for the car). The sight of Keanu Reeves as John Wick, wearing perfectly tailored suits and caught in a chase with what seems like the entirety of the Russian mob.
To see him driving his pristinely-kept Mustang for his life is certainly a spectacle to behold, and makes our already awe-inspiring protagonist Wick all the more interesting and badass.
Doof Wagon (Mad Max: Fury Road)
If you've seen the fourth installment in the Mad Max franchise, you remember the moment you first saw the Doof Wagon. The camera rolls up behind the truck-based monstrosity, showing its team of drummers, thrashing a beat together as we see for the first time their bandleader; a faceless, jumpsuit-clad musician wielding a flamethrower guitar, standing against of a wall of speakers, known only as The Doof Warrior.
He shreds together riffs and solos to rally the troops chasing down the titular Max and his cohorts, in a visual spectacle unlike anything ever made before. Custom-built for Fury Road from the ground up, based off a Soviet artillery truck, it's by and far one of the most memorable parts of one of the most memorable action movies of the 2010s.
2006 Subaru WRX (Baby Driver)
One of the only staunchly modern cars on this list, this car blasts onto the scene first thing in Edgar Wright's latest cinematic funhouse, with Ansel Elgort's Baby singing and dancing in the driver's seat, waiting for his criminal cohorts to finish their bank heist across the street. Once they return, Baby puts the car into drive and leads the police on a thrilling chase through the streets of Atlanta.
He bobs and weaves the car through back alleys, sliding it around trucks and obstacles, leading the crew to safety. While (spoiler alert) the car is ditched after the chase somewhat unceremoniously, its inclusion in the movie made the red Subaru iconic. Hopefully, it returns for the sequel.
Flip Car (Fast & Furious 6)
This one was a load of fun. The completely customizable ride known only as the "Flip Car", driven by Luke Evans as villain Owen Shaw, was the most memorable car from the sixth entry in the Fast & Furious franchise. It's cool, it's badass, and it drives headfirst into cop cars to shoot them into the air, allowing it to make escape quickly.
It even has rear wheels that have steering on them so the car can move laterally in the middle of a chase, making for chase scenes that wowed audiences in a way that only Fast & Furious movies could.
1995 Toyota Supra MK IV (Furious 7)
I know, another Fast & Furious entry. But what do you expect, to leave out cars from the biggest car movie franchise of all time?
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Especially one that left audiences in tears after its tribute to the late franchise star Paul Walker after his tragic demise? Absolutely not. The ending of Furious 7 was heartwarming and touching (especially if you ask Vin Diesel) and became an iconic movie moment in its own right, with the inclusion of one of Paul Walkers own Toyota Supras helping push the moment over the top, and making the Supra in the scene an icon.
1965 Aston Martin DB5 (Skyfall)
A blast from the past, but no one's complaining. First driven by Sean Connery's Bond in Goldfinger and brought back by Craig once already in Casino Royale, Bond brought back the classic Aston Martin for one more outing in 2012's Skyfall.
This time outfitted with machine guns in the headlights and ejector seats, a nod to the campy gadgetry of the classic Bond movies, this beauty of an Aston is revealed in a hilarious fashion, with Judi Dench as M slyly quipping "Oh, I suppose that's completely inconspicuous" when Bond presents the Aston to her as a mode of transportation when stealth is critical to their mission. It's not inconspicuous, but the audience was happy to see it all the same.
Ford GT40 (Ford v Ferrari)
While iconic in its own right, the Ford GT40 was brought to life for a new audience when its tale was told for James Mangolds Ford v Ferrari. This real-life tale of the creation of the GT40 was captivating to race fans of the time, as Ferrari had been dominating motor racing, and the prospect of an American team led by Carroll Shelby and backed by Ford excited everyone.
And the movie brought this captivating tale to life brilliantly. Ford vs. Ferrari brought the GT40 back into the public eye, and the inclusion of the championship-winning car in the Oscar-winning biopic perfectly put the cap on the decade of great movie cars.
1962 Cadillac De Ville (Green Book)
This is an entry that shows how a car can be more than just a prop in a movie, but as a character and a setting in its own right. A large portion of Best Picture-winning Green Book takes place inside the spacious sixties Cadillac, and over the course of the film, becomes a true home for its occupants as they tour the southern states.
This De Ville is a lifeline for Viggo Mortensen's Tony and Mahershala Ali's Don Shirley and became ingrained in people's memories as part of their heartfelt story.