The A-Team joins the list of TV properties that have made the leap to the big screen. Like its predecessors Starsky & Hutch (2004), The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), and even Speed Racer (2008), The A-Team features an iconic vehicle that is beloved by the fans of the original TV series and is as integral to the story as the human characters. In Starsky & Hutch starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, the 1975 Ford Gran Torino (lovingly referred to as the Striped Tomato) looked absolutely spectacular. It was as important to the film as was the character of Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg) and was treated with reverence. The re-imagined Dukes of Hazzard was entertaining yet forgettable. However, when the General Lee kicked up some dirt and soared through the air, that orange ’69 Charger seemed perfectly suited for the big screen and was arguably the most memorable character in the film. And, despite being a box office flop, Speed Racer provided some genuine thrills when Speed was behind the wheel of his Mach 5. Although CGI-created, seeing the Mach 5 deploy its buzz saws and auto-jacks will make anyone feel like a giddy, grinning child.

In the original The A-Team TV series, B.A. Baracus’s GMC van was the fifth member of that crack commando unit. It is instantly recognizable to anyone who caught even one episode of the show and everyone knows that nobody messes with B.A.’s van but HIM. When the 2010 film’s trailers were revealed, of course there was a heavy dose of the van to help audiences make the connection to the original TV series, and that black van with the red stripe will bring nostalgia seeking fans into the theaters. But they’ll be disappointed. When the audience is introduced to the character of B.A. (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) they’re duped into thinking he’s rescuing a damsel in distress. However, when B.A. says, “I’ve missed you so much,” the camera reveals he’s talking to his van. B.A. is behind the wheel when he meets Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) for the first time and Hannibal convinces B.A. to use his van to liberate Face (Bradley Cooper) from his captors. When the van comes crashing onto the scene it ranks among the most thrilling moments the movie produces. So it boggles one’s mind that when Murdock (Sharlto Copley) joins the group, the van is “pancaked” by falling debris. B.A. is enraged and moviegoers and car lovers everywhere should be enraged, too as the van doesn’t reappear for the rest of the film. How can the producers and writers eliminate what many consider an important character so early in the film? That would be like killing off Daisy Duke or Huggy Bear.

A list of greatest movie cars is a tough one to crack as you need to take into account both the coolness of the car in question as well as its treatment in the film. A great movie car must also be a character in its film. You also have to limit the pool from which you pull prospective entrants. Regardless of how it was used on screen, The A-Team van is at a disadvantage when it comes to ranking it among the greatest cars in cinema history, as are its brethren the General Lee, the Mach 5 and the Striped Tomato, because they’ll always be remembered as TV cars no matter how spectacular they look on the big screen. Even the classic Batmobile designed by George Barris appeared in the big screen version of Batman back in 1966, but nobody takes that into consideration as it’s remembered exclusively as the TV Batmobile. These vehicles, and many more, will always be resigned to a list of the greatest cars from television (no matter how cool they are). Many movies from the past 20 years have offered up spectacular car chases and races, but none have produced a vehicle that would knock a current resident out of its place on the list found below. So, without further adieu, here are the Ten Greatest Movie Cars….

 

What started out as a black 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe became the iconic V8 Interceptor driven by Max (Mel Gibson) to fight evil. In both Mad Max and The Road Warrior (1981) Max uses his vehicle as a cowboy might use a horse. It was tragic to see the car destroyed on screen by an anti-theft device, but it left an indelible impression on moviegoers. Rumor has it the car may make a return to the big screen in the long overdue fourth installment of this franchise.



Quick, besides Star Wars, what was another top-grossing movie in 1977? Did you guess Smokey and the Bandit? Not unlike Mad Max, if you took Burt Reynolds from behind the wheel of his Special Edition 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am and put him on a horse, the movie could easily work as a good old-fashioned western. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Reynolds’ Bandit character wore a cowboy hat.



It wasn’t much to look at when it first pulled into Ghostbusters headquarters (“Needs some suspension work and shocks….”) but when the ’59 Cadillac Ambulance was given a paint job and had some optional accessories added, it was dubbed Ecto-1 and drove straight into the hearts of Ghostbusters fans everywhere.


Many of the cars listed here can claim to be a character in their respective films, but never was it more true than with Herbie. This adorable 1963 Volkswagen Beetle was able to convey a soul with a toot of its horn or the flapping of its doors. When Herbie found love in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) the audience believed it. And when he needed to, Herbie could outperform the high performance racecars of his era.



Did you know Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was based on a story written by James Bond creator Ian Fleming? It would make sense, then, that the movie features a car that would humble 007 himself. Made of brass and wood, Chitty is the most beautiful car on this list. It doesn’t hurt that the car deploys an inflatable raft in the event of a water emergency, or can spread its wings to fly to Vulgaria, even if it is just the fertile imagination of Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke). Or is it?


You may be asking, “Two Bond cars in the top ten list?” YOU BET! James Bond’s car of choice during Roger Moore’s reign was the Lotus and it was used in spectacular fashion during a chase scene in The Spy Who Loved Me in which Bond eludes multiple pursuers, including Jaws, during a thrill ride in the white Lotus Esprit. But when he is forced to drive the car off a pier into the ocean, the thrills continue. The car converts into a submarine (complete with depth charges). When the car eventually emerges from the water onto the sand, both beachgoers and moviegoers marvel in amazement.



When it came time to design a new Batmobile for Tim Burton’s take on the character, it must’ve been challenging to have the legend of the 1966 television Batmobile hanging over the production. After all, the TV Batmobile is arguably the most famous car in the world. For the 1989 movie, the end result was a sleak, black, work of art inspired by a jet aircraft. Bat-tastic!



Bullitt is a gritty cop drama that just so happens to feature what many consider the greatest car chase ever captured on film. What is cooler than Steve McQueen doing a lot of his own stunt driving behind the wheel of a 1968 Mustang, getting air on the hills of San Francisco while chasing the bad guys? Not much!



“You made a time machine out of a DeLorean?” The stainless steel DeLorean with its gull-wing doors was a sharp-looking car in the 1980s. Add time circuits, a Flux Capacitor, and 1.21 gigawatts and you have one of the most beloved cars in movie history.



In what many consider the best of the James Bond films, Goldfinger unites James Bond (Sean Connery) with the elegant and lethal Aston Martin DB5. In one scene Q (Desmond Llewelyn) explains the features of the car to 007 and to the delight of the audience, Bond puts every feature to use throughout the course of the film: tire shredders, smoke screen, oil spreader, bullet proof shield and of course, the ejection seat. This car is every car aficionado and man-child’s fantasy.