Unsung movie-hero cars

Much like the big Hollywood stars, we all know the glamorous movie and television cars.

But for every General Lee, DeLorean, Aston Martin DB5 and Pontiac Trans Am that finds global fame, there are hundreds of unsung hero cars that do so much of the heavy lifting.

Whether it be hanging around in the background as a reminder of what year the movie is set in, or being unceremoniously destroyed so that the hero can take out the bad guy and make some sort of quip about buckling up his seatbelt, there are many lowprofile heroes that we think need longoverdue recognition.

FORD CROWN VICTORIA

The dear old Crown Vic is the obvious one, but also probably the most deserving of recognition.

According to the Internet Movie Car Database (IMCDB) the Crown Vic has appeared in 4877 movies and television shows, which is the highest number of appearances by any car, ever!

CHECKER TAXI

The iconic American taxi, the Checker was produced by the Checker Motors Corporation. The Checker has had a number of starring roles in movies and TV shows, including the Martin Scorsese masterpiece Taxi Driver, as well as being the centrepiece of the long-running sitcom Taxi. PEUGEOT 406

This one isn’t so important for its many background appearances, but more for a handful of supremely good but largely unsung leading roles. Best of these was its appearance in the brilliant 1998 John Frankenheimer thriller Ronin. Here the little French car is thrown in with an Audi A8, three Peugeot 605s, a Citroen XM, a BMW 535i and a mighty Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.

It stars in one of the greatest car chases ever filmed, all filmed live and with not a single special effect in sight. MERCEDES-BENZ 450 SEL 6.9 The biggest, baddest Mercedes of its time has to make this list for its fantastic appearance in Ronin, as mentioned above: Robert DeNiro’s character fires a rocket launcher out of the sunroof, while Jean Reno’s character drifts the car along a tight cliff-top road at high speed!