Dream machines

Pretty much everyone has a dream car: a car they would love to own, to drive, and most of all, to be seen in. Tv shows and movies have played a big role in spreading this obsession across generations — how many of us wouldn’t want to drive around in James Bond’s Aston Martin, for example?

The fantasy lifestyle that goes along with having a ride like that is irresistible. So here is a list of iconic cars, some highly desirable. . . and others, not so much.

The Mystery Machine: 1968 Chevrolet Sportvan 108

The Scooby gang’s car is one that has become a real cult favourite. And it’s one of those iconic vehicles that may not be real, but you can actually own it, if you are into that sort of thing. You can even try and get the original number issued if you want … It is 195 343.

What’s interesting is that the Scooby gang did not own the Mystery Machine right from the first episode; it was introduced much later in the series. Sure, even before the gang got the Mystery Machine they solved mysteries, but they didn’t have their own transportation. When the gang initially decided they wanted to fight crime, Daphne’s dad reluctantly drove them around everywhere they needed to go … not the ideal situation. In the special features section of some Scooby Doo movies on VHS, Daphne’s dad can be seen tightly squeezed into the driver’s seat driving the gang to a haunted house. I bet a lot of you didn’t know that.

Archie’s Jalopy: 1916 Ford Model T (once referred to as Model A)

When the Archie comics were first published, he was shown driving an ancient red touring car, already long out of fashion. Just the sort of thing one might expect a nearly penniless teen to drive at the time. Often Betty would help him work on it, as it was constantly breaking down. In the late 60’s, he reported it stolen, and in the police report, identified it as a “Ford, Chevy, Plymouth, Pierce-Arrow, Packard, DeSoto, Hudson ...” explaining that his jalopy was “a collection of replacement parts from several junkyards”. More recently, I notice he is no longer driving the jalopy, but has a vintage Mustang. Archie’s jalopy was destroyed permanently in issue #238 of Life With Archie, which was published in 1983. And now he drives a mid-1960s Ford Mustang, which is more contemporary in appearance, but still unreliable and prone to breakdowns.

Bullit’s Mustang: 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390

To anyone who is interested in cars, and particularly muscle cars, the Ford Mustang is right up there on any list. But what a lot of people don’t know is that the Steve McQueen movie Bullit is widely credited with catapulting the car to the cult status that it enjoyed throughout the 60s and 70s. This is a fact that has also been acknowledged by the Ford Motor Company which in 2008 produced the Mustang Bullit model for the film’s 40th anniversary. What made the car-chase scene in the movie even more amazing was the fact that Steve McQueen, who was an avid racer of both motorcycles and cars, performed most of the stunts himself.

Mr Bean: 1969 and 1976 British Leyland Mini 1000

Now here is a car that is not flashy, not even really uber cool, but it is just a lot more than that. It’s a statement by all means, funnily, a statement made by a character known to not say one single intelligible word. Mr Bean’s car was central to several antics, such as Mr Bean getting dressed in it, driving while sitting in an armchair strapped to the roof or attempting to avoid a parking garage toll by driving out through the entrance.

At first, an orange 1969 BMC Mini MK II (registration RNT 996H) was Mr Bean’s vehicle, but this was destroyed in an off-screen crash at the end of the first episode. From then on, the car was a 1976 model (registration SLW 287R), yellow with a matt black bonnet.

And how can we forget the innovative safety measures used by Bean, like a bolt-latch and padlock, rather than the lock fitted to the car, and removes the steering wheel instead of the key. These formed a running joke in several episodes, at one point deterring a car thief.

Funnily enough Rowan Atkinson crashed the £650,000 sports car he bought to celebrate the success of the Mr Bean movie.

The Back to The Future time travelling car: 1981 De Lorean DMC-12, an Irish make.

Maybe this is not something to be proud of … but Back to the Future is maybe the only movie that has been referred to by at least two US presidents in their state of the union addresses.

Several special-edition DMC-12 cars have been produced over the years, and the car is most notably featured as the time machine in the Back to The Future trilogy. The PRV engines of the cars, however, were dubbed over with recorded V8 sounds. Six DeLoreans were used during the movie’s production and only three of the cars currently exist.

The car in the movie was said to have several special features like a Flux capacitor, remote control, hover conversion and the ‘Mr Fusion’ generator. Recently a completely rebuilt De Lorean, built to the specs of the car used in the movie, was put up for sale on eBay for $90,000.

Knight Rider: 1982 customised Pontiac Trans Am

They say a car is a man’s best friend, and that men love their cars more than their wives. I don’t know about that, but I might be tempted, sorely tempted, if I could actually hold meaningful conversations with my car like Michael Knight (David Hasslehoff) could with KITT. KITT was an acronym, which stood for Knight Industries Two Thousand, and was a sleek, black, customised Pontiac Trans-Am which was impervious to attack, could cruise at 300 mph, leap up to 50 feet through the air, and was loaded with all kinds of cool armaments like flamethrowers, smoke bombs, and infrared sensing devices. In short — it could put Bond’s car or even the Batmobile to the test. Also it had that cool red light that went ‘voom-voom’.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, May 29^th, 2011.