When you try to remember a movie, sometimes the first thing to pop into your mind ahead of the characters are the cars. In the golden era of car chase movies and big set-piece stunts, between the 1960s and the 1980s, cars were at the heart of Hollywood's productions.
Here we take a look at a few of the greatest cars in movie history, and we've tried to stay away from specifically car-focussed movies (so no Gone in 60 Seconds, Vanishing Point or Fast and Furious cars here). You may think some others are more deserving of a place in our list, and but each of these are iconic vehicles in their own right.
1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
When smartass teenager Ferris Bueller decided to skip school and have some fun with his pals, he only had eyes on one car to facilitate their freedom - his best friend Cameron's dad's 1961 Ferrari GT California. However the car in the movie was actually a replica built by Californian company Modena Design and Development, powered by a Ford small block 351 'Windsor' engine - and thankfully only a rolling chassis was used for the famous destruction scene.
2. Cannonball Run (1981)
In this classic 1980s movie, JJ (Burt Reynolds) and Victor (Dom DeLuise) came up with the idea of winning a coast-to-coast road race in an ambulance, but you may not be aware that fiction here is based on fact. The ambulance used in the movie is the actual ambulance that stuntman Hal Needham and motoring journalist Brock Yates modified and raced in the real 1979 Cannonball Run. It ran a Chrysler Hemi V8 engine that powered the meat wagon to 145mph.
3. Mad Max (1979)
Mel Gibson's launchpad to stardom was Mad Max, but his car in the movie stole the show for anyone with gasoline in their veins. It's a customised 1973 Ford (of Australia) Falcon XB Interceptor that had been given a brutal makeover as befits the dystopian future presented by the movie. From the noise of its throbbing V8 to the (mostly fake, unfortunately) external addenda, the Mad Max Falcon was as subtle as a punch in the face and as cool as an iced cucumber.
4. The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Bluesmobile is a retired 1974 Dodge Monaco Mount Prospect, Illinois patrol car, featuring the factory-option '440 Magnum' engine and squad car package. The Blues Brothers co-star and co-writer Dan Aykroyd chose the car, which - like many movies of this era - performs some ludicrous stunts including jumping over an open drawbridge, flipping backwards in midair and appearing to fly. Replicas have been mainstays of the quirky wedding car business for decades.
5. Batman (1989)
The Tim Burton reboot of Batman, starring Michael Keaton, was a gloriously stylish and quirky film - and the reinvented Batmobile reflected its larger-than-life characters. An impossibly long, sleek, black cigar of a car, it is dominated by its centrally-mounted jet turbine. However, the Dark Knight's preposterous road-weapon was actually based on nothing more than a Chevrolet Impala chassis, and it has such a large turning circle that it genuinely needs assistance from lampposts to turn corners - as seen in the movie.
6. The Love Bug (1968)
Walt Disney creation Herbie is an anthropomorphic 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, who was first seen in the 1968 movie, The Love Bug. He is recognisable by his Pearl White colour scheme with red, white and blue racing stripes and a number 53 on the bonnet, doors, and engine cover, but during the racing scenes in the movie you may be able to spot some changes - Herbie gains wide racing wheels, a Porsche 356 engine, performance brakes and Koni suspension.
7. Goldfinger (1964)
In the Ian Fleming books, James Bond is mainly associated with the Blower Bentley but in the movies the car most associated with the quintessential British spy is the Aston DB5, which is as Bond as Vodka Martinis and the Walther PPK. The Aston is most closely identified with the Sean Connery movie Goldfinger, but it also makes appearances in Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre.
8. Back to the Future (1985)
John DeLorean's ill-fated stainless steel DMC-12 sports car may have had a chequered production history, but it will always be the world's most famous time machine. The gull-winged Renault-engined coupe was a unique and intriguing car before its appearance on-screen as Doc Brown's home for his Flux Capacitor, and as such it was was the perfect choice for the movie film - can you imagine any other car in its place?
9. Ghostbusters (1984)
"Everybody can relax, I found the car!" exclaims Ray Stantz (Dan Ackroyd) as the team of Ghostbusters assemble their new business, but what he "found" became a movie icon. Ecto-1 is a 1951 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Futura ambulance, and while it is not central to the movie in the same way as some of the others on this list, it is one of the most recognisable movie cars ever - despite being mainly in a state of disrepair throughout the film.
10. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Not all motoring movie stars have to be unbelievable fast, badass cars. This 1984 Ford Econoline has certainly been modified by Dumb and Dumber's Harry (Jeff Daniels), but not in the engine, suspension or braking departments. No, it looks like a giant dog to help promote the dog grooming business that Harry works for for less than a quarter the length of the film. Despite this, the dog-van is one of the most memorable movie 'cars' around.
