Fast, beautiful cars get a lot of attention in the movies. But sometimes, an old clunker gets fame (or infamy) too. From Herbie to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, some clunker cars are movie characters in their own right.
We asked our Facebook fans to name the *best* clunker cars ever to grace the silver screen. Here’s their list of the 20 greatest clunker cars in Hollywood history.
20 Famous (or Infamous) Hollywood Clunkers
- Herbie in The Love Bug (1968), which was the first movie I saw at a drive-in movie theater. -JS & JCS
- “Well they did it. They finally killed my car.” - the “Dude” from The Big Lebowski (1998). -ML, CF, & BW
- Uncle Buck’s bucket in Uncle Buck (1989). - NW & MG
- The car in Tommy Boy (1995) after the deer destroys the interior and Tommy bends the door forwards at the pump - while the candy is stuck in the vent since the beginning. -CMM
- The Bluesmobile! The 1974 Dodge Monaco in The Blues Brothers (1980). "I get out of the joint, and you pick me up in THIS?!” -ZB
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the 1968 movie. -TH
- Ash's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 from Army of Darkness (1992). -AW
- The 1976 AMC Pacer (the “Mirthmobile”) from Wayne's World (1992). -MT
- Jim Carrey's "loaner" car from The Mask (1994). -AA & SF
- Dukes of Hazzard count? That car was a clunker after all those stunts! -BA
- The 1946-48 Chrysler in Driving Miss Daisy (after she crashed it). -ZT
- I like the Plymouth Fury in Christine (1983) because it could go from clunker to showroom new in a moments’ notice. And it played only rock ‘n roll on the radio. -MS
- Hard to beat Uncle Buck’s car, but I'll go with Mike Myers’ 1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Cabriolet in So I Married an Axe Murderer." -ED
- The '86 Chrysler LeBaron in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987). I used to own one! -CH
- My Mother the Car (1965-1966). -LA
- Mater in the movie Cars (2006). -ZW
- Ricky’s car from Trailer Park Boys (2001-2016). -DW
- Eddie Murphy's skyblue 1970 Chevrolet Nova in Beverly Hills Cop (1984). -RL
- Joe Dirt's Hemi! From Joe Dirt (2001) -CG
- The family truckster from National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)! -SW
The squealing tires, rust patches, cranky engine noises, and puffs of exhaust just make these movie cars more loveable. But if your car has any of these symptoms, be sure to get it checked out by a mechanic! Our service department has you covered.
Image by Don Graham via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.