50 greatest movie cars

“Who will start the bidding for the most famous car in the world?” Those words kicked off last October’s auction for one of the two DB5s used in Goldfinger – the Bond movie that forever linked 007 to Aston Martin. Of all the star and car pairings, this is undoubtedly the finest: the louche yet gentlemanly special agent, played to perfection by Sean Connery, with his elegant but extremely quick 282bhp Aston. Gadgets include battering rams, tyre slashers and an ejector seat. No wonder it made £2.6million – and won our poll.

The DeLorean story might have been radically different had the ill-fated firm survived another three years to 1985. Doc Brown’s time machine transformed the Northern Irish-built coupe into one of the most famous cars in the world. One of the three surviving movie cars is expected to fetch almost m at auction next month.

Arguably the single most successful promotional tool for the Mini, 1969’s ultimate Brit flick served as the perfect demonstration of the Mini Cooper S’ race-bred handling. Over 30 cars were used to create the Turin getaway sequence, including the dressed-up standard Minis that came to grief in the finale. Sadly, none survives.

Petrolhead tough-guy actor Steve McQueen is perfectly at home at the wheel of Ford’s mighty V8 Mustang fastback in one of the finest car chase sequences of all time. The jump-filled pursuit of a Dodge Charger R/T through San Francisco finished off one of the two 6.4-litre Mustangs used, but the other survives in a private US collection.

Bond's unforgettable riposte to pursuing helicopters was to drive his white Lotus Esprit into the Mediterranean and activate submarine mode. The one working car was sold at auction in 2008 for £110,000, while the complex submersible version is now displayed at the Beaulieu Motor Museum in Hampshire.

At the end of a pinching spree, a car thief evades capture in a breathless chase through LA at the wheel of a Ford Mustang Mach 1, dubbed Eleanor. Nicolas Cage’s 2000 remake of the 1974 film revived Eleanor as a Shelby Mustang with a flashy makeover, but the original car, complete with bridge-jump scars, is the bigger pull today.

Herbie became the hardest- working four-wheeled star of the sixties and seventies following the phenomenal success of 1968’s The Love Bug. The unlikely race car had a surprising personality behind the cute face. Of the many cars used, some had genuine race muscle in the form of Porsche 356 engines and Koni shock absorbers.

Bo and Luke Duke’s V8 muscle coupe was a huge star before the 2005 film thanks to its cop-dodging antics on TV. But the movie did increase the stock of genuine Hazzard Chargers by 23.

Roger Moore’s epic chase around (and through) a Spanish hillside olive grove with two Peugeot 504s in pursuit is a fine tribute to this classic. The flat-twin engine was replaced by a GS flat four.

Menacing black Lamborghini with 12 exhausts attracted lots of attention from cops in the classic trans-America race movie, but the charms of its cat-suited female drivers kept it in the running.

The ultra-rare Ferrari 250 GT Spider California was beyond even Hollywood’s budget, so Matthew Broderick skipped school in a Ford V8-powered replica.

Dark knight’s mid-engined, 5.7-litre V8 sports tank was envisaged as “a marriage between a Hummer and a Lambo”, according to its designer.

The hunt for a mystery package in the south of France erupts into a battle of the limos, with an S8 and a Mercedes 450SEL 6.9 hunting down a Citroen XM.

Aussie V8 muscle powers the Pursuit Special in which furious Mel Gibson hunts down outlaw bikers who killed his family.

The Trans Am wasn’t new when the movie opened, but Burt Reynolds’ law-dodging beer run caper caused sales to rocket.

Crude Ford V8 and four-wheel drive meant this was an Aston in looks only. Yet movie car sold for £200,000 in 2003.

An amalgam of NASCAR race cars. Eyes were placed in windscreen rather than headlights to make him less “snake-like”.

The car that really could take over your life. Christine was played by 23 Plymouths – not only Furys but also Belvederes.

Brutish V8 is given skiing ability during this Bond film for 007 Timothy Dalton’s clandestine adventures in Czechoslovakia.

Dustin Hoffman’s graduation present of a gorgeous red Spider can’t distract him from the seductive Mrs Robinson.

Rowan Atkinson’s man-child perfectly suited nursery green Mini with black bonnet and padlock on driver’s door.

The real star of this car-chase classic was Dodge’s legendary V8 muscle coupe as its delivery driver raced cross-country.

Built from scratch by racing specialists at Ford for the 1968 movie, the only working example sadly left the UK this year after selling for £500,000.

Four-wheel drive proved too grippy for tail-out action, so crew modified twin-turbo bruiser to be rear-drive only.

Bumblebee morphs from classic Z28 to new model, which then spawned a very yellow special edition in the US.

Well-bred wreck with single headlight was perfect for Richard E Grant’s alcoholic actor in this cult movie. But Morse was horrified.

Unlike Lexus in Minority Report, Audi got to preview a real forthcoming car, the R8, when it built Will Smith’s futuristic coupe.

Mild 406 turns into Paris’ fastest taxi, capable of outrunning V8 Mercs. Chases and tweaks increasingly silly in sequels.

Mike Myers’ thawed-out spy hunts Dr Evil in suitably phallic E-Type, dubbed Shaguar. Film car put on eBay last year for £37,000.

Amazingly, the three souped-up saloons were used in two other movies: American Graffiti and Smokey & The Bandit.

Coachbuilders converted this Caddy Fleetwood into an ambulance, but it’ll always be known as ghost transport.

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon go on the run in style in graceful convertible. One of the five cars used for filming sold at auction for £40,000 back in 2008.

Created by king of movie-car customisers George Barris, Batman’s first TV and movie ride was based on already radical Lincoln.

Jake explains his choice to Elwood: “It’s got a cop motor, a 440ci plant. It’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks.”

Much-loved 1953 film about competitive spirit in the London-Brighton veteran car run made a star of this French two-seater.

Bold and costly (m) product placement deal saw Lexus design Tom Cruise’s wall-climber. Car then did motor show rounds.

Ron Weasley pinched dad’s flying car in The Chamber of Secrets. Then airborne Anglia was stolen and recovered for real.

The famous Mirthmobile was a seventies automotive joke, fading from memory until Wayne and Garth resurrected it.

Radiator Springs’ rusty tow truck was so popular, he got his own cartoon, and top billing with Lightning McQueen in Cars 2.

Salesman’s ordinary saloon is stalked through California desert by a menacing Peterbilt truck in Spielberg’s tense thriller.

Cool cops stayed faithful to Striped Tomato for big-screen comeback. Original actor Paul Michael Glaser hated the car.

Authentically unreliable VW steals the limelight in this quirky tale about a family trip to a child’s beauty pageant.

Smart British muscle saloon was well suited to Vinnie Jones’ London gangster Big Chris, but it wasn’t a happy ending.

Possibly the most gently driven movie car. Chauffeur Morgan Freeman tries to win round southern dame Jessica Tandy.

Smooth lawyer Richard Gere shows his good taste in this 1996 movie with his choice of a classic Mercedes coupe.

Tom Cruise borrows dad’s Porsche to shake off geekiness, but it goes badly. Director dismissed 911 as “mundane”.

Likeable waster John Candy embarrasses his niece and nephew – in particular with his backfiring, rust-eaten land yacht.

Renegade New York cop Gene Hackman commandeers the V8 saloon to catch an overground train in a classic car chase.

“It’s the Cadillac of minivans,” boasts John Travolta’s laid-back gangster as he shows off electric doors to Danny DeVito.

Emilio Estevez sets out to repossess an otherwise mundane (but now very cool) Malibu with a bizarre secret in the boot.

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