About This Quiz
In the movie industry, any kind of vehicle that they will use onscreen is called a "picture vehicle." Some of these vehicles act as background props only, while some cars are personally connected with specific characters in the film.
Having a car in a film does more than make the protagonists or antagonists mobile in the story. The kind of vehicle they drive, possess, acquire or even steal could also determine the level of characterization they have. A specific vehicle enhances their personality, and it makes them more human for us human beings watching on the audience side of the silver screen.
In some instances, the vehicles can symbolize what the characters are going through, or give us a clue as to where they have previously been, character-wise. The car helps enhance the film language by being an added visual representation of the main character who owns it. It also gives us a clue as to what kind of personality the characters have, since we would easily associate one's persona with the type of car they would prefer. So in this light, the car is not merely a prop, but an indispensable tool for storytelling.
So, can you tell us the stories behind these cars and characters in the quiz? Gas up and see if you can match them all!Â
"The Dukes of Hazzard" featured the three Duke cousins named Bo, Luke and Daisy inside a 1969 Dodge Charger as they went about running their uncle's "business." Just like in the TV series, they called the car "General Lee."
The three "Austin Powers" spy comedy films featured the comedic character of Austin Powers who fancies himself as a ladies man. Therefore, he always called his 1961 Jaguar E-Type car the "Shaguar" and had the license plate number spell "SWINGER" on it.
Since they said they're on a "mission from God," the Blues Brothers chose to drive around town using a 1974 Dodge Monaco which they named the Bluesmobile. These former "Saturday Night Live" sketch characters became full-blown movie characters in 1980s "The Blues Brothers" film.
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The Australian-produced "Mad Max" film series found Mel Gibson portraying the role of Max Rockatansky, who fought gangs in a very dystopian world. He had a 1973 GT Ford Falcon he rode to pursue enemies and fight off bad guys.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy introduced audiences to a new type of Batmobile which they aptly named The Tumbler. We see it first in the 2005 film "Batman Begins" as a military prototype vehicle that Bruce Wayne test drives. It also tumbled its way into the rest of the Nolan films.
The unforgettable pale avocado-colored station wagon used in the 1983 film "National Lampoon's Vacation" also became an endearing character of sorts in this wacky family comedy film. Some records say it's a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire they used for the vehicle, but some say it's a 1980 model.
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A picture vehicle is what film industry people call vehicles that will be featured onscreen and visible in the scene, regardless if they are main props or background items. The 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 was definitely an important prop in the film, as it was being driven by Lt. Frank Bullitt himself.
The 2013 sequel "Iron Man 3" saw the titular character's alter ego, Tony Stark, driving around in two Audi R8 e-tron models. The white one had a license plate number that said "Stark17" while the red one had "Stark16."
A 1973 Ford Gran Torino was owned by "The Dude" character, also named Jeffrey Lebowski, famously portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski." The comedy film was written by the Coen brothers, but Joel Coen was the one who directed it.
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French filmmaker Luc Besson wrote "The Transporter," which was influenced by BMW's short film feature series called "The Hire." In the original film, gun-for-hire Frank Martin drove clients around with a 2002 BMW 735iL E38. The later sequels featured another car, though, which was the Audi A8 W12.
The 2017 film "Logan" showcased a different kind of X-Men reality, as it showed an older Wolverine driving around a Chrysler 300 Limousine as a job to keep himself and a very sick Professor X afloat. It was this driving gig which also led them to another young mutant later on.
The 1967 Mike Nichols film "The Graduate" featured a young Dustin Hoffman in the titular role of the college graduate Benjamin Braddock. He was gifted with a 1966 Alfa Romeo car by his father, which he drove around town aimlessly sometimes, a parallelism to his aimless-feeling life after graduation.
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The 1993 family action film "Last Action Hero" saw Arnold Schwarzenegger playing an action hero named Jack Slater, who later comes out of the movie screen and interacts with a kid in the audience. He later drives a 1975 Chevy Blazer in true action hero fashion.
Another car company was reportedly being wooed for product placement in the classic 1990 rom-com "Pretty Woman," but they didn't want their car to be featured in a scene where Edward the businessman was cruising for prostitutes. The car that eventually won that "honor" was the 1989 Lotus Esprit SE.
Dr. Ray Stanz, played by Dan Aykroyd, was the one who drove a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor outside their newly-acquired office building in the 1984 film "Ghostbusters." Since then, the vehicle became an important member of the ghostbusting team.
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The Pussy Wagon is actually a bright yellow 1995 Chevrolet 2500 Silverado Fleetside pickup truck which The Bride picked up as she escaped from being detained in a hospital. This scene set the tone for The Bride character's journey to avenge herself and to kill other assassins like her.
Bella Swan was the one who got the Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck as a gift from her sheriff father. It was a kind of symbolism wherein the rundown truck mirrored Bella's persona prior to turning like Edward Cullen, her beau who gifted her with a flashy newer car, and gave her a new "life" as well.
There was a curious scene in the 2001 film "Ocean's Eleven" where Rusty Ryan was narrating how the team got a hold of the Malloy brothers or "The Mormon Twins." One of the twins was driving a 1982 Ford Bronco while the other was controlling a toy version of it, and they raced both cars.
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In the 2002 live action film "Scooby-Doo," the 1972 Ford Econoline vehicle they call the Mystery Machine was being driven by Shaggy in the story. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo also had it when the Mystery Inc. gang separated at the beginning of the film.
David Percival followed a 1989 Audi V8 D1 Typ 4C on the roads of Berlin to rescue fellow agent Lorraine who was inside it. He drove around using a 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 964 model, and both cars used were definitely a good fit for the era of the film's story.
A 1980 Dodge Dart carried teens Julio and Tenoch plus their lovely older friend Luisa to an impulsive trip to a beautifully secluded beach. But it has to be noted that the Dodge Dart they used here was the body type released in Mexico, which looks different than Dodge Darts released elsewhere.
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Dylan, the "Charlie's Angels" character played by Drew Barrymore in the 2000 film, was the one who drove around a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS. But her car was made to look like a race car actually, so other records also called it the SS Indy 500 Pace Car type.
Noxeema Jackson and Vida Boheme, played by Wesley Snipes and Patrick Swayze, bought the 1967 Cadillac DeVille Convertible in this hilarious 1995 film about three drag queens who hit the road for an emotional but funny journey. The third queen is Chi-Chi Rodriguez, played by John Leguizamo.
The Audi car company manufactured a concept car that could fit into futuristic worlds such as the one presented in the 2004 film "I, Robot." The film's lead character, Detective Del Spooner, owned and drove this Audi RSQ model car around. He's the one portrayed by Will Smith.
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The Weasleys owned the cute Ford Anglia car, only this one can magically fly! It was first driven by the Weasley twins, who assisted Ron in rescuing Harry out of Privet Drive, then Ron himself used it to drive him and Harry to Hogwarts when they couldn't get a ride on the Hogwarts Express train.
Captain Nemo is a character from a Jules Verne novel, but he was also grouped together with other literary characters in the 2003 film called "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." He also brought along his very, very long six-wheeled Cadillac-looking convertible car called "Spirit of Nemo."
The 2006 dramedy film called "Little Miss Sunshine" was about a little girl named Olive Hoover who qualified for a beauty pageant she really wanted to join, so the whole Hoover family hopped on their 1973 Volkswagen T2 Microbus to journey with her to the pageant venue.
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As Jordan Belfort, the so-called "Wolf of Wall Street," Leonardo DiCaprio acted with so much effort and agony during the scene where he was trying to get into a white 1989 Lamborghini Countach Anniversary car. It was supposedly an easy feat, but being somewhat paralyzed with drugs made it harder.
Vince Vega was the slick henchman whom Marsellus Wallace trusted with his wife, Mia. Vince used his cherry red 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu to drive his crime boss' wife around town, but they drove into some snags along the way.
The so-called Mirth Mobile, a 1976 AMC Pacer, was owned by Garth Algar, Wayne Campbell's best friend in "Wayne's World." The car holds a special place in cinematic history due to the scene where the iconic metal head dudes headbanged to "Bohemian Rhapsody" while inside the car.
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Brian O'Conner was the one who owned the orange-colored 1995 Toyota Supra in the film. But throughout the film franchise where he appeared, he also had several other vehicles associated with him, like the 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse, a 1995 Dodge Stealth, and a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX, to name a few.
The greasy guy gang of the movie musical "Grease" championed a 1948 Ford De Luxe Convertible on their side, which was driven by their leader Danny Zuko. Yet no matter what car he had, it's quite useless since his lady love Sandy Olsson is not easily impressed with such things. He better shape up!
It was Sean Connery's James Bond who first made the Aston Martin DB5 such a classic when he drove it in "Goldfinger." The 1964 film had a souped-up version of the car which helped 007 fight the bad guys, and also made him look good behind the wheel, enough to attract the good gals.
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In "Baby Driver," the young getaway driver nicknamed Baby is the one who drove the Subaru Impreza WRX car during a heist, as his role is always to take his teammates away from the scene of the crime. But later in the film, we discover that his real name is Miles.
The smart teen mechanic Charlie, played by Hailee Seinfeld, was the one who discovered a hiding Transformer in the form of a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle, which turned out to be Bumblebee. This film also referenced Bumblebee's 1977 Chevrolet Camaro form that the other "Transformers" films showed.
The 2019 Oscars Best Picture winner "Green Book" was about a real-life classical musician named Don Shirley who was provided a 1962 Cadillac Sedan DeVille by his record company for his musical tour of the Deep South. New York club bouncer Tony Vallelonga was hired to drive him around.
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The first "John Wick" film, released in 2014, featured Keanu Reeves in the role of an ex-assassin who came out of retirement when his 1969 Mustang was stolen from him by fellow assassins. This car became John Wick's motivation to do something bigger to defeat his grief over the death of his wife.
Marty McFly may have been the one joyriding the time machine car in the "Back to the Future" film series, but the 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 was owned by Doc Emmett Brown his eccentric scientist neighbor. Of course there were times when Doc Brown was shown behind the wheel, but Marty enjoyed it more.
The 1966 Ford Thunderbird became a pivotal character as well in support of the women leads of "Thelma & Louise." True to the symbolisms of the film, it was the more headstrong Louise who owned the car and drove both their characters to safer destinations, literally and figuratively speaking.
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The 1995 film "Tommy Boy" finds the two main characters, Tommy Callahan III and Richard Hayden, on the road, riding a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX. Richard owns the car, but the road trip is about Tommy trying to save his father's company.