# Best and worst "car casting" you've seen in in TV and film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873 "2021-06-08T21:18:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/141 "2021-06-12T15:28:53Z")
Re: Steve McQueen’s Mustang in _Bullitt_ . The movie is still awesome, as is the chase. but… what’s up with the sound effects? Does that car have an unsynchronized 8 speed? Double-clutch upshifts? And so much shifting! Needless shifting is to this movie what needless gun racking is to every modern action movie. And would it have hurt to get a car with a locking rear end? One tire burnouts are so wimpy! ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/142 "2021-06-12T19:39:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Sam and Dean Winchester driving their Dad’s Impala that they had known since childhood was a great choice. Brought the whole family story together. It started as a show about brothers and their Dad and it made sense they drove that car. It’s perfect, and a lot of credit goes to the friend/neighbor, who’s a car guy, who recommended it to Kripke when Kripke asked. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/143 "2021-06-12T20:26:37Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > It’s perfect, and a lot of credit goes to the friend/neighbor, who’s a car guy, who recommended it to Kripke when Kripke asked. But it’s such a BOAT! And a four door. There are no four door muscle cars. Four doors are for getting groceries or taking the kids to school.\* Sure, good for going to drive-in movies, and hauling bodies in the trunk, but it isn’t a “good” car. Other than its age, it has nothing to recommend it. \*\ My kindergarten “school bus” was a black on black '57 Chevy. A four door. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/144 "2021-06-12T21:13:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But it’s such a BOAT! And a four door. There are no four door muscle cars. Four doors are for getting groceries or taking the kids to school.\* I haven’t actually seen the show, but from what I gather from the other comments it’s supposed to be their Dad’s car from their childhood. So those things are exactly why it’s such a good choice for the character. Dads don’t buy muscle cars; they buy practical four door sedans to drive the kids around in. A muscle car would be completely out of character. This thread isn’t about cars we think are cool, it’s about cars that are a good fit for the characters that drive them. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/145 "2021-06-12T22:44:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@kitap](#): > > > > It’s perfect, and a lot of credit goes to the friend/neighbor, who’s a car guy, who recommended it to Kripke when Kripke asked. > > But it’s such a BOAT! And a four door. There are no four door muscle cars. Four doors are for getting groceries or taking the kids to school.\* > > Sure, good for going to drive-in movies, and hauling bodies in the trunk, but it isn’t a “good” car. Other than its age, it has nothing to recommend it. > > \*\ My kindergarten “school bus” was a black on black '57 Chevy. A four door. ☹ John bought it on Dean’s recommendation (time travel; long story). The major point he made was: take care of it and it’ll last forever. Also it was a perfect car for Sam and Dean to grow up in - lots of room for them. Tons of room in the trunk for a Hunter’s tools of the trade. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/146 "2021-06-12T23:42:10Z")
And on the subject of cars that aren’t cool but fit the character well… back in the OP I mentioned in the first episode of Ozark Marty had to sell his car to pay back the cartel. That car was a Toyota Camry. Normally I would consider a Camry kind of lazy car casting, but in this instance it was a great choice. The director pretty clearly wanted to make the audience think that Marty was a really dull guy before we learned about his money laundering escapades. And a Camry is exactly what a dull person would drive. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/147 "2021-06-14T20:08:14Z")
What about the stairs truck on _Arrested Development_? A ridiculous car for an absurd comedy. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/148 "2021-06-15T07:02:18Z")
First thing that came to mind. The Sunbeam Talbot from the film “To Catch a Thief”, driven by Grace Kelly ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/149 "2021-06-15T12:34:08Z")
Jake and Elwood’s Blues mobile was a good fit. I’m kind of torn about Starsky’s Torino. Hardly a car guys car. But then Starsky wasn’t particularly smart, but he was brash and unpredictable. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/150 "2021-06-15T13:11:20Z")
The Jaguar E-type hearse from _Harold and Maude_ was the perfect car for Harold’s obsession with death. [![](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/2-768x435.png) ](https://blog.consumerguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/2-768x435.png) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/151 "2021-06-15T13:39:48Z")
Diana Rigg’s Mercury Cougar in _ **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service:** _ [![](https://cdn.asiatatler.com/asiatatler/i/hk/2020/11/20120043-ohmss-mc-0015-mercury-cougar-credit-www007magazinecouk_cover_1240x978.jpg) ](https://cdn.asiatatler.com/asiatatler/i/hk/2020/11/20120043-ohmss-mc-0015-mercury-cougar-credit-www007magazinecouk_cover_1240x978.jpg) [![](https://lbomg.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/tracy-bond.jpg) ](https://lbomg.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/tracy-bond.jpg) _“Teresa is a saint; I’m known as Tracy”._ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/152 "2021-06-15T13:51:07Z")
**All** of the cars in _ **American Graffiti** _: > **[The Cars of American Graffiti](https://blog.consumerguide.com/cars-american-graffiti/)** > > American Graffiti is a classic coming-of-age comedy film that follows its cast through one end-of-summer night in 1962. This was technically the early Sixties, but culturally, 1962 can be considere… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/153 "2021-06-15T16:49:58Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Jake and Elwood’s Blues mobile was a good fit. It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new **Bluesmobile** or what? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/154 "2021-06-15T16:57:18Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Jake and Elwood’s Blues mobile was a good fit. True. On first glance, it’s probably not the car you expect a cool musician type to drive, but on the other hand being a blues musician doesn’t pay all that much. Realistically, a crappy old car that they picked up cheap at auction it what they _would_ drive. And if you want a fast car for cheap, an ex-police car isn’t a bad choice. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/155 "2021-06-15T19:45:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new **Bluesmobile** or what? Fix the cigarette lighter. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/156 "2021-06-15T20:01:45Z")
A 1993 Land Rover Range Rover County is exactly the vehicle someone as douchey as Dennis Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia would drive. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/157 "2021-06-15T20:10:48Z")
Simon Templar’s Volvo in TV’s _ **The Saint** _: > **[What Did The Saint Drive?](https://blog.consumerguide.com/what-did-the-saint-drive/)** > > Here’s a question for you: What was Jaguar’s biggest-ever marketing blunder? Many might argue it was the X-Type, a compact sedan that was little more than a Ford Mondeo (called Contour in the U.S.)… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/158 "2021-06-15T21:39:40Z")
I really wish the P1800 was even close to being as fast as it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/159 "2021-06-16T18:19:29Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > John bought it on Dean’s recommendation (time travel; long story). The major point he made was: take care of it and it’ll last forever. The Impala I had was lucky to last the trip to 7-11. It was a great first car because I had to learn a lot of auto mechanics just to keep it running. The show had a whole fleet of those Impalas because they broke down so often. The doors squeaked, even on the show, and the suspension on those things is floppy and primitive. Still the perfect car for them, though. Chevy came out with an all black Impala SS in 1995 with an awesome ad campaign: > **[Lord Vader, your car is ready](https://www.cheersandgears.com/gallery/image/1899-lord-vader-your-car-is-ready/)** I wonder if the Supernatural crew did up the old Impala in black/chrome because of this. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873/160 "2021-06-16T18:50:00Z")
This far down and nobody’s mentioned Herman Munster and Grandpa? [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Munsterkoach.JPG/440px-Munsterkoach.JPG) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Munsterkoach.JPG/440px-Munsterkoach.JPG) [![](https://ccnwordpress.blob.core.windows.net/journal/2018/06/12395573-1966-custom-drag-u-la-coffin-car-std-c.jpg) ](https://ccnwordpress.blob.core.windows.net/journal/2018/06/12395573-1966-custom-drag-u-la-coffin-car-std-c.jpg) In the original _ **Hawaii Five-O** _, Jack Lord always had a black Mercury Park Lane Brougham, exactly the kind of car a hard-nosed top cop like Steve McGarrett would drive. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ca/a6/77/caa67779f575edefbc022486cfd0d20f.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ca/a6/77/caa67779f575edefbc022486cfd0d20f.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-car-casting-youve-seen-in-in-tv-and-film/943873.md?page=9)