Movie cars are usually fake because using originals would be too expensive or totally unacceptable from a gearhead point of view. There's nothing wrong with that as long as it's done right. Here are ten notorious copycats you might not have known about.
10.) Tony Stark's Acura NSX
When they started shooting the Avengers movie, the 2015 Acura NSX was not much more than a concept made of plastic and dreams. No wonder that Tony Stark's ride in the movie itself was a 1991 NSX wrapped in a body that would have fallen off above 10 mph.
Still, at least Acura's gonna make a real one. Eventually.
Suggested By: Automatch- the Avanthusiast
9.) 200 MPH Mazdissan
I haven't seen this most certainly great movie yet, but according to ReverendDexter, there are some strange things going on in it.
It magically changes from an FC RX-7 to an S14 240SX from shot to shot.
These are supposed to be the same car:
Ramajastag came up with the explanation:
The car got stolen during filming and they had to use a different one as they couldn't replace it due to low budget. That's why it switches. Not as much fake as just bad luck and no budget.
Suggested By: ReverendDexter
8.) James Bond's Z8
If you've ever seen a BMW Z8 in person, you know that it's probably Henrik Fisker's best work and no man should be allowed to saw it in half. 007's Z8 was in fact a Dax Cobra kit car under those panels.
Suggested By: Wilhelm_de_la_Kraut
7.) Last Chase Porsche
Pretty bad movie, very bad Porsche 917 replica. Still, no worse than the Ferrari FXX in Fast and Furious 6...
Suggested By: The Scrambler says it can be done
6.) Fake Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off
And speaking of fake Ferraris, Patrick Frawley knows how an even more iconic one wasn't real:
The California Spider in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was a fiberglass kit with a lot of MGB pieces. (According to Matthew Broderick, it was a pretty poor-running one at that.) They used a real one for the in-garage setup shots but everything else was plastic.
You can see why that was necessary.
Suggested By: Patrick Frawley
5.) The Turbo Camaro
What looks like a Hot Wheels toy car is usually closer to fake than real.
Suggested By: Jay_Hoff
4.) New York Taxi
Damn, this movie was bad. The car wasn't helping.
lil_bob puts it brilliantly:
I saw (some of) this movie on a plane and there were only 2 walk-outs. not bad.
Suggested By: lil_bob
3.) Vin Diesel's Charger
Offroadkarter would love to teach something about physics to Dom Toretto:
How about the 1970 Dodge Charger from the fast and the furious movies? "900 horsepower of Detroit muscle" coming from a fake supercharger that spun from an electric water pump. Don't forget the infamous wheelie-burnout combo during the worlds longest 1/4 mile drag race!
Suggested By: offroadkarter
2.) The Mad Max Pursuit Special
The Interceptor was awesome no matter what, but the whole point was the blower. LandofMinos knows it didn't actually work. What a shame, mate!
The blower was fake, it was there only for show... Actually, it is a real blower, just no mechanical parts to be found inside that Weiand casing.
In 1979, the car was set up for road use; by having the blower case removed and side pipes shortened. It toured Australia to go to various hot rod and car shows.
Suggested By: LandofMinos: ...sent down to strike the unroadworthy!
1.) The Fast and the Furious VW Skyline
It's not a twin-turbo setup now, is it?
Suggested By: Super Kiwi Zorro
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy! Image credit: Universal Studios