Cars are the object of one of our favorite pastimes, and sometimes they almost develop a personality of their own. This is certainly the case for some of these famous movie cars.

1958 Plymouth Fury (Christine)

Cristine was a demonic car bent on destruction, and was the main character in the movie of it’s namesake. This movie car has a mind of its own and an evil temperament, causing injury and death to those that abuse it. It’s owner, a high school nerd finds it in a state of disrepair and restores it back to its glory. He becomes obsessed with the car which in turn possesses him and together they go on a killing rampage, eliminating anyone who gets in their way.

A-Team Van (The A-Team)

Are you crazy? Nobody drives my van but me! This GMC Vandura was the movie car that no one should mess with. The van came in handy as the getaway vehicle in many of the A-Team’s missions and was the object of affection for its owner B.A. Baracus. It often served as a key component of the team’s plans and became an iconic part of the show. The van was black and metallic silver with a diagonal red stripe on the side cutting the to two colors, and sported red turbine mag wheels.

Ecto-1 (Ghostbusters)

This old 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance conversion served as the vehicle of choice for Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters. It was customized with racks to hold the team’s proton packs and essentially served as their version of the batmobile. There was also plenty of special “ghost busting” equipment on the roof that served primarily as props (the purpose was unclear). Of course the science of busting ghosts still remains a bit of a mystery today.

Mach 5 (Speed Racer)

“It’s hard to catch up to him. He’s liable to win. If only I could see, I’d go even faster.”  Speed Racer’s skills were unmatched and the trusty Mach 5 made by his dad “Pops” was loaded with more gizmos than 007′s car and left everyone else standing in the dust. Like some of the other movie cars here, the Mach 5 was primarily featured in the television series.

Delorean (Back to the Future)

The DeLorean DMC-12 in Back to the Future didn’t have a name or much of its own personality, but it was a central piece of the story line, and definitely one of the most notable movie cars in this list.  Built by Doc Brown, is was a time machine that required plutonium in order to generate enough power (1.21 Gigawatts) into a “flux capacitor”.  The car needed to reach a velocity of 88 mph to trigger a time jump that enabled Marty McFly to revisit his parent’s past.

Bumblebee (Transformers)

In the original story, Bumblebee is the runt of the Autobots, depicted as a Volkswagen Beetle, he is constantly striving to prove himself to his bigger and stronger Autobot brothers.  In the more recent Transformers movie, Bumblebee gets an upgrade to an 1976 Camaro, then to the more recent 5th generation Camaro by using his abilities to scan a newer model car as it passes by and assume its form.

Batmobile (Batman)

The venerable Batmobile, a key piece of equipment used by Batman in his pursuit to catch villains in the act, always includes some sort of jet propelled power.   The Batmobile has to be the movie car with the highest variety of incarnations and the one pictured here is based on the style of Batmobile used in the television series of the 60s.  It was based on a modified concept car, the decade-old Lincoln Futura.

Herbie (The Love Bug)

Herbie is possibly the most human-like of all the movie car “characters”.  A classic bug with distinctive racing stripes, the very lovable Herbie always manages to get the upper hand – or wheel – on the competition despite their best efforts.

K.I.T.T. (Night Rider)

The Knight Industries Two Thousand was the high tech ride for Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) as he chased bad guys across the country. KITT was based on a modified 1982 Pontiac Trans Am with many special features such as turbo speed, auto driving mode and impenetrable armor.  The car was essentially a cybernetic shell for a self-aware supercomputer that acted as Michael’s partner in crime fighting.

General Lee (Dukes of Hazzard)

The General Lee is probably the most recognizable movie car to ever hit the screen.  What young boy growing up in the 80s didn’t dream of flying this orange muscle car over a giant mound of dirt at full speed!?  The General Lee was a 1969 Dodge Charger, but in reality, the show built and scrapped hundreds of these to film all of the jumping stunts and some were based on the 1968 model year.  The General served as the main getaway car for the Duke Boys as they constantly escaped arrest from Boss Hogg and his minions.  Come to think of it, you have to wonder why Rosco never went to their farm to arrest them instead of chasing them across broken bridges.  I guess he never watched Cops!