Scientists claim that we’re currently doing a reasonable job at a mass extinction but not nearly as good as the huge rock that struck Mexico around 65 million years ago. Regardless of what the top five extinctions tell us, the planet is fine, always has been, probably always will be. It appears to have a fairly nonchalant response when it comes to mass extinction. Before you start frantically commenting on why a mass extinction is bad, if they had never taken place, today we would not have sharks and cars, two of my favourite things.

Corvette Mako Shark

That being said, we have to enjoy our short but sweet time here and so far we’ve been pretty busy. Thankfully for me, fellow curious human beings make movies about sharks and cars. Obviously I’m not here to talk about sharks but I was thinking about my favourite retro motors in movies.

Without doubt in my mind Anton Furst’s Batmobile is one of the coolest retro on screen motors of all time. His design work on the bleak metropolis of Gotham was second to none and to have produced a very striking and timeless Batmobile was no mean feat. With inspirations from war machines, aircraft and art deco styling, the final result was the perfect driving machine for a super goth. Batman was charismatic and cool back then, the car was purely an extension of that. With a turbine driving the midnight black machine, it looked every bit intimidating as it did sexy, with its winged rear end and the aircraft like cockpit in the centre.

Twin browning machine guns mounted at the front, armour plating and a grappling hook, need I say more?

The Bat Bastard

In George Millers depiction of the future in Mad Max, a massive percentage of everything has died (Probably including sharks) with the exception of humans and cars. Not just any cars though, modified beasts with armour, guns, spikes and flamethrowers. Whilst there is something refreshing about a world without the Nissan leaf, tax returns, governments and police. The world in which Max lives is rather bleak and unforgiving. What better way to see the day through than mowing down members of a tyrannical biker gang with an armoured, nitro fuelled V8, a Ford Falcon to be exact.

The interceptor was the product of Barry, the seemingly mentally challenged mechanic in Mad Max. Despite his impairment he was quite handy with a spanner and put together what is arguably the meanest looking vehicle for a protagonist. “She’s the last V8, she sucks Nitro!”.

I could go on and mention all the most obvious super star cars, The Back to the Future DeLorean, Ecto 1 or the five hundred bond cars but as a car guy, I think we should all take a moment to remember those unsung heroes of the big screen. Those cars that got people from A-B or a car you saw only for a few seconds before it was blown up by an overzealous director. Knowing what kind of money these relics go for now, I watch some scenes through my fingers.

Take the Ford LTD for example. A large lumbering “yank tank” from as far back as the 60’s, which, in all of it’s variations, ran until the end of the 80s. If you’ve seen any films within this era, you’ve seen many of these land boats smashing into other cars, people, chasing criminals dressed as a smokey or simply driving entire families around in it’s vast expanse of an interior.

For the fans of the synthwave community I guess the go to movie is The Terminator. Kyle Reece came from a future war and needed some muscle. What better vehicle to steal than a sixteen foot long, two and a half ton V8 sedan. With a 0-60mph that could be measured on a sundial, 12 mpg and all the handling of an abused shopping cart, I guess the only bonus was that it was incredibly comfortable. The sheer size and weight was probably Kyle’s saving grace, because if Sarah Conner was born in Europe, Kyle would have stolen a Fiat and subsequently the Austrian death machine would have picked it up and thrown them in the sea.

In a sort of car “cos-play” the Ford LTD has been most memorable in retro movies as the Crown Victoria, in fleet use they were used for primarily police or taxi markets. Again you may remember it as the cop car used to getaway from the T1000 in Terminator 2, similar cruisers in Universal Soldier or from the hundreds of scenes of taxi rides in your favourite movies. The LTD is truly an on screen icon, from action films to crime thrillers, the LTD was stuntman, sidekick, for good guys and bad guys.

Throughout the 70s and 80’s car wrecking was a big draw for Hollywood. Ron Howards Grand Theft Auto (now overshadowed by the multi million dollar gaming franchise) was a wrecking-fest. Dozens of cars, now considered cherished automotive icons, were rolled, crushed and launched into untimely deaths.

If you want to see some of the best chases and stunts, check out Junk Man. Henry Blight Halicki, nickname, Junkman. A stuntman, director and a bit of a lunatic. Using his own vast collection of vehicles, he wrote and starred in Gone in 60 seconds, Junkman and also made a sequel to Gone in 60 seconds, aptly named Gone in 60 seconds 2.

Grab a copy and some popcorn and enjoy some automotive carnage!

Bertone, like Giugiaro has styled for many manufacturers. Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Citroën, Ferrari, FIAT, Iso, Lancia, Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, Opel and Volvo, among others. The family business survived two world wars and carried on with the familiar style, right up until Nuccio Bertone passed in 1997. It was Marcello Gandini, working for Gruppo Bertone, who created the Stratos and presented the radical design to mortals in the 70’s, who could only try and keep up. Powered by the Ferrari Dino 2.4 L V6 engine that was also fitted to the rallying versions, but in a lower state of tune, it resulted in a power output of 190 hp, giving the road car a 0–100 kmh time of 6.8 seconds, and a top speed of 232 kmh (144 mph). The car was sold as the Lancia Stratos HF Stradale.



The Stratos HF was a rally weapon that dominated in its class in the 70’s. It’s worth mentioning now that Gandini also designed the Lamborghini Miura, Countach and Diablo. Three of my favourite vehicles of all time. Check him out on Wikipedia and you’ll probably pick out a few you love to.
The Zero was far too wild for production but it was used in Michael Jacksons Moonwalker and in later life, as a fascinating museum piece.



The Peugeot Oxia

My dad had a late 80’s Peugeot van and although the basic lump in it could probably run on French wine forever, it sounded like a WW2 tank.  
This Oxia was a bit of a golden carrot for car nuts the world over, coaxing them over to Peugeot expecting big things but aesthetics wise, the rest of Peugeot range in the 80s was far from spectacular.



The Oxia would probably see off a number of super cars in the same class today. The styling reminds me of a less brutal looking Saleen S7, or an even more elegant Isdera Commendatore. The exterior was made of carbon fibre, Kevlar, and epoxy-resin composite bonded to aluminium honeycomb and sheet panels, giving the car a lightweight and superb handling. Pushing along the mere 3000lbs is a mid-mounted biturbo 2.8-liter V6 engine with 670 hp and 535 lb-ft , six-speed manual gearbox, AWD, four-wheel steering.
The two-seater cabin was able to provide a continuous airflow even when the car’s engine was not running thanks to the energy stored in the 18 solar cells installed at the base of the windshield. Electrically-adjustable seats and a CD player were also interesting to find on a car from that era, as were the spectacular butterfly doors.

The dash reminds me of the perfectly laid out cockpit of the Nissan Fairlady. The digital green readouts compliment the 80’s grey primary colours and the simplistic, yet flowing lines are quite timeless. I personally think this is perhaps Peugeots best design. I wish we had seen more of them or have it battle it out with another supercar from the same era.

Dome Zero

Dome is worth a mention. (株式会社童夢 Kabushiki Kaisha Dōmu), literally “child’s dream”, is a Japanese-based racing car constructor, involved mainly in open wheel and sports car racing. Back in 1975 Minoru Hayashi started the Dome project and by 1978 The Dome Zero prototype was unveiled the public. The intention was to run a car at Le Man and also produce a small run of sports cars. The Dome Zero, much like the Stratos Zero, was designed with every intention of chopping pedestrians in half. The fascination with wedge shaped cars began well before the 80’s and continued into the 90’s. Space aged lines, full wrap around windscreen, pop up lights and loads of air intakes. It was by no means powerful with its 2.8L L28 SOHC straight-six engine from Nissan producing 143 hp, but it only had to propel a 920 kg (2,028 lb) chassis. With this engine, the Dome Zero offered a power-to-weight ratio that closely matched Porsches of the day.

Although the car inspired many and created a buzz internationally when it was shown, the Dome project was canned after a failed attempt at Le Mans. Dome created the Zero RL which was still pretty crazy looking but failed to finish at Le Mans in ’79 and a last place in 1980.

The inspirational design lived on through the first generation Transformer character Hot Rod and appeared in video games, including Gran Turismo. Since that time though Dome still continues today, competing in various aspects of motorsport. Check out some of their history here on their website.
http://dome-museum.com/category_car.html

Dodge M4S

I couldn’t really write an article about retro concept cars without mentioning the Dodge M4S, more famously known as the car from the movie The Wraith.
Dodge originally built the car as a technology showcase. The Americans are famously known for ignoring certain developing technologies and continuing to use massive engines outputting shameful figures. Although in the case of the M4S, the engine was actually only four cylinders but with an added boost of a twin turbo induction.
The mid-engine car had a tested and confirmed top speed of 194.8 miles per hour (313.5 kmh) and could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour (97 kmh) in 4.1 seconds, with more than 440 horsepower.



The Wraith is a movie you’re going to have to go and watch, if you haven’t already. The M4S in all black is driven by a dead racer, who was killed in shady circumstances and then seeks revenge on the road.
If you’re a car fan the movie is full of interesting and rare machines but undoubtedly the M4S prototype is the rarest. 

The Dodge looked as though it was built for another time but that’s what concepts are for. Designers are here to push the boundaries and stretch out of conformity. Without them, some movies would not have been as iconic, or so memorable. Conceptual artists are still able to let their imaginations run wild and I hope that there is still some room for some road movies. Today we see concepts with more computers and technology than we could ever have imagined, intelligent cars that could propel us even faster. Lets hope that all of the control isn’t all taken away one day. Something about taming materials, constructing something powerful and then taming that, is something that feels right. If only for the Wraith soundtrack alone, grab some popcorn and turn it up!