When I was a kid I did
so love the Batmobile! I had to be called in from playing outside to see it shoot flames out the rear, pretty funny in retrospect as in reality it was powered by nothing more exotic than a Ford FE big-block V8 - my mother's Galaxie and grandmother's Country Squire had pretty much the same thing. Thankfully nobody clued me in on that fact as I would have been crushed!
Other faves: The Continental four-door convertible used in
Green Acres. My dad's best friend had a couple of these and I always loved them. Even at a young age I knew there was something so appropriate about Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor) all chiffoned-up with a bouffant hair-do being driven around in that thing. I didn't quite know why I liked it then, but I do now
. When the Douglas' replaced the Continental with a Mercury Marquis convertible in '68 it just wasn't the same.
The Series I Sunbeam Alpine used by Elizabeth Taylor in
Butterfield 8. So very pretty, like Miss Taylor. Also a great chase scene in the end with her married playboy boyfriend behind in the Mercedes "Adenauer" 300d.
The Citroen Traction Avant chasing the earlier model Sunbeam Alpine convertible in
To Catch A Thief. In the movie the Traction is supposed to be outrun by the sportier and more expensive Sunbeam but it is pretty obvious that in the corners the Traction driver was having to back off to keep from catching the Sunbeam!
The early '60s Continental used in
Goldfinger. It's so funny to see the thing crushed by the junkyard crusher with the murder victim's body in the back, and then dumped in one neat cube into the bed of the Falcon Ranchero. That Continental weighed
way more than the Ranchero, if this had been done in real life the bed of the Ranchero would have looked like a Dorito chip.
The ever-so-desirable early Lamborghini Muira P400 used at the very start of
The Italian Job. One of my favorite movie intros ever, it shows the view from inside the Muira being driven through the hills of Northern Italy, including a soundtrack of fabulous real Muira noises with a roar from the V-12 overlayed with some gearbox whine and then Matt Munro singing the theme song. Then into the tunnel and SMASH! it hits the blocade put there by the Mafia. I've slowed down the next scene many times where the Muira is pushed over the hill by the earthmover and as it pivots down the hill it clearly is real, real enough to make the scene hurt. I also love the sinister black 2 liter Fiat Dino coupe that transported the bad guys, with the little Ferrari Dino V-6 under the hood and elegant Bertone body (same coachbuilder as for the Muira) it's pretty fine too.
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