What's the Greatest Ever TV Car? Have Your Say in Our World Cup of TV Cars!

[Famine]

The second of our eight second round ties pits the real-but-animated Toyota against a CGI-but-real Dodge, as a delivery driver takes on a vigilante...

Initial D - Toyota Sprinter Trueno
Probably the most famous anime car, Takumi Fujiwara's father's tofu shop delivery car is instantly recognisable. The two-tone black and white livery is hard to miss as young Fujiwara hones his driving skills on the touge to become the best driver in Gunma. Real life drifter and Japanese racing legend Keiichi Tsuchiya worked on the comic book and acted as a supervisor on the TV series too.

Viper - Dodge Viper
What would happen if you tried to make Knight Rider in the late 1990s, but instead made it one long advert for Chrysler? Viper, that's what. The eponymous star of the show, seen above, was the Dodge Viper, which by day looked like an ordinary, red RT/10 (and later a blue GTS, after the first Viper is destroyed), and then turned by a flashy (terrible) snake-skin effect into the bulletproof, high performance Viper Defender. The show somehow ran for four seasons, and also had an early role for Carrie-Anne Moss.

 

[Populuxe]

It may be a bit of a cliche, but I have to go with the tofu delivery vehicle.

 

[Famine]

Two absolute legends in the third knockout match - and this might be close...:

Knight Rider - Pontiac Firebird "Knight Industries 2000" (KITT)
The super-intelligent, gadget-packed, high-performance, and self-aware KITT was undoubtedly the star of this classic 1980s show which also starred *checks notes* Zardu Hasselfrau? Helped along by that absolutely iconic sweeping red light at the front (you can hear the noise it makes right now, right?) which every cool kid in the 1980s tried to copy on their Capri before getting pulled over for it, KITT and seemingly superfluous human driver Michael Knight solved crimes across the USA.

Batman - Lincoln Future "Batmobile"
Batman has driven any number of pretty extreme vehicles as his own personal crime-fighting car. We had three from the films in WCOMC, with the Nolan Tank and the Burton jet car as particular favorites. However it's the car above that tends to be the mental image formed when someone says "Batmobile", much to the chagrin of bat-fans who regard the 1960s show as too camp and kitsch. As for the car itself, it's a custom model from George Barris (who we mentioned earlier) based on the Lincoln Futura concept car. Like all good comic book cars, its abilities were... whatever they needed to be for that storyline.

 

[TexRex]

Like all good comic book cars, its abilities were... whatever they needed to be for that storyline.

Nice touch.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Wow, not so close.


Jerome

 

[Famine]

I'm a bit behind myself, so a few polls today. First is the fourth knockout, between Crockett and Mifune...

Miami Vice - Ferrari Testarossa
This. This is peak 1980s. A pair of vice cops taking down drug cartels and prostitution rings on the mean - and primary coloured - streets of Miami, all to the backing of Jan Hammer and a shopping list of 80s music icons: Duran Duran, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins, among others. What car would lead actor Don Johnson drive? Well it could be nothing other than a stiletto heel-white Ferrari Testarossa, confiscated from a drug baron and requisitioned for personal use. It wasn't the original Crockett car though - it actually came about from Ferrari objecting to the faked Daytona in the first two series.

Speed Racer - Mach 5
Speed Racer, also known as Mach Go Go Go ("go" being Japanese for "five", and driver Go Mifune's first name), first aired in 1967. The show broadly follows the exploits of Go Mifune, a promising young racing driver who drives the Mach 5 race car - a gadget-laden car capable of incredible speeds. Go is trying to follow in the footsteps of his big brother Rex to become the greatest driver of all, using the car his father designed, in a strange open-formula race category that includes a 200-foot long truck made of gold bars.

 

[Famine]

The next second-round tie puts two 80s icons, with paper-thin plots that lasted eight seasons apiece, against each other:

Dukes of Hazzard - Dodge Charger "General Lee"
Everything about the General is the stuff of legend. The classic orange paintjob with now-unpopular Southern Cross on the roof, the Dixie horn (historical note: Abraham Lincoln loved the song, and had it played at General Lee's formal surrender), the fact that the show wrote off some 300 Chargers by jumping them over creeks, police cars, trucks, and just because. Dukes lasted some 8 seasons based on little more than moonshine, and the General Lee is an enduring icon of 1970s (and early 1980s) TV.

Magnum, PI - Ferrari 308
Faintly inexplicable cop/spy/PI/Navy/bored rich guy/surfer dude mashup show Magnum PI somehow ran for eight seasons in the 1980s, and also featured a famous screen Ferrari. In essence the plot was that Tom Selleck's Magnum was employed by a random rich guy in Hawaii to test his estate's security, and while he was at it he could live a leisurely life as a private investigator if he felt like it. Baffling plot chasm aside, Magnum gets to drive his boss's Ferrari around Oahu as if it's his own. The boss likes to upgrade too, as the Ferrari moves from 308 GTS to GTSi, and finally 308 QV at the show's end.

 

[Famine]

It's Ford vs. Ford in our next knockout match, with a couple of 70s TV icons from opposite sides of the Atlantic:

Starsky & Hutch - Ford Gran Torino
Straight from the Spelling stable, Starsky & Hutch was the buddy cop TV show of the 1970s. Mixing David Soul with Paul Glaser (who went on to direct the excellent cheesy Schwarzenegger flick The Running Man), and Antonio Fargas's swaggering Huggy Bear, Starsky & Hutch ran for just four seasons, ending in 1979. The other star of the show was, without a doubt, the Striped Tomato - as Glaser referred to the red and white Ford Gran Torino - which spawned endless copies. Even in the UK it was difficult to avoid seeing white-striped, red Ford Capris on slot mags...

The Professionals - Ford Capri
Bodie and Doyle, lead investigators of the fictional CI5 branch of the Home Office, spent much of the late 1970s and early 1980s sliding a Ford Capri around bits of London while beating the crap out of criminals. Known for its car chases, with at least one in every episode usually featuring villains in British Leyland's finest, The Professionals ran for five seasons and was a target for censors throughout its run - with one episode never even making it to UK broadcast channels...

 

[Famine]

I'm mystified why the General Lee/Magnum poll was so close in the end. People are weird. Anyway, second round knockouts are still going, with two more left. The first is two UK TV cars that can be summed up in six-letters each...

Top Gear - Opel Kadett "Oliver"
OLIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! The Opel Kadett was Top Gear co-host Richard Hammond's rather bizarre choice of car to drive 1,000 miles across Botswana. Despite a number of mishaps, which included sinking, the Opel - which Hammond called "Oliver" - made it to the finish line. It then also made it back to the UK, as Hammond decided to keep it, and it has since appeared on his own Blast Lab TV show.

Ashes to Ashes - Audi Quattro
Fire up the Quattro! The third star of the Ashes to Ashes TV series - which follows on from Life on Mars and features inadvertent time-traveling cops - the Quattro is the car of loose cannon, wideboy detective Gene Hunt. Instead of the 1970s setting of the original, Ashes takes place in the 1980s, although there's more than a few anachronisms (such as the RHD 1980 Quattro above in a series set in 1981 - the car wouldn't be available until 1983) which hint that physical time travel isn't the explanation for the show's events...

 

[Famine]

For some reason, these draws are always great at throwing up themed knockouts, and here we have two icons of cheap motoring that also had starring TV roles...

Mr. Bean - Mini 1000
The verbally non-communicative, accident-prone, creature of habit Mr. Bean is worlds apart from Rowan Atkinson's other famous TV character Edmund Blackadder. Possibly an alien, but definitely not familiar with social norms, Bean somehow muddles through the world without ever coming to serious harm. That includes the public roads, which he gets around in a green Mini 1000 with a black hood. Bean locks the car with a padlock and removes the steering wheel as an anti-theft measure - but also has a long-running feud with a blue Reliant Regal Supervan... It also somehow survived being crushed by a tank.

Herbie the Love Bug - Volkswagen Beetle
Although better known as a film car, Herbie also had a very short TV series in 1982, with Dean Jones reprising his role as Herbie's original owner from the film. The show ran for just five episodes early in 1982, but featured Herbie up to his usual self-driving shenanigans.

 

[Famine]

Well, we're down to our final eight cars, and to be honest they're all beasts. In descending order of total votes gained so far, they are:

Knight Rider - KITT
Initial D - Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86
The A-Team - GMC Vandura
Mr Bean - Mini 1000
Dukes of Hazzard - Dodge Charger "General Lee"
Miami Vice - Ferrari Testarossa
Top Gear - Opel Kadett A "Oliver"
Starsky & Hutch - Ford Gran Torino

Every single knockout will now cause arguments over which was worthier, so let's get on with it!

The A-Team - GMC Vandura
When you're undercover soldiers of fortune, what do you need to lie low in? Yes, a black and grey van with an enormous red stripe on it. Driven by Bosco "Bad Attitude" Baracus, usually, the A-Team van contained whatever the team needed at that moment in time, handily. That even included a miniature printing press, because obviously it did.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group A
Round 2 - Beat Scooby Doo 71:29

Initial D - Toyota Sprinter Trueno
Probably the most famous anime car, Takumi Fujiwara's father's tofu shop delivery car is instantly recognisable. The two-tone black and white livery is hard to miss as young Fujiwara hones his driving skills on the touge to become the best driver in Gunma. Real life drifter and Japanese racing legend Keiichi Tsuchiya worked on the comic book and acted as a supervisor on the TV series too.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group B
Round 2 - Beat Viper 63:37

 

[daan]

Right. Done.

 

[Famine]

View attachment 910307

Right. Done.

Yep, that's a wrap. Next up, is KITT vs Miami Vice...

 

[Jump_Ace]

You've jinx'd it @daan Noooo.......


Jerome

 

[MaxAttack]

Wow that Dukes/Magnum poll...

At this point I think it's between the A-team van, KITT and the General Lee.

 

[Famine]

It's not looking like the plan is coming together... 24 votes separate the A-Team from Initial D right now, and it's not in the van's favour...

Anyway, the second quarter-final looks like this:

Knight Rider - Pontiac Firebird "Knight Industries 2000" (KITT)
The super-intelligent, gadget-packed, high-performance, and self-aware KITT was undoubtedly the star of this classic 1980s show which also starred *checks notes* Zardu Hasselfrau? Helped along by that absolutely iconic sweeping red light at the front (you can hear the noise it makes right now, right?) which every cool kid in the 1980s tried to copy on their Capri before getting pulled over for it, KITT and seemingly superfluous human driver Michael Knight solved crimes across the USA.

Miami Vice - Ferrari Testarossa
This. This is peak 1980s. A pair of vice cops taking down drug cartels and prostitution rings on the mean - and primary coloured - streets of Miami, all to the backing of Jan Hammer and a shopping list of 80s music icons: Duran Duran, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins, among others. What car would lead actor Don Johnson drive? Well it could be nothing other than a stiletto heel-white Ferrari Testarossa, confiscated from a drug baron and requisitioned for personal use. It wasn't the original Crockett car though - it actually came about from Ferrari objecting to the faked Daytona in the first two series.

 

[Famine]

Holy balls, I just caught the A-Team/Initial D result (missed it thanks to Codies releasing the F1 2020 teaser). How close was that? Right result in the end, but the van came from a LONG way back this morning.

 

[TexRex]

Aaaaand my faith in society is renewed.

 

[Famine]

What I love about these World Cup Of... polls is that this sort of head-to-head match is possible. So weird. So very weird...

Dukes of Hazzard - Dodge Charger "General Lee"
Everything about the General is the stuff of legend. The classic orange paintjob with now-unpopular Southern Cross on the roof, the Dixie horn (historical note: Abraham Lincoln loved the song, and had it played at General Lee's formal surrender), the fact that the show wrote off some 300 Chargers by jumping them over creeks, police cars, trucks, and just because. Dukes lasted some 8 seasons based on little more than moonshine, and the General Lee is an enduring icon of 1970s (and early 1980s) TV.

Top Gear - Opel Kadett "Oliver"
OLIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! The Opel Kadett was Top Gear co-host Richard Hammond's rather bizarre choice of car to drive 1,000 miles across Botswana. Despite a number of mishaps, which included sinking, the Opel - which Hammond called "Oliver" - made it to the finish line. It then also made it back to the UK, as Hammond decided to keep it, and it has since appeared on his own Blast Lab TV show.

 

[Jump_Ace]

This is becoming one of my fav threads of all time.


Jerome

 

[Famine]

Edit: WTF? I've just caught the Dukes/Oliver result. Why was that so close? Giant orange pony car with the world's most famous horn from an eight-series transatlantic hit vs. beige Opel driven by a tiny farmer for about 25 minutes, and there's SIX votes in it?


Well of course it's Starsky & Hutch vs. Mr. Bean. That's a totally normal thing to happen...

Starsky & Hutch - Ford Gran Torino
Straight from the Spelling stable, Starsky & Hutch was the buddy cop TV show of the 1970s. Mixing David Soul with Paul Glaser (who went on to direct the excellent cheesy Schwarzenegger flick The Running Man), and Antonio Fargas's swaggering Huggy Bear, Starsky & Hutch ran for just four seasons, ending in 1979. The other star of the show was, without a doubt, the Striped Tomato - as Glaser referred to the red and white Ford Gran Torino - which spawned endless copies. Even in the UK it was difficult to avoid seeing white-striped, red Ford Capris on slot mags...

Mr. Bean - Mini 1000
The verbally non-communicative, accident-prone, creature of habit Mr. Bean is worlds apart from Rowan Atkinson's other famous TV character Edmund Blackadder. Possibly an alien, but definitely not familiar with social norms, Bean somehow muddles through the world without ever coming to serious harm. That includes the public roads, which he gets around in a green Mini 1000 with a black hood. Bean locks the car with a padlock and removes the steering wheel as an anti-theft measure - but also has a long-running feud with a blue Reliant Regal Supervan... It also somehow survived being crushed by a tank.

 

[Dotini]

Several model years of the Pontiac Firebird were seen in the Rockford Files, rated by some as 5th on then list of greatest TV cars. Jim Garner, of "Grand Prix" fame, was the popular star of the show as well as the car.

• 
  
• 
• 

Pontiac Firebirds used in the series also included model years 1974 (left), and 1975 (right).

 

[Famine]

Several model years of the Pontiac Firebird were seen in the Rockford Files, rated by some as 5th on then list of greatest TV cars. Jim Garner, of "Grand Prix" fame, was the popular star of the show as well as the car.

• 
  
• 
• 

Pontiac Firebirds used in the series also included model years 1974 (left), and 1975 (right).

The nominations thread was a month ago. Voting on the nominations was three weeks ago. And this car was actually in the final polling, with a description that included the note about there being several different versions:

The Rockford Files - Pontiac Firebird
This is the first of several Pontiac Firebirds that James Garner's Jim Rockford drives while solving crimes - usually cold cases - in the Rockford Files. Actually a Firebird Formula dressed down to look like a lower model, to give Rockford the semblence of a common man, the Firebirds would be a fixture across all six seasons, and a couple of TV movies too.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Mr. Bean > S & H? How about no.


Jerome

 

[Famine]

Mr. Bean > S & H? How about no.


Jerome

There's still a way to go - the General and the A-Team van came back to win their QFs, with the van actually coming from a pretty long way down actually (52 votes behind at one stage).

 

[Jump_Ace]

There's still a way to go - the General and the A-Team van came back to win their QFs, with the van actually coming from a pretty long way down actually (52 votes behind at one stage).

is it sad I wake up every morning and can't wait to see what to vote on next?


Jerome

 

[Famine]

Okay, it's semi-finals time, and the first one is an absolute beast. On any other day, this could be the final - and these two vehicles are #1 and #2 in terms of total votes cast - but the luck of the draw means that one of these two iconic machines is not going any further...

The A-Team - GMC Vandura
When you're undercover soldiers of fortune, what do you need to lie low in? Yes, a black and grey van with an enormous red stripe on it. Driven by Bosco "Bad Attitude" Baracus, usually, the A-Team van contained whatever the team needed at that moment in time, handily. That even included a miniature printing press, because obviously it did.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group A
Round 2 - Beat Scooby Doo 71:29
QF - Beat Initial D 52:48

Knight Rider - Pontiac Firebird "Knight Industries 2000" (KITT)
The super-intelligent, gadget-packed, high-performance, and self-aware KITT was undoubtedly the star of this classic 1980s show which also starred *checks notes* Zardu Hasselfrau? Helped along by that absolutely iconic sweeping red light at the front (you can hear the noise it makes right now, right?) which every cool kid in the 1980s tried to copy on their Capri before getting pulled over for it, KITT and seemingly superfluous human driver Michael Knight solved crimes across the USA.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group C
Round 2 - Beat Batman 81:19
QF - Beat Miami Vice 64:36

 

[MaxAttack]

That's a head-explodingly difficult call...

 

[Famine]

KITT makes the final then, but what from this very odd match will join it?

Dukes of Hazzard - Dodge Charger "General Lee"
Everything about the General is the stuff of legend. The classic orange paintjob with now-unpopular Southern Cross on the roof, the Dixie horn (historical note: Abraham Lincoln loved the song, and had it played at General Lee's formal surrender), the fact that the show wrote off some 300 Chargers by jumping them over creeks, police cars, trucks, and just because. Dukes lasted some 8 seasons based on little more than moonshine, and the General Lee is an enduring icon of 1970s (and early 1980s) TV.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group E
Round 2 - Beat Magnum PI 51:49
QF - Beat Top Gear/Oliver 52:48

Mr. Bean - Mini 1000
The verbally non-communicative, accident-prone, creature of habit Mr. Bean is worlds apart from Rowan Atkinson's other famous TV character Edmund Blackadder. Possibly an alien, but definitely not familiar with social norms, Bean somehow muddles through the world without ever coming to serious harm. That includes the public roads, which he gets around in a green Mini 1000 with a black hood. Bean locks the car with a padlock and removes the steering wheel as an anti-theft measure - but also has a long-running feud with a blue Reliant Regal Supervan... It also somehow survived being crushed by a tank.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group H
Round 2 - Beat Herbie the Love Bug 64:36
QF - Beat Starsky & Hutch 55:45

 

[Famine]

Well now, this is the final pairing, and it is an absolute clash of the titans. I can't think of a more deserving duo to represent the greatest ever TV car, but only one will make it. KITT, or the General?

Knight Rider - Pontiac Firebird "Knight Industries 2000" (KITT)
The super-intelligent, gadget-packed, high-performance, and self-aware KITT was undoubtedly the star of this classic 1980s show which also starred *checks notes* Zardu Hasselfrau? Helped along by that absolutely iconic sweeping red light at the front (you can hear the noise it makes right now, right?) which every cool kid in the 1980s tried to copy on their Capri before getting pulled over for it, KITT and seemingly superfluous human driver Michael Knight solved crimes across the USA.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group C
Round 2 - Beat Batman 81:19
QF - Beat Miami Vice 64:36
SF - Beat A-Team 71:29

Dukes of Hazzard - Dodge Charger "General Lee"
Everything about the General is the stuff of legend. The classic orange paintjob with now-unpopular Southern Cross on the roof, the Dixie horn (historical note: Abraham Lincoln loved the song, and had it played at General Lee's formal surrender), the fact that the show wrote off some 300 Chargers by jumping them over creeks, police cars, trucks, and just because. Dukes lasted some 8 seasons based on little more than moonshine, and the General Lee is an enduring icon of 1970s (and early 1980s) TV.

How it got here
Round 1 - Won Group E
Round 2 - Beat Magnum PI 51:49
QF - Beat Top Gear/Oliver 52:48
SF - Beat Mr Bean 55:45