The greatest cars ever to grace the big screen

Cinema has given some cars a lasting place in popular culture, and the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger (1964) is widely regarded as the most famous movie car. The gadget-laden coupe featured a rear smokescreen, revolving number plates, simulated twin machine guns, tyre slasher, and a bulletproof rear shield, all dreamt up by effects designer John Stears. After Thunderball, the DB5 changed hands several times and fetched $250,000 at Sotheby’s in New York in 1986; it was stolen from a Boca Raton hangar in June 1997 and has remained unrecovered, with current estimates surpassing $25 million. Other icons include the Lotus Esprit submarine, Wet Nellie, built for about $100,000, later sold for $100 in 1989 before Elon Musk reportedly bought it for $1 million. The DeLorean DMC-12, produced in 1981 in Dunmurry, near Belfast, is another celebrated screen car, emblematic of time travel. The piece illustrates how cinematic cars outlive budgets to become cultural touchstones.