These Iconic Chevys Were The Real Stars Of The Big Screen

Most great movies feature cars (didn't spot any in "Lord of the Rings," though), but it takes something special to stick in the viewer's mind. That's not to say that movie cars have to be hyper-exotic or ultra-rare, they just have to make a mark on our memories as deep as the characters and plot. Even sticking with just Chevrolet doesn't narrow down the list much because of the sheer number of standouts, but dang it, we'll try.

Lists of film Chevys usually start with Bumblebee the Camaro in the "Transformers" films, though calling them "films" seems generous. Transformers is more like a cinematic Chevy ad. There's also the stupendous '55 Chevy 150 in "American Graffiti," but the less said about the "modified" (ie. butchered) Corvette in "Corvette Summer," the better.  

There are many more cool movie Chevrolets, so here are some honorable mentions before getting to the actual list. '57 Bel Airs feature prominently in "Dr. No," the first James Bond movie with Sean Connery, as well as the 2016 historical film "Hidden Figures," which is about three Black women in the early 1960s who worked as mathemeticians for NASA. Then there's the 1970 LS6 454 Chevelle SS John Wick drives after his Mustang gets stolen (the man has good taste in muscle cars). As for Corvettes, Bill Paxton and Arnold Schwarzenegger test out a red '59 C1 in "True Lies," and "The Big Lebowski" goes medieval on a red '85 C4.

Project X was already a star before it hit the big screen. Purchased for $250 in 1965 by Popular Hot Rodding magazine, the purpose of this '57 Chevy 210 was to throw mods at the wall to see what stuck. There was no end goal, it was just going to keep getting new parts indefinitely. Shockingly, you can still find cheap examples to mod, like this $8,500 1957 Chevy 210 we talked about a few years ago.

In "The Hollywood Knights," Project X had a 6-71 supercharged Chevy small block going through a four-speed manual out to a 9-inch rear. It was painted bright yellow and rode on Cragar wheels, but its most identifiable feature had to be its missing hood and massive scoop. Oh, and Tony Danza and Michelle Pfeiffer were in it sometimes.

What's crazy is that Project X still isn't finished. After Popular Hot Rodding went under in 2014, the car went into the care of the Super Chevy and Street Rodder magazines. After they folded, it went to Hot Rod. It's had all manner of engines stuffed in like Dr. Frankenstein trying out different organs for his monster. It's been graced with a 502 big block, a ZL1 aluminum 427, a supercharged 376 LSX, and it now houses the 340-hp electric motor that Cadillac is using in the Lyriq. Maybe it should go to Garage 54 next so those folks can put in a dozen weed-whacker engines.

"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" didn't just launch Jim Carrey's career like a rocket, it also proved that cars don't have to be hip to be memorable. After the opening scene sees an angry, baseball bat-wielding bloke shatter the windshield in Ace's blue 1972 Monte Carlo, he just looks around his broken windshield (not legal, by the way) with his head hanging out of the window. You know, like a dog. Because he's a pet detective. 

Ace clearly had stunt-driver training because he whips that Monte next to a curb with a perfect handbrake turn. As he shuts off the car, he shouts, "Like a glove!" He also engages in car chases while driving it, and even catches a bullet in his teeth while weaving through traffic (now that I think about it, this movie might not be entirely realistic). 

The 1970 SS 454 Montes are the most desirable ones, though none made it from the factory with a 450 gross horsepower LS6 and a four-speed manual (some dealer-built examples do exist). A 360-hp LS5 454 is nothing to sneeze at, though, and the TH-400 automatic is certainly stout. 

By 1972, smog controls strangled Chevy's big block down to 270 net hp, but it still had a driveshaft-pretzeling 390 pound-feet of torque. Only 1,268 454 '72 Monte Carlos were built, and at least one seems to have terrorized Miami in the mid-'90s as its owner searched for missing pets.

These days, Jack Reacher is portrayed on TV by sentient soft-spoken granite slab Alan Ritchson, but in 2012's "Jack Reacher" movie 5-foot-7 Tom Cruise took a stab at being author Lee Child's 6-foot-5 ex-military policeman. When people discuss that first film adaptation, though, it's either to focus on just how weird fellow actor Werner Herzog is or talk about the movie's red 1970 Chevelle SS 396, the star of one of your favorite movie car chase scenes, the one where Reacher smashes into an Audi A6.

Chevelles are objectively best in red, and though it's not an LS6 454 like John Wick's, it's not like 396s are weak. In 1965 Corvettes the L78 396 made 425 hp, and though the engine was rated at 375 hp thereafter, it was largely unchanged. Plus, buyers could opt for L89 aluminum heads to remove a ton of weight from the front end; those are much rarer than LS6 454s.

In the "Jack Reacher" movie, there were nine red Chevelles in varying configurations depending on the scene's needs. Some had automatics, some had four-speeds. Some had 502s under the hood; others used even more massive 540-cubic-inch big blocks. Disc brakes replaced stock drums in the rear, and cars expected to handle intense cornering got 12-bolt rear ends. Unfortunately, some vintage Chevelles were harmed during the filming of this movie, but thankfully no actual SS 396s. And respect for Cruise — he did all the stunt driving himself.

2009's "Star Trek" reboot shows that even in the far future, blasting Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" with the top down on a red 1965 Corvette will still be cool. J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot may have mucked with the timeline of the series and featured more lens flare than characters, but introducing a young James T. Kirk with a Corvette joyride was the best decision he's ever made as a director. Plus, judging from the shot where Kirk answers the Nokia phone (wow, Nokia turns it around in the next couple hundred years), it has a four-speed manual.

In the movie, that Corvette meets a terrible fate as Kirk barely escapes "Thelma and Louise"-ing with it off a cliff as its tires somehow screech on dirt, an egregious car-related movie mistake that really bothers you, our readers, as it should. While child Kirk grows up to become Chris Pine, the 'Vette dashes on the rocks below. Well, it does in the movie, anyway. The real car is just fine.

In September of this year, the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky announced that the "Star Trek" Corvette's current owner, Ray Zielinski, has loaned it to the museum's collection. It even still has the Nokia touchscreen in the center console and yes, that is a four-speed manual. Under the hood is a 327, so it appears George Kirk, James T.'s late father in the movie and former owner of the car, couldn't find one with a 396.

If I had a nickel for every time someone in a movie used a Corvette as a ramp, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right? First is the silver 1986 Corvette in 2008's "Wanted," a movie starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy as assassins. In a scene that the Mythbusters tried replicating (didn't work), McAvoy has to kill a target in an armored limo. The cartoon physics has McAvoy speed up in his Mustang, causing it to squat back. Angelina Jolie slams the brakes in her '86 Vette, pushing the nose to the ground. The Mustang ramps over the Corvette, flips, and McAvoy shoots his target through the limo's bafflingly open sunroof.

Then, in 2013's "The Last Stand," Arnold Schwarzenegger's first movie as lead since leaving office as the governor of California, the bad guy whose name absolutely doesn't matter drives a C6 Corvette ZR1, the best Corvette ever according to MotorWeek. At one point, evil dude is pursued by an FBI convoy So, naturally, he pulls the Corvette in front of the lead vehicle, a Chevy Suburban, spins around, drives backward, and hits the brakes, causing the Suburban to ramp over the 'Vette and land on its roof. 

This car is so awesome and the movie is so worthless that someone on YouTube edited the movie to just the ZR1's scenes. And yes, it's for the better.