Iconic Classics
July 25th, 2009
One thing that earns a car the “classic” tag perhaps more quickly and permanently than any other way is to be featured in a great cultural touchstone – whether it be musical, literary, or cinematic. Even featuring in a television program can do the job just as well. Anyone who has seen the Dukes of Hazards will remember the General Lee, a Dodge Charger with the doors sealed up. Equally as quick to gain entrance into the pantheon was the Pontiac Firebird – voiced by William Daniels and driven by David Hasselhoff, and better known as “KITT”, it certainly struck a chord with children of the 80s.
Anything that James Dean drove at any point also has a realistic claim to the “Icon” tag. Most particularly, the Porsche 550 Spyder in which he died back in 1955 has gone down in history and been much replicated in the past five decades. This shows that a car doesn’t even need to feature in a film, book or show to become legendary – merely being owned by someone iconic can do this for a vehicle just as quickly.
There are as many great cars from films as there are great films, one might argue. The Ford Grand Tourino driven by Starsky and Hutch will never be forgotten by many of the people who enjoyed either generation of that classic, nor will the DeLorean from Back to the Future, nor indeed the legendary eponymous VW Beetle with a mind of its own from the Herbie movies such as The Love Bug and Herbie Goes Bananas.
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