10 Iconic Movie Cars—And How Much They Cost in Real Life
From 007's legendary luxury car to Herbie the Love Bug, here are 10 iconic movie cars—and how much they're worth today.
1963 Aston Martin DB5
If you were either wise or lucky enough to purchase a ’63 Aston Martin DB5 just as the luxury car made its first appearance in a James Bond 007 movie (1964’s Goldfinger) you would not only go on to see it featured in seven more Bond films—Thunderball (1965), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time To Die (2021)—you’d also have seen a staggering 11,000% increase in your car’s value! The original sale price was just over $5,500 USD ($45,000 in today’s money) and modern-day sales of Aston Martin DB5s have fetched upwards of $620k! The actual DB5 used in the filming of GoldenEye was recently sold to Spyscape, a New York City spy museum, for a whopping 2.6 million USD, reports Hemmings Daily.
Here are the best James Bond movies, ranked!
1967 Shelby Mustang GT500
Owners of this iconic 1967 Mustang will never bemoan a movie remake again after seeing the value of their ride rise by over 4,000% when it was featured in the year-2000 version of Gone in 60 Seconds. In the original cult classic flick from ’73, a Mustang Mach 1 from the same year was featured as Eleanor, but the remake’s Eleanor II sent automotive resale figures skyward. The ’67 Shelby, originally worth $4,195, is now being sold for a cool $178,200 USD, per CompareTheMarket.com‘s research.
Check out more memorable movie Mustangs.
1970 Dodge Charger
No film franchise has boosted interest (and prices) of cars quite like The Fast and the Furious movies. When the first film in the blockbuster series debuted in 2001, the 1970 Dodge Charger quickly became the “it” car when Dominic Toretto claimed he could race a quarter-mile in nine seconds. With an original value of just $3,711 and a 1,120% increase in 20 years, this model year Dodge Charger has recently sold for around $85k USD.
Here are the best action movies on Netflix right now.
1963 Model 117 Volkswagen Type 1
First featured in The Love Bug, the little ’63 VW Beetle with its distinctive racing stripe and number down the centre of its bulbous hood had a lucrative Hollywood career with five sequels over a 31-year span. Not only did that first film help cement the Beetle as an iconic vehicle that would stay super popular with young people for over a half-century, it may have also contributed to the Type 1’s 931% price increase since 1963, going from an original sticker price of $1,595 to around $16,500 USD in automotive resale markets today.
Don’t miss this loving homage to the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle.
1966 Ford Thunderbird
Providing they didn’t drive it off a cliff in a cinematic moment of their own, owners of a ’66 Thunderbird made famous in the movie Thelma & Louise would’ve seen their car’s value increase 630% in the nearly three decades since the Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon film was released. The actual car from the film sold in 2008 at auction for $71,500 USD.
Here are 10 classic cars that are still being made today.
1977 Chevrolet Camaro
There’s nothing like a blockbuster summer movie to send classic car values soaring! One of the stars of the 2007 Transformers reboot is the ’77 Camaro with bright yellow paint and evocative black stripes running the length of its body. The car will forever be known as “Bumblebee.” With an original price tag of $4,233 and an average recent sale price of $12,000 USD, the ’77 Camaro has seen a modest 183% increase. Fun fact: 2018’s Bumblebee, starring Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, features not a muscle car Camaro, but a yellow VW Beetle. And as we’ve learned above, that is an adorable ride rich in cinematic history—and price increases!
Check out this incredible ’67 Camaro restoration.
1981 DeLorean DMC-12
For audiences of a certain generation, it can be argued that there isn’t a more iconic movie car than the 1981 DeLorean. The funky ride played a pivotal role in getting Michael J. Fox Back To The Future but you might be surprised to learn that on-screen success has done practically nothing to help lightning strike and electrify the price of the DeLorean. Maybe this is because the car originally cost an inflated $25,000 ($69,000 in today’s dollar adjusted for inflation) or maybe because it simply wasn’t a practical enough vehicle in the first place. Christopher Lloyd’s little speedster is fetching only $32,400 USD in recent sales, according to CompareTheMarket.com. It is worth noting that special editions of the DeLorean DMC-12 either used in the movie or modified to look like the famous time machine can fetch a lot more on the open market today.
1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback
The Highland Green sports car driven around San Francisco by Steve McQueen’s determined cop, Frank Bullitt, in the eponymous thriller has seen a 1,200% increase in value since its 1968 launch. Originally sold for $3,500 (a hair under $26,000 today), the Mustang GT390 now gets over $80k USD on the open market. Thanks to being a beloved Mustang model, Ford paid homage to the original Bullitt by introducing a new Mustang GT package featuring the Bullitt nameplate in 2001 and re-fired the Bullitt again in 2008-2009, reports CJ Pony Parts.
You won’t believe how much these celebrity cars went for at auction!
1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder
According to The Drive, “the best cast member [in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off] never said a word, had four wheels and met an untimely demise at the bottom of a ravine. That’s the rosso corsa 1961 Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spider “borrowed” from Cameron’s dad.” There were 56 made in total, and only 37 of which featured those famous headlights, so how much is the car worth if you could throw it in reverse to wind down the mileage? Per AutoBlog.com, “a real deal, not replica, 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider—just like the one we fell in love with watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—was offered for sale to the public for the first time in its 55-year history in March of 2016, and fetched $17.16 million USD.”
Don’t miss our countdown of the best classic movies on Netflix Canada.
1977 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition
Surely its star turn in Smokey and the Bandit is the reason this vehicle’s price has risen over the past 40 years. Originally costing car buyers $5,456, some ’77 Pontiac Trans Ams evoking memories of that classic film are going for nearly $22,000 USD today. If only that price tag came with even an ounce of Burt Reynolds’ timeless cool factor! For the film’s sequel, again a Pontiac Trans Am was employed, but this time a 1980 Turbo model was featured.
Think you know your vintage wheels? Take our tricky classic car quiz and find out!
