17 great pop culture cars

Let's see...it could talk back, and, occasionally, help its driver score with the ladies. (And jump over canyons. And go up on two wheels. And drive itself. And eavesdrop on evil land barons.) And the Knight Industries Two Thousand even got a 21st-century movie makeover. My word, KITT, not too shabby.

Duh.

Because it has "atomic batteries" and "turbines." Because it has fire — FIRE! — shooting out of the rear. Because it's the sexiest superhero car ever.

We fully acknowledge that flag that's on the roof — though nothing ever jumped over creeks and riverbeds and drifted around dirt roads like that bright orange Dodge Charger. Responsible for scores of people welding their doors shut.

It's the only car that lets you go back in time, so you can see it for the first time over and over again. Plus, those gull-wing doors are badass.

Ninjas and samurais are sweet, but it's hard to get much cooler than Uma Thurman stepping out of the Pussy Wagon to scratch Vivica A. Fox from her marked-for-death list.

Later the car of Long Island gym enthusiasts reeking of cologne, the Trans Am turned Burt Reynolds into a rural icon — equal parts A.J. Foyt and Billy Jack.

The only bad thing about this Ford Falcon Interceptor was that you couldn't buy it in the States — it was an Australian model. But we got to live vicariously as Max (Mel Gibson) whipped it through the wastelands, supercharger wailing, and mutants tumbling in its wake in this Mad Max sequel.

It looks like a hearse...which is good, since the Ghostbusters do all of their business with the dead. But it's got the best siren in the biz.

Why the Bluesmobile? Ask Dan Aykroyd's Elwood: "It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas." In short, the perfect car for any mission from God.

The laws of physics dictate that any automobile with a center of gravity as high as this van would tumble in every one of the car chases it was involved in. But Mr. T don't obey your laws, sucka, and neither does his whip. (Why it has a spoiler still mystifies me.)

Pure American muscle, dressed up like an ice cream treat, and called the "Striped Tomato" by fans. Even if this ride looked a little silly, it did hustle these streetwise San Fran detectives to crime scenes in a hurry.

This anime's theme song kept repeating "Go, Speed Racer" — this is how he got there. Equipped with belt tires, rockets, killer headlights, rotary saws, a homing robot, and "auto jacks." None of it factory standard, all of it awesome.

Dick Van Dyke and "cool" may go together as uneasily as oil and water, but his flying jalopy is the alpha and omega of tricked-out wheels.

If the Devil had a car, it would be this cherry red 1958 Plymouth Fury, which is capable of both restoring itself to mint condition and rendering anyone who messes with her (or her owner) fit for the junk heap.

How better to ferry video game Marines into harm's way than with this open-air military utility vehicle? You could roll it, jump it, flip it, or crash it, and the Warthog was ready for more. (Even if the steering took a little getting used to.)

Yes, it's a station wagon. But the Family Truckster is also functional (strapping a dead aunt to the roof) and popular with the ladies (hello, Ms. Brinkley).