The Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit.

That’s it.

The black and gold, phoenix-adorned, T-topped muscle car stands alone in my mind as THE most iconic car in cinema history.  That Trans Am goes beyond cinematic significance.  It is really emblematic of the 70s culture.

Since the list is so short, I’ll shout out two honorable mentions:

The Batmobile.

No, you didn’t mis-count.  I’m giving props to the Batmobile from the 1989 Batman film that starred Michael Keaton as well as the newer, Batman Begins Batmobile.  The former was a modern re-imagining of a classic that helped to move the franchise away from the cheese whiz 6′s version of the character.  The latter was a vision of the kind of car that Batman really would drive.  Basically a tank on wheels, the new Batmobile (somewhat derisively nicknamed the “Batmo-tank” by fans) was a no-nonsense, all-business engine of destruction worthy of a Dark Knight.

Have I missed anything?  Honestly, I can’t think of any other really GREAT cars from movies.  The nigh-indestructable custom built armored car from Death Race was pretty darn cool, but since only about six people actually saw the movie, I don’t think we can give it too much credit.

Drop me an email if you can think of any other cars worthy of being immortalized on the list of the greatest movie cars of all time.  If you make a compelling enough case, I may have to release an amended list.  But for now, Smokey and the Bandit’s Trans Am stands alone.