1. DeLorean DMC-12: “Back to the Future”
Well, what can I say — an unfading classic for all time. Chopped shapes that you recognize from a thousand, polished to a mirror finish body, gullwing doors, and rear wheels slightly larger than the front.
Commercially, the car did not become successful, but participation in the “Back to the Future” trilogy (where the car, by the way, got precisely because of its futuristic exterior) provided it with a cult status and the love of fans of the franchise. Dr. Emmett Brown, according to the plot, installed a kind of plutonium-powered flux capacitor on the car. The capacitor generated 1.21 gigawatts of power, which was enough to travel through time (assuming a speed of 88 miles per hour, of course). And the car left a spectacular fiery trail on the pavement – well, how can you not fall in love with this?
2. GM Ultralite: “Demolition Man” and “Bicentennial Man”
General Motors designers managed to roll out such an attractive design that we can see this concept in several science fiction films at once. No wonder: the Ultralite was conceived as the car of the future, it used several technologies at once, which were fantastic for 1992, and are now perceived as quite ordinary.
Let’s start with the fact that the Ultralite stood out for its low fuel consumption: the car ate only 2.7 liters per 100 kilometers (1.12 gallons per 100 miles), and at a cruising speed of 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour), this figure dropped to 2.4 liters (1.08 gallons). This efficiency was due to the low weight of the car. Thanks to carbon fiber, the body weighed only 191 kilograms (421 pounds), and the total weight did not exceed 635 kilograms (1400 pounds). A three-cylinder engine could accelerate a lightweight car to a maximum of 217 kilometers per hour (135 miles per hour).
The shape of the Ultralite was inspired by the Ford Probe and subsequently used to design the GM EV1 electric car.
3. Audi RSQ: “I, Robot”
The beginning of the 2000s was the time of ideas about the future in smooth forms. Especially for the film with Will Smith, Audi, in collaboration with Lamborghini, created the Audi Le Mans quattro concept car, which was then modified at the request of customers. The result was the Audi RSQ model, which starred in the film.
The body of the RSQ was created from fiberglass, using details tested on the Audi TT in the design. The grille was moved from the Audi A8 Quattro, and the wheels were hidden inside the fenders. The all-wheel drive car received an engine from Lamborghini Gallardo.
4. Cadillac Cien and Mack: “The Island”
The first ever Cadillac centenary supercar was driven by Ewan McGregor’s Lincoln Six-Echo.
The supercar itself was introduced back in 2002. As in the case of the DeLorean, the Cadillac concept made it into the film, apparently for its incredibly futuristic appearance. However, the engineers also tried their best on the filling: the supercar received a GM Northstar XV12 engine with a capacity of 750 horsepower.
He did not go into the series, remaining at the concept level, but he set a trend for General Motors designers: in the coming years, they enthusiastically cut shapes, like in Cien.
The second vehicle mentioned in the title is a Mack truck, one of the leading truck manufacturers in North America. The model presented in the film is based on Mack Pinnacle, one of the most successful developments of the company that surfs the highways of the USA and Canada. The model has only one drawback: in the “Island” it appears in one scene only.
5. Audi Quattro Fleet Shuttle: “Ender’s Game”
Ender’s Game is certainly not a cult film, and its ratings are slightly above average, but the car of the future from Audi in it, of course, is impressive. In addition, Harrison Ford is driving there — and this is immediately +100 to the charisma of any vehicle.
The film was released in 2013, and it is immediately noticeable from the design that the developers again fell in love with drawing corners a little more than ovals (but, of course, they are far from Cybertruck). So, what do we have in Quattro Fleet Shuttle?
We have created a machine for the world in 75 years that fits perfectly into the film’s high-tech atmosphere.
Audi designer Björn Wärli:
The most catchy feature of the Quattro Fleet Shuttle is the roof that is transparent along the entire length (it is better not to park the car where there are a lot of birds). But here it is important to make one remark: in reality, Ford was driving a regular Audi A7 Sportback. The design of the car of the future was drawn and added by CGI artists already in post-production.
Bonus. M577: “Aliens”
Dual 20-megawatt phase plasma cannon. Twin Gatling gun. Two rocket launchers. Two layers of fire-resistant armor. Four-wheel drive and steering of all four wheels. The maximum speed is 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour), acceleration to hundreds is 14 seconds. Too good to be true, right?
“Aliens” production designer Ron Cobb suggested that director James Cameron build the M577 from scratch. However, the cost was so fantastic that they had to look for cheaper alternatives. As a result, the basis for the M577 armored personnel carrier was the Hunslet ATT77 aircraft tractor, which during its lifetime dragged wide-body long-range monsters around the airport.
All the ballast was removed from the tractor (and this is about 30 metric tons) and the front part was cut off. They also made a small radio-controlled model for filming. As a result, the production of the car still required $1.5 million, but we got another iconic car for the collection.