There's nothing quite like a car chase to get your heart racing at the movies, especially when it ends with a spectacular crash or explosion. From silent-era comedies to modern blockbusters, Hollywood has gleefully destroyed some of the most collectible and luxious cars ever built.
This installment of the James Bond franchise saw a new lead, Daniel Craig, and a new Aston Martin, the DBS. Fans thrilled to the sight of Craig and the Aston going airborne, but the DBS was actually too stable to flip over. “Because it was so well balanced, they couldn’t get it to roll,” says Brad Hansen, producer/director of Mandatory.com's Star Cars. “They had to install a cannon underneath it to get the thing to roll.” The DBS didn’t go on the market until 2007, making the limited-run 2006 model in the movie truly priceless.
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The convertible that Cameron (Alan Ruck) kicks out of the garage wasn’t a real 1961 Ferrari. It was an American-made replica built in 1985; three were built for the film. “At least one of them had an automatic because I think Matthew Broderick couldn’t drive stick,” Hansen said. One of the the faux Ferraris used in the movie sold in 2020 for $396,000. A real 1961 Ferrari 250 GT is worth between $5 million and $13 million. “They were always worth a lot because they made very few of them."
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Steve McQueen is perhaps best known for his famous car chase in “Bullitt.” His 1971 vanity project "Le Mans," which featured McQueen driving a Porsche 917, isn't so well known. “Racing cars are always expensive no matter when you’re talking about it,” Hansen says. “Those are the most purpose-built cars in the world, so that would’ve been a very expensive crash.” The film, which ran $1.5 million over budget and was a box-office flop, almost bankrupted McQueen. One of the movie's Porsche 917s sold for$14 million in 2017.
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Few films and cars are more closely associated than the "Back to the Future" series and the DeLorean DMC-12. “Unfortunately the movie came out too late to help the company,” which went bankrupt in 1982, Hansen says. “DeLoreans have been on the rise in value ever since.” A movie DeLorean sold for half a million dollars in 2011, while regular DeLoreans can sell for as much as $100,000.
This 1953 Humphrey Bogart film depicts an early 1920s Hispano-Suiza plunging off a cliff. The vehicle in question has long since disappeared. Cars like this were made to order, increasing their rarity. “You’d be like, ‘I want my car to be yellow with a saddle interior with a white top, and I want it to have this engine and that thing,” Hansen says. Some Hispano-Suizas have sold at auction for six figures.
The 1967 Stingray that’s hooked to a plane and dropped to the ground in "Con Air" is the top of the Corvette heap. “Most people consider this to be the best-looking Corvette of all time,” Hansen says. “They were pretty much the fastest cars you could buy back in the day. They’re worth a very pretty penny nowadays.” One ’67 ’Vette sold for $675,000 in 2017, and Stingrays often go for six figures.
Had Buster Keaton not destroyed it as a sight gag, the Pierce Arrow seen in 1922's "The Blacksmith" surely would’ve become a Hollywood collectible. “Up to the ’60s, no one cared about fuel economy, crash safety, making the car easy to park or maneuver,” Hansen said. “All you had to do is just make the car look awesome. The Pierce Arrow is a good example that looked amazing and had such great artistic lines to them.” At auction, similar Pierce Arrows have sold for more than $140,000.
The Porsche 930 is actually a rebadged 911, but its manual controls make it more collectible. “It’s the ultimate analog sports car,” Hansen says of the late 1970s model that appears in the film. “Because of that, their value has doubled in the last 10 years.” Today, these cars can sell for as much as $165,000.
Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) was wealthy enough that he probably didn't sweat it when he wrecked his Lamborghini Murcielago in this 2008 installment of the "Batman" franchise. “A Lamborghini is a car you want to drive if you want everyone to notice you because they always have the most extreme styling,” Hansen says. “They’re always the loudest cars.” Brand new, these cars sold for more than $315,000.
“If you want to flaunt your wealth to the world, you buy a Lamborghini,” Hansen said. “Lamborghinis are like Ferraris that are even more wild. Those are the cars for millionaire playboys.” According to Bloomberg, at least one of the six Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4s (valued at about $238,000 each) used in the filming of "Doctor Strange" was destroyed.
Mad Max’s car explodes in “The Road Warrior,” but he must have rebuilt it for “Fury Road,” where a similar model was also totaled. “That particular Falcon, the V8 Interceptor, they never sold that in America,” Hansen said. “You have to get a Falcon shipped from Australia and get it put on a boat and ship it over here. It’s a very expensive process.” Collectible Ford Falcon XB GTs, like the 1973 model used in the first film, can list for more than $150,000.
What makes Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) 1970 Dodge Charger so valuable are all his modifications. “Because it was so big, you could stuff in a monster engine into it,” Hansen said. “Certain option codes can triple the price of the car.” In the movie, it has a roll cage, aftermarket engine, certainly different wheels, and probably a modified suspension. It gets wrecked in his drag race, but Dom fixes it up again for the sequels. A similar Charger in top shape is worth nearly $50,000, according to NADAGuides.com.
In this installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise, Dom Toretto drove a million-dollar hypercar between two skyscrapers, bailing before it crashed out the window. “You have supercars which are like Lamborghinis and Porsches, and then you have what’s called a hypercar,” Hansen said. In past years, Dubai-based Lykan has produced as few as seven vehicles in a model year, each selling for more than $3 million.
Vintage cars add to the budget of period pieces, but Hansen suspects Paramount got a good deal on this 1941 Lincoln when "The Godfather" was being filmed. “In the ’70s, it probably wasn’t worth that much,” Hansen said. “It was probably like, ‘Oh yeah, maybe some old guy has one somewhere. Let’s get that and shoot it full of holes'.” They were luxury cars in the early ’40s; today, they've been known to sell for as much as $100,000.
The Aston Martin DB5 became the definitive James Bond car after Jaguar turned down the opportunity to provide a car for “Goldfinger." One DB5 got shot up and crashed, but a surviving car from the 1964 film sold for $4.6 million in 2010.
The "Eleanor" Mustang that Nicolas Cage drives in the 2000 version of this film isn't a real Ford; it's a custom build designed to resemble the legendary 1967 Carroll Shelby-modified fastback. “The producers wanted to amp up the look of the car, so they added this special body kit,” Hansen said. “I think they wanted to make that particular car look unique.” One of the movie cars sold for $1 million in 2013.
This bachelor party wrecks the groom’s father-in-law’s '69 Mercedes, and it tells you everything about the father-in-law. “That movie portrays the kind of person who has these classic cars now: well-off, middle-aged men,” Hansen said. “When ‘The Hangover’ was made, that car was worth a decent amount of money.” It was once offered for $95,000.
The original 1969 version of “The Italian Job” used a Lamborghini so valuable, they didn’t crash it. They found an already-wrecked car and cut to that. “The Miura was sort of the first really popular Lamborghini,” Hansen said. “That was the first real showstopper. It was so cool looking. Most car guys consider that to be the absolute apex of car design.”
Porsche did not provide cars such as the 1979 model young Tom Cruise loses in the lake, and the 928 is an obscure footnote in the Porsche line. “It didn’t sell very well,” Hansen said. “I think they’re really cool because they look like spaceships. They have these weird popup fog lights in the front that pop up like weird frog eyes.” Today, mint-condition 928s can sell for as much as $60,000.
The 1996 Ferrari Spider from this Nicolas Cage film, valued at $130,000 when new, is one of Hansen's favorite Hollywood cars. In this case, it's not a spectacular wreck he loves, but the outlandish notion that a Hummer could outrun a Ferrari. “The Hummer that Sean Connery is driving was so incredibly slow [in the film],” Hansen said. “It was made for the military. The Ferrari is almost a race car" by comparison.