6 Movie Cars That Didn't Get Enough Screen Time

Today I decided to take a look at 6 cars that, in my opinion, should deserve a longer screen time. Of course, there are many, many more examples that could be featured on this list, but I decided to choose those 6 that disappointed me the most.

1. 1991 BMW 850i [E31] in “Heat”

The black E31 is seen for about few seconds in a very short scene where Neil (played by Robert De Niro) talks on a phone with Nate (John Voight) and sadly, it’s the only appearance of the 8-series in the whole movie. That’s probably the only thing I can dislike about this masterpiece directed by Michael Mann. It’s a shame, because the BMW 850i is a perfect match for such an interesting and well-written character like Neil. On the other hand, “Heat” managed to make the “catfish” Camaro look cool, which used to be my least favorite variation of the most recognizable Chevy model.

2. 2001 Buick Blackhawk Concept in “Bad Boys II”

To be honest, I had no idea such car exists until I saw this movie. You can see it shortly after the (rather disgusting) scene in a mortuary when Marcus (Martin Lawrence) gets accidentally drugged. Since it all takes place at night, it’s really hard to recognize the vehicle even if you consider yourself a car expert.
The mysterious car driven by detective Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) looks like some kind of a heavily customized, retro-styled version of the quirky Plymouth Prowler. In fact it’s the one-off Buick Blackhawk concept, which was inspired mostly by the 1948 Buick Roadmaster. Too bad that Michael Bay decided to focus more on showing us (in graphic detail) how drugs are smuggled in dead bodies rather than explaining how did Mike manage to acquire this extremely rare vehicle

3. 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo in “Mission: Impossible III”

We can all agree that Lamborghini Gallardo was definitely one of the best-looking cars available in 2006. Director J.J. Abrams made a right choice by placing the bright orange Gallardo in the beautiful surroundings of the Vatican city. Too bad that it literally gets blown up to pieces. It’s a part of the plan where our protagonists lead by Ethan (Tom Cruise) are trying to fake Owen Davian’s death (quick explanation for those who didn’t watch the movie: he’s the main villain played by Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Even though the car played a crucial role in this movie, I feel like we didn’t get enough of it. I hoped for (at least) a short chase involving the Lambo.

4. 2001 Porsche 911 Carrera [996] in “Fast Five”

It’s not a mistake - you read it right. Even though you can clearly see in a picture that this blue Porsche has a GT3 RS sticker on it, it’s in fact a heavily modified 996 Carrera. It’s implied that Brian and Dom won this car in a illegal street race with some dude who claimed to be the best racer in the Rio de Janeiro area. Sounds awesome, but we didn’t even have a chance to see that frickin’ race. That’s a bigger sin than the whole over-the-top chase scene with a vault we see later in the movie.
I know it’s not the original GT3 RS but for me it’s a big let down that such cool car gets less screen time than some Dodge Chargers.

5. 1995 BMW Z3 in “GoldenEye”

One of the most entertaining scenes in 007 films are those where Q introduces James Bond to his new car. The best example would be “GoldenEye” where we learn about all the hidden gadgets featured in Bond’s Z3. These include a radar, parachute, self destruct system and most importantly - missiles hidden behind the headlights. Too bad we never see any of these in action (maybe except radar) because Bond decides to exchange his BMW for a plane.
It’s a big disappointment for every 007 fan who expected a fun chase scene like in “The Spy Who Loved Me” or “The Living Daylights”. However, it turned out good for BMW because the Z3 was one of the best selling models in 1995

EDIT: I just found this information on IMDb Trivia section:

The reason Bond’s Z3 Roadster isn’t seen deploying any of its gadgets (apart from the radar) is because the deal with BMW came very late in production. The car used was a prototype, meaning that it couldn’t be damaged in any way or used in any action scenes.

Well, I think that perfectly explains the reason why 007’s Z3 didn’t get enough screen time.

6. 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in "Baby Driver"

The final one is a little bit different, because unlike all the other cars that I’ve previously had mentioned, the red Hellcat in “Baby Driver” was involved in a chase scene. Well… kind of. It was probably one of the shortest pursuits I’ve ever seen and since this car was featured nearly on every poster, you would expect it had a bigger role in this film.
Thankfully, the whole movie was really good and it lived up to my expectations, so I can easily forgive this little sin. And speaking of “Baby Driver”, my very late review is coming next week.

Thanks for reading. This is actually one of my first blog posts after I took a short break from CarThrottle so I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it. If you spot some mistakes in my post or have any suggestions for cars that should have been featured on this list, please let me know in the comments.

Also, if you want to learn something more about certain cars used in movies I can recommend a site called IMCDb (a.k.a. Internet Movie Car Database), which is (surprise, surprise!) like IMDb but focused on cars.