When you’re a kid, owning a toy of your favorite cartoon car is awesome. Whether it’s the Mystery Machine or the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, the Party Wagon from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—every kid loves zooming around in their favorite show’s car. But when you reach adulthood, if you have managed to keep that spark of childhood wonder, then you might be tempted to do what these fine folks have done, and build your own, grown-up version of your favorite cartoon car.
Many of these cars are nostalgic for their owners. When they eventually made money enough to have or build what they want, what do they do? They go back to their childhood, to simpler times and happy memories of Saturday morning cartoons and their favorite animated shows on the television and the silver screen. For many animated programs, the cars and vehicles really carry the show: The Jetsons introduced us to flying cars, which is a dream we’re still chasing. Wacky Races wouldn’t have existed without a bunch of zany, over-the-top vehicles belonging to the owners. And just look at the Cars franchise: a whole $10-billion worldwide phenomenon (through the three films, spin-offs, and merchandising).
So there is some serious money in these animated shows and animated cars. Many of the creators of these lovely beauties put them up in museums dedicated to their favorite cartoons. Others drive them on the road and give passers-by some lightness in their day and a reason to smile. Whatever the reason for building these real-life replicas of cartoon vehicles, we appreciate it.
Here are 10 of the best real-life replica cars from cartoons.
10
MATER (CARS)
Sir Tow Mater, or simply Mater, is one of the main characters in the Cars franchise. He is voiced by Larry the Cable Guy and is inspired by a 1956-57 International Harvester tow truck, which are really quite rare nowadays. He is Lightning McQueen’s best friend and sidekick (more on that in a moment), and Holley Shiftwell’s boyfriend.
The character had a breakout role in Cars Toons: Mater’s Tall Tales, and in other media related to the franchise. There are quite a few real-life renditions of Mater, surprisingly, though this one might be one of the best and most adherent to the original.
9
LIGHTNING MCQUEEN (CARS)
Wrapping up the real-life cars from Cars, we have the main character, Lightning McQueen. Typically referred to by his surname, McQueen, he is an anthropomorphic stock car who shows up in all the movies.
He’s actually not named after actor and race driver Steve McQueen, but after Pixar animator Glenn McQueen, who we lost in 2002.
His design is inspired by a “more curvaceous Le Mans endurance racer… with some Lola and some Ford GT40,” according to a 2006 article in the Los Angeles Times titled “ ‘Cars’ Decoded.” In 2017, a life-size model of the character made its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.
8
THE PARTY WAGON (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the most popular cartoon franchises from the late-80s to mid-90s. The first cartoon ran from 1987 to 1996, had 10 seasons and 193 episodes, and spawned numerous other shows, video games, and live action flicks. The show centers around the four anthropomorphic turtles named after Italian Renaissance artists, and their sensei, Splinter.
They also had an awesome party wagon that they loved to cruise around in and eat pizza, chase bad guys, and do other shenanigans in. It was a super popular toy, too, until Rusty Robinson brought the toy to life in a life-size recreation of the car. It’s on display at Rusty’s TV and Movie Car Museum in Jackson, Tennessee.
7
BUMBLEBEE (THE TRANSFORMERS)
With the help of the modern Michael Bay films, Transformers has exploded beyond its wildest expectations, becoming a global phenomenon. The original cartoon, The Transformers (and the 20 or so spin-offs from the series) first aired from 1984 to 1987, through four seasons, for 98 episodes.
One of the main characters is Bumblebee, a small, yellow (with black stripes) Autobot that is greatly inspired by several generations of Chevrolet muscle cars.
The original car was based off the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle, though modern takes have him as a highly-customized Camaro, including this one pictured above. Fun fact: during the filming of Transformers 3, a modified Chevy Camaro Bumblebee crashed into a cop that blew through a scene going the wrong way.
6
OPTIMUS PRIME (THE TRANSFORMERS)
Optimus Prime, also known as Convoy in Japan, is the leader of the Autobots, and probably the most recognizable and familiar character in the Transformers universe. He is a strong, moral character, exhibiting excellent leadership and decision-making skills, and is the voice of reason for all the other, more zany Autobots.
The first generation Optimus Prime transforms into a Freightliner FL86 cab over semi truck, while other models include Dodge Ram SRT-10, Nissan GT-R, a dump truck, a Lamborghini Diablo, and other truck styles.
Many real-life truckers have transformed their semis into the iconic character, including this one pictured above, which we think is the most spot-on and realistic.
5
THE BATMOBILE (BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES)
Batman: The Animated Series, was a show that ran for two seasons, from 1992 to 1995, and for 85 episodes. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and originally aired on Fox Kids. The last 15 episodes were renamed as The Adventures of Batman & Robin, and the series eventually spawned a continuation of the show starring the Caped Crusader, called The New Batman Adventures.
The Bat’s car, the Batmobile, is one of the most iconic animated cars in history, and has been reiterated in real life (in the movies and as a replica) in many, many different forms. But this long, low vehicle with square lines and a blunt nose is the original, and someone actually recreated it (pretty perfectly, too).
4
THE MYSTERY MACHINE (SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU!)
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You was a show produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS, airing from 1969 to 1970, through three seasons and 41 episodes. It spawned numerous spin-offs, and is regularly considered one of the best cartoon shows out there. And the car that carries the gang, The Mystery Machine, is one of the most iconic vehicles in cartoon history. Fred is the owner, though he’s lent it to Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Scrappy-Doo, and even Daphne.
Unsurprisingly, this is probably the most commonly recreated car from any cartoon, though not everyone gets it right. All it really takes is a Ford Econoline and some paint (or a VW or Corvair Van, or Chevy G10 when the engine is in the rear like it is in some of the cartoon’s episodes).
3
MACH 5 (SPEED RACER)
We had to choose a car that not only looks incredibly awesome in real life, but the show it’s featured in is also completely reliant on the car. Without the Mach 5, there would be no Speed Racer. In the anime, the car was designed and created by Pops Racer, and it features some special devices.
In the original 1967 series, the Mach Five was a white racing car with an “M” written on the hood (which doesn’t stand for Mach 5, but for “Mifune,” Speed’s last name).
In the 1993 remake, the car was completely redone. This real life Mach 5 is possibly the only street-legal version in existence. It’s based on a C4 Corvette chassis. The look of this thing is not only authentic, but quite incredible to see.
2
RC (TOY STORY)
In the Toy Story series of films, RC Car is Andy’s remote controlled toy car. It appears in the first two films and then in a flashback in Toy Story 3. RC can move on his own, but once someone gets hold of his remote, he loses control.
He also communicates through a series of beeps and whirs (like R2D2), though just like Luke Skywalker can understand R2, Mr. Potato Head can understand RC perfectly.
In 2018, a funny video was posted when drivers in the Houston area were treated to an impromptu reenactment where a small radio-controlled buggy (RC) was seen chasing a pickup truck down the highway going around 80 mph.
1
2 WYCKED (AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE)
In the cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force, “2 Wycked” is character Carl Brutananadilewski’s car. It’s his prized Dodge Stealth ES and comes equipped with several attachments, including a supercharger. Thanks to the Aqua Teens (usually Master Shake), the car is frequently destroyed, vandalized, or stolen throughout the show, much to Carl’s dismay.
According to an interview, this is the actual car of Matt Maiellaro, the creator of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It was created on the show using Photoshop paint tools. This real life model was being given away in a competition by Adult Swim, back in 2015, though we don’t know where it ended up.