This is for those girls who got it goin’ on and those amazing ladies who drive in those memorable movie moments…
Did you know…
Did you know that cars are the most used prop or entertaining sidekicks in movies, television and YouTube?!
Petrolheads will watch their weekly car shows, where many men will amp up their bromance behind the steering wheel, while their women stand by like shiny hood ornaments.
So, trying to steer away from the cliche that all female drivers are bad, like in Clueless, and the mandatory chases in cops shows, going shopping, collecting their children from sports practice etc., I found it hard to pinpoint a list of marvellous movie moments of a woman behind the steering wheel.
So, here are a few I do know of…
The List of Lady Drivers in Movies
With the help of some magnificent readers from my vibrant email group, and in no particular order…
Bridesmaids, the Maid of Honour drives a crappy car that gets the attention of the local law. It represents how badly she’s gone in life, not fixing anything especially that tail light on the car.
To Catch a Thief, of the vintage romance movie era shows Grace Kelly elegantly cruising the cliffs of Monaco in a convertible.
Julia Roberts knows a stick-shift in a Lotus from the movie Pretty Women.
Herbie Fully Loaded with a young Lindsay Lohan and a race track.
Transformers 1,2… Brief as it is, we do see some ladies steering, just a little considering the cars drive themselves.
Gone in 60 Seconds is a classic movie with Angelina Jolie doing some fancy steering.
Wanted, again Angelina Jolie does a dash in a Corvette, I’ve mentioned more about this movie below.
Even though I’m starting to feel like I’m repeating myself, we have another Angelina Jolie driving movie! This time she’s doing her driving thang in Mr & Mrs Smith where she even goes so far as to run over her (estranged) husband. Is this a life-imitating art thing?
The Fast and Furious Franchise has Letty, Michelle Rodrigues, giving the men a drive for their money.
Twister has our esteemed Dr Jo (Helen Hunt) chasing down tornadoes in her Ex-husband’s new pickup! You go girl.
Mad Max Fury Road—is basically one long road race, with Charlize Theron doing some major damage.
Italian Job—again, Charlize Theron.
Atomic Blonde & The Old Guard, are Charlize Theron movies as a total kick-arse heroine!
Jolt – Involves another strong action hero – Kate Beckinsale (Underworld Series) really takes the wheel in this movie.
The Da Vinci Code— Sophie Neveu jumps sidewalks and speeds away from the Police in reverse! Skilled.
Bonny from Bonny and Clyde fame.
Speed—Sandra Bullock drives and jumps bridges in a bus! Oh yeah.
Thelma and Louise—The ladies who started it all in this chick-flick classic of their cruise in their convertible. (Huh, there’s that model of car, again.)
Long Kiss Goodnight—Geena Davis, again, this time she plays the forgetful spy who hijacks a semi-trailer full of explosives!
The Terminator movie franchise features Sarah Connor and a few deadly cyborgs.
Kill Bill I & II is another road trip movie with a vengeance and its Yellow wagon.
(Let me know of your favourites to add to this list.)
The Memorable Cars That Made Movie Magic
While we’re on the subject of cars, here’s more on those traffic-stopping vehicles that made the stars shine in their movies.
Again, in no particular order…
Batman‘s Batmobile and her many makeovers for each movie upgrade.
James Bond’s many Aston Martins
Bourne Identity has one of the coolest car chases in the smallest and crummiest car ever. It’s clever.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is what not to do with your BFF’s dad’s car, yet we all want to!
Back to the Future—what we could do with our own Delorean?
Blues mobile in Blues brothers
John Wick I, II, III. And that 1969 Ford Mustang.
Mary Poppins made Chitty Chitty Bang Bang famous, right?
Ecto-1 in Ghostbusters—was a hearse and an ambulance—which almost makes it a van.
Christine is a Stephen King story that reminded me of Bumblebee’s bad sister.
JK Rowling’s flying car in Harry Potter is also a legend.
🚗Lastly, I can’t go past Armageddon’s demon-destroying roadster of muscle and metal, Supernatural’s Impala.
For fifteen seasons, this car has been beaten, shot, rolled, slammed, raced, and even got to play chicken with the devil himself, all while stirring up crossroad dust. It’s more than a prop in over 14 seasons. Yes, I am a fan of the car with her creaking doors, tunes cranked, and the rumble under the bonnet. But she’s also the family car, inherited from their father, that is home to the two brothers Sam and Dean. She’s known as Dean’s ‘Baby.’
Famous Vans Found Onscreen
Bout time we Van-damn this diesel’s dance across the tarmac and talk about the van. (No, I haven’t been sniffing the fuels.)
Vans have their place, like in the novel, UNPLANNED PARTY, for work. Vans are also commonly used by lurking cops who are stalking the bad guys. But there are those exceptions to the rules, such as:
A-Team’s Mr T’s Baby
Little Miss Sunshine also had a yellow family van that they bonded over while pushing it along the road.
Dumb and Dumber’s Matt Cutts’ van—yes it was a van covered in fur and like a dog. And for the record – it’s an annoyingly dumb movie!
And the cartoon classic is Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine.
Worthy of another mention, in the movie, Wanted, there is a car chase scene where a pet puppy van chased down a Corvette! Whaaaat. Oh yeah, it was a killer, right down to the bobbing heads of toy pets on the dashboard.
Women Cruising in the Outback
I write about women who can drive in the outback, not just in cars, but quads, bikes, utes, 4wd’s, road trains, and planes, where they deal with crocodiles and cattle in one of the most amazing and unique environments found on the planet. It’s pretty much part of my backyard and in the Bestselling outback series about a tiny remote Northern Territory town called Elsie Creek.
In THE ART OF DUST where we have a mumpreneur who attempts to restore a mini-truck she’d learned to drive in.
We have a crazy outback road race in CAKED IN DUST, that’ll leave you in stitches. Laughing that is.
The heroine in THE FOOTBALL WHISPERER, uses her ute to rescue horses while offering aid to a professional footballer.
In The STATION, we meet the heroine who drives a tricked-up rally car because she love playing navigator in rally racing, and sets a new land-speed record for… well, you’ll have to read the story to find out. HERE>>
But then you have the ultimate road trip in on story – THE SISTER TRIP. Two sisters in an old vintage Ford are on a treasure hunt across the outback, it’s one that’ll keep the pages turning.
Oh, and if you know of more women driving in movies, I’ll gladly add it to the list.
