Americans have a love affair with trucks. Knowing this have you ever wonder what the top truck movies of all time are? There’s no shortage of lists featuring the best cars in movies. On the surface it can be hard to think of a list but Penske Automotive Group has taken up the challenge and here is what we have come up with.
- 1985 Toyota SR5 in ‘Back to the Future’-
What can be better traveling back in time, the 80s and the cool factor a Toyota provides. - 1986 Ford F-350 in ‘Road House’ –
This is where monster trucks began. It hits all the major touchstones of the Reagan era: tight jeans on men, big feathered hair also on men, Patrick Swayze, synthesizers, fake karate and Bigfoot. - Ford F-150 in ‘Walking Tall’-
Truck fans no doubt flinched when the lifted, late-1980s F-150 was blown up in the movie. Kind of cool to see Ford battle it out as a good guy and Dodge be the bad guy. - Mater (1951 International Harvester) in ‘Cars’-
Voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, the tow-truck character is based on a 1951 International Harvester, with minor detailing touches lifted from GM trucks from the same era. How can you not love this sidekick. - 2007 GMC TopKick C4500 in ‘Transformers’-
In vehicle form, the character is a GMC TopKick C4500 that, transforms into the Autobots’ weapons specialist — meaning, basically, that he’s a hulking medium-duty truck full of a mind-boggling array of things that go boom. Fun fact: According to Bob Budiansky, who thought up the names of the original comic-book “Transformers,” Ironhide’s name is derived from the TV police procedural “Ironside” about a wheelchair-bound San Francisco detective, which aired from 1967 to 1975. - 1997 Chevrolet C-2500 Silverado Fleetside in ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’-
With a custom spoiler and banana-yellow-and-hot-pink paint job served as a very memorable ride in the iconic Quentin Tarantino flick. - 1974 Kenwood W900 in ‘Smokey and the Bandit’-
We can’t do a piece about trucks without including at least one 18-wheeler — and what cinematic big rig better deserves that recognition than the one that hauled 400 cases of Coors from Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta. - 1986 GMC Sierra 3500 in ‘Lethal Weapon’-
Riggs drives a different GMC truck in each of the four films, starting with an 1986 GMC followed by an ’89 and ’92 GMC Sierra 3500 in the second and third films. Riggs downsizes a bit in the fourth installment with a 1999 Sierra but the mission always the same, bring justice to LA. - 1973 Chevrolet 4×4 in ‘Varsity Blues’-
Nothing says Texas like football and great cars and this movie has it all. - ‘Dazed and Confused’ in 1972 Chevrolet C-10-
Cult classic is known as much for its collection of heart-stopping American muscle cars as it is for its 1970s classic-rock soundtrack and a bevy of yet-to-be-discovered Hollywood stars, including Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich and Matthew McConaughey. In addition to the classic Pontiac Firebird, Chevy Chevelle SS, Plymouth Duster and Ford Maverick that get the bulk of the gearheads’ attention.
Well, fans of 4×4, lift kits, big tires and even bigger power, what do you think? Did we miss any?
