The 9 most iconic movie cars from the past decade

There's never going to be another Bond car like the 1964 Aston Martin DB5.

And the original Batmobile will always have a fond place in cinephiles' hearts, despite the fact that many subsequent Batmobile designs are, well, much cooler than the 1966 OG.

A great movie car has to have a number of qualities. It is almost always a fast car, and usually a technically advanced vehicle as well, often with many aftermarket modifications. Good movie cars have to help out the hero (or in some cases the villain) and they have to play a role in advancing the plot.

There is no official designation of the iconic movie car , so it can be hard to know what celebrated on-film vehicles will enjoy a brief run of fame and which will long enjoy lasting veneration.

Given the movie cars from decades past that have achieved enduring fame, however, we're confident in predicting that these nine movie cars from the past 10 years will remain icons of the silver screen for many years to come.

Read on for nine of the best movie cars from the past decade.

The Tumbler The Dark Knight Rises

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REUTERS/ Toby Melville

Don't call it a Batmobile unless you want to upset the purists.

The rider preferred by the Caped Crusader in director Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogyis called a Tumbler, though that name is rather gentle for a vehicle that packs in multiple cannons and rocket launchers and that can smash through concrete walls.

The Gigahorse Mad Max: Fury Road

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FRESH Movie Trailers/YouTube

Paying perfect homage to the original "Road Warrior" and "Mad Max" films, the Gigahorse from 2015's "Mad Max: Fury Road" was a fearsome work of engineering, combining the bodies of two 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Villes and featuring a harpoon gun and a flamethrower.

Dodge Charger Fast & Furious 4

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Universal Pictures

Without fast cars, there is no "Fast and the Furious" franchise.

In the fourth installment, 2009's "Fast & Furious," there were, fortunately, many fast cars, including a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 426 Hemi, similar to the vehicle driven by the antagonist in arguably the most famous car chase of all time, the breakneck drive through San Francisco in the film "Bullitt."

Chevrolet Chevelle Drive

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FilmDistrict

It just wouldn't be right to have a movie called "Drive" with a protagonist named only as "Driver" without an iconic car.

Fortunately, this 2011 Ryan Gosling-led film featured a stunning 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle with a Malibu trim line. (The Malibu as a distinct model would replace the Chevelle later in the 1970s.)

Acura NSX The Avengers

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InsideLineVideo/YouTube

The Acura NSX that Robert Downey Jr.'s character Tony Stark drove in the 2012 film "The Avengers" looked fast and futuristic, but it harbored a secret: the car was actually more than 20 years old. The filmmakers used a 1991 Acura with almost the entirety of the body replaced for the film.

Pontiac LeMans Carrie

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MGM

The 1971 LeMans Sport Coupe depicted in the 2013 remake of the classic horror film "Carrie" took a pretty solid beating, what with the vengeful protagonist using her superpowers to lift it into the air and smash it into a gas station with her antagonists inside. A decent LeMans from the same year can be yours for about $20,000, though, if you shop around.

Dodge Charger John Wick

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Thunder Road Pictures

Perhaps the first car you think of when you picture the first "John Wick" film is the eponymous main character's 1969 Mustang, but it was a 2011 Dodge Charger that actor Keanu Reeves (and his stunt drivers) used during the movie's thrilling car chase sequence. Don't get too attached to the latter-day muscle car, though: It's shot multiple times, rammed, and pushed off a cliff.

Lightning McQueen Cars series

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Disney/Pixar

Love or hate the Pixar "Cars" series, there's no denying that the animated protagonist Lightning McQueen is an instantly recognizable icon of the screen. The design of McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, was likely inspired by a Corvette.

Bumblebee Transformers series

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Chevrolet

A yellow Camaro with black stripes when folded down into car form, and a mighty extraterrestrial robotic superhero officially designated B-127 when in Transformer mode, Bumblebee has appeared in more than a half dozen live-action feature films, including the 2018 feature named for the character.