Automobiles that Never Really Were, 2nd Gear Quiz

Answer: The Batmobile

The Batmobile first appeared in DC Comics in 1939. It was a tricked out Cadillac with armour and concealed weapons. The car has changed over time: wing-shaped fins, mobile crime lab capacity, anti-tank warfare gizmos. The Batmobile on the 1966-1968 TV series was a modified 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car. Batfans can even get a model made of Legos.

Answer: The General Lee

The General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazzard" was a modified 1969 Dodge Charger that could jump long distances and had a horn which played the first few notes of "Dixie." The doors were welded shut; the boys climbed in and out the windows. On the roof was a replica of General Robert E. Lee's battle flag from the Army of Northern Virginia. Because of the association of Confederate flags with racism, controversy arose over the use of this flag on the car.

Answer: My Little Deuce Coupe

Brian Wilson wrote the music and a local DJ, Roger Christian, wrote the lyrics to "My Little Deuce Coupe" which was the B-side of "Surfer Girl" and then the headliner on the album "Little Deuce Coupe." The car referred to is a 1932 Ford Model 18, the successor to the Model A, which came with a flathead V-8 motor.

Answer: Herbie the Love Bug

The "Love Bug" franchise began a Walt Disney comedy movie in 1968. It was based on the 1961 novel "Car, Boy, Girl" by Gordon Buford. The protagonist is an off-white 1963 Volkswagen Beetle. Dean Jones plays Jim Douglas, a race-car driver who drives Herbie, the Volkswagen. Gary Owens and Andy Granatelli appear as themselves in the film. The original motion picture was followed by four sequels, a TV series, made-for-TV movies and stories in other media.

Answer: Black Beauty

Black Beauty was a 1966 Imperial Crown which was specially customized for its role on TV and in the movie. The car had two hood-mounted machine guns, missiles fore and aft, and a flamethrower. It was kept upside down under the floor of the Green Hornet's garage such that his normal civilian car would rotate and be replaced by Black Beauty. It would pull onto the street through a trick billboard ad for "Kissin' Candy Mints."

Answer: Christine

John Carpenter directed the film adaptation of "Christine" the same year the novel was published. So many cars were wrecked to make the film that the producer had to resort to two other Plymouth models -- the Belvedere and the Savoy -- which were disguised as Furies. In the film, Christine was able to regenerate herself when destroyed; not so the cars crunched in making the movie.

Answer: FAB1

The FAB1 is a modified Rolls Royce Silver Spirit. It is pink because Lady Penelope likes pink. The car has six wheels. The extra wheels help carry the added weight of machine guns, bulletproof glass, smoke-screen and oil-slick dispenser, radar and deployable water skis. The vehicle appeared not only in the television series but in the three motion-picture adaptations.

Answer: Aston Martin DB5

The introduction of the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in the movie "Goldfinger" was part of a product-placement agreement with Aston Martin/Ford. It is a British luxury sports car. Since 1982, the company has held a Royal Warrant by which it is the purveyor of automobiles to HRH the Prince of Wales. 007 has driven each of the other cars mentioned in other films.

Answer: Lightning McQueen

Lightning McQueen is not named after Steve McQueen, whose car chase in a Mustang in the movie "Bullitt" (1968) is one of the all-time classics, but rather for Glenn McQueen, an animator at Pixar who died in 2002. His number was supposed to be 57 (the year filmmaker John Lasseter was born) but was changed to 95 (the year Pixar made its first feature film "Toy Story"). He is sponsored by Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment.

Answer: a T-Bird

Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote the song "Fun, Fun, Fun" about a girl whose dad allows her to drive his Ford Thunderbird "to the library" but who goes cruising instead. He realizes he has been duped and takes the keys away from her. The narrator in the song then redeems the situation with his own car. A cover version of this song by Caleigh Peters appears in the 2005 movie "Herbie Fully Loaded."