REMEMBER how cool cars and vans used to look on film and TV? These six would be a pain to own and drive in real life.
The General Lee – The Dukes of Hazzard
Cousins Bo and Luke Duke looked effortlessly cool as they slid across the bonnet of their orange Dodge Charger and jumped in through the window. Yet when nine-year-old you tried it with your dad’s Ford Escort, you dented the bonnet and nearly broke your neck clambering through the window. At least it didn’t have a dodgy flag on the roof.
Invisible Aston Martin – Die Another Day
A car that’s nearly as shit as the film which spawned it. Finding your car in a supermarket car park is hard enough as it is, so imagine trying to find this bugger when you’ve popped out for a meal deal. Plus someone’s probably left a huge dent in it after trying to reverse into an apparently free space.
KITT – Knight Rider
An indestructible crime-fighting car that could talk to the driver wowed children in the Eighties. Except anyone who’s used a car’s sat-nav knows how infuriating it is to have a robotic voice coolly telling you how to get out of your housing estate. You’re not even on your way to bust a nuclear weapons shipment, you’re driving to the dentist.
The A-Team van – The A-Team
The A-Team, having promptly escaped from a maximum security prison and embarking on a life as fugitives, decide to travel round in a huge black van with a distinctive red stripe down the side. They couldn’t have been more conspicuous if they tried. Yes, it looked cool, but if you pulled a similar stunt you’d be caught and banged up within minutes.
The Flintmobile – The Flintstones
Fred Flintstone seemed to have it all. Good job, huge house, hot wife. His car was a piece of prehistoric crap though. Not only did it have rocks for tyres, but poor Fred had to power it with his surely bruised and blistered feet. It didn’t even have any storage space. Why didn’t he pick up an oversized rib on a woolly mammoth instead?
DeLorean DMC-12 – Back To The Future
The only cool thing about this car was its time travel capabilities, and even that was a ball-ache. How are you supposed to reach 88 miles per hour as you awkwardly meander around country lanes or inch your way through commuter traffic? Also the gull-wing doors would only be an impressive novelty on first use. After a week you’d be trading it in.
