10 Fictional Cars That People Actually Built In Real Life

From video games to comic books to movies, there's no shortage of mediums in which creatives can unleash the widest expanses of their imaginations. A piece of art can truly change someone's life or simply get them to look at the world a little differently. In other instances, a work of fiction can inspire someone to pursue their own passion project, such as building an absolutely unwieldy vehicle that nonetheless looks incredible.

It's amazing to see what a passionate team of artists can create to put on the big screen. Just take a look at some of the coolest motorcycles in all of science fiction that are instantly recognizable as bikes but also have something unique going on for them. There are plenty of flying cars from movies we wish were real, but sadly, those seem destined to remain firmly out of reach. Still, some people refuse to be limited and go full steam ahead in bringing an amazing car from fiction into reality. 

These vehicles may not always come with all of the bells and whistles, but they definitely look the part, often requiring months of work and thousands of dollars to make. These are passion projects for many, and occasionally, they've even gone up for sale. Here are the most astounding fictional vehicles people brought to life, complete with videos, so you can see them in action.

The launch disaster of the video game "Cyberpunk 2077" may have left a bad taste in some gamers' mouths, but things got on track eventually. Still, there are numerous cool aspects to the game, including the vehicle designs, with one of the crown jewels being the Quadra V-Tech. Its description in the game really says it all: "Quadra's Turbo-R V-Tech is the queen of the road, a car that turns heads even when you're not burning rubber." With that kind of pedigree, it should come as no surprise that someone wanted to build their own. 

The YouTube channel Burning Wrenches has dedicated years to uploading videos showcasing the process of constructing a real-life Quadra V-Tech from "Cyberpunk 2077." The video series showing the car getting made is a must-watch for any gearhead, as the channel goes step by step from installing the proper lights to getting the paint job just right. The car looks almost ready, but as of this writing, the most recent video on June 19 claims the channel will step away from the project for a bit, much to the dismay of many in the comments section.

Hopefully, it's a quick suspension because this vehicle could truly be something special once it's done.

Given the immense popularity of the "Halo" video game franchise, it shouldn't be shocking that more than one person has brought the iconic Warthog vehicle to real life. Hoonigan Industries delighted "Halo" fans by developing a fairly accurate replication of the Warthog complete with a twin-turbo V-8 engine. However, Hoonigan isn't alone, as phone technician and long-time "Halo" fan, Bryant Havercamp did the same thing, with his creation being shown off on the Ridiculous Rides YouTube channel. 

Havercamp admits that the project required years of work to bring it to life, all of which was done solo. The process began by utilizing the frame of an old 1984 Chevrolet K10 pickup truck that contains a rebuilt engine from a 1984 Chevrolet 350. Of course, neither Warthog is a complete recreation of the one from the "Halo" games. It would be pretty tough to drive either model around with a Gauss gun on the back, but Havercamp's creation is 100% street legal, which will delight anyone who drives it (or drives past it). 

The attention to detail is astounding, as Havercamp's Warthog even comes with custom fabricated metal tusks on the front to give it that signature Warthog look. For guys like Havercamp, "Halo" isn't just a way to pass a time; it's a genuine way of life. 

The Mach 5 from "Speed Racer" is one of many fictional cars that just aren't possible to create fully in real life due to the outlandish technical specs. However, that hasn't stopped several replicas from being built that at least adhere to the anime's iconic look with a slick white body featuring a red circle with a big number 5 in the middle of it. One such person who put the pedal to the metal is Jerry Patrick, who dedicated several months to getting his own Mach 5 off the ground. 

Patrick used a 1994 Corvette as the basic body behind his Mach 5 and then suped it up using a custom mold for that signature Mach 5 look. Getting that mold just right sounds like it caused the lion's share of issues at first, as other Mach 5s were out there, but he needed to make sure his mold worked with the body he had. Patrick had to custom-build quite a bit for his vehicle, including the steel wheels, but the results speak for themselves. 

According to Patrick there's one key rule when it comes to undertaking such a massive project like this, at the end of it all — discussing the project on the Ridiculous Rides channel, he explains, "The cost to build the Mach 5 is another one of those classified things that I've got to keep a big secret from my wife."

Not every car in fiction is designed to be cool — sometimes, they're utterly ridiculous. That's definitely the case with The Homer, as featured on Season 2, Episode 15 of "The Simpsons" — "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" In it, Homer meets his long-lost half-brother, Herb Powell, voiced by Danny DeVito, who runs a successful automotive company. Fed up with eggheads, Herb tasks Homer with building a car for the average man, and the result is The Homer, a monstrosity with bubble domes and huge cup holders. With a price tag of $82,000, The Homer put Herb out of business, but Porcubimmer Motors didn't meet such a cruel fate when the company designed its own version in real life. 

To be fair, Pocubimmer's version is a bit more palatable than what Homer comes up with. There's one small bubble dome in the back, but otherwise, it's pretty much a standard car, albeit in neon green with a tailfin on the rear. But one has to admire the attention to detail. As the video demonstrates, the car horn even plays "La Cucaracha," just like Homer wanted. 

The vehicle makes appearances at car shows, including recently at the 2024 D23 Expo as part of Disney's car archive, and it even raced at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Herb may have hated The Homer, but it has numerous fans today. 

The Light Cycle in "Tron" exists as a sublime piece of sci-fi iconography. The video game motorcycle first came onto the scene in the original "Tron" film from 1982 with a sleek design and a beam of hard light that emits out of the backside of the vehicle. Such a sequence has been parodied in everything from "Futurama" to "Dexter's Laboratory," and it gained greater prominence with the release of "Tron: Legacy," which has since garnered its own cult following. The movie clearly got the Light Cycle back on people's minds, as shortly after the movie's release, Parker Brothers Concepts unveiled a genuine Light Cycle of its own. 

Of course, there's no light beam coming out of the back to avoid. The Parker Brothers Concepts YouTube channel has videos of the bike dating back to 2011, so you can see it lit up and even driving on the road. The technology on display is pretty impressive for the time. The bike's electric, garnering power from a lithium-ion battery, and it can go for 100 miles before needing to be plugged in yet again. 

This real-life Light Cycle is street legal, with Parker Brothers even putting some up for sale, assuming one has $100,000 to fork over for the pleasure. For everyone else, they'll have to make do going on the "Tron" ride at Walt Disney World to get the sensation of what it's like to ride in cyberspace.

"Star Wars" has brought numerous space vessels into the zeitgeist. Many of them are too grand to bring to reality — imagine much it would cost to build a real-life Millennium Falcon that could actually move. Something a bit more down-to-earth is the Landspeeder introduced in "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope." Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) operates one as it cruises across Tatooine, hovering ever so slightly above the ground. 

Naturally, an actual Landspeeder can't float, but Colin Furze made a YouTube video showing how he created a vehicle that looks like a Landspeeder. Furze has uploaded all sorts of videos showing his wacky inventions, but the Landspeeder is certainly a highlight. Interestingly enough, he used a golf cart as a base, and constructed the rest of the body out of metal, rather than fiberglass. 

The vehicle sports jet engines to get it moving, and Furze employs the same technique they used in the original film, hiding the wheels using mirrors. For a portion of the above video, it really looks like he's hovering. It's a great demonstration of genuine mechanical prowess and old-fashioned Hollywood magic. 

To transport players to Battle Royale Island, "Fortnite" puts you on the Battle Bus, a vehicle that's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It's a giant blue bus with a giant hot air balloon attached, which is how it's able to move through the sky to get players where they need to go to duke it out. To the uninitiated, it may sound like creating a Battle Bus in real life is a matter of a quick paint job, but as YouTuber Matthew Beem shows, it's quite the ordeal. 

At the request of a top "Fortnite" player, Beem and his team get to work on crafting the ultimate battle bus, which naturally begins its life as a standard school bus. Given the sheer size of the vehicle, even painting it is taxing. Then there's the matter of getting a generator to work so that the gamers can actually play "Fortnite" inside the bus, which has been completely retrofitted to include comfy chairs and LED lights. 

At the end, the "Fortnite" players seemed really impressed with the creation. Of course, driving it to California proved to be a whole other challenge, as there was an oil leak at some point. The real-life Battle Bus may be more for the aesthetic than practically driving gamers around, but it's a cool sight nonetheless. 

The Batmobile could be the most iconic fictional vehicle in all of media. Numerous iterations have existed over the decades to the point where it becomes a daunting task even trying to rank the five best Batmobiles of all time. Needless to say, many people have tried their hands at creating Batmobile replicas in real life — we probably could've done a full list of just different Batmobiles. Instead, we'll focus on the video game side of things and how someone created a version of the vehicle seen in the video game, "Batman: Arkham Knight." 

The construction of the vehicle was done by the company Caresto, and it would make Bruce Wayne himself proud. It utilizes the drivetrain from a Lamborghini Gallardo, easily one of the best Lamborghinis ever made, which is really saying something. Plus, it's capable of producing 560 hp through its V-10 engine. 

The vehicle is more than just a pretty build. In fact, it competed in the Gumball 3000 Rally, a celebrity-inspired race that pays homage to all things pop culture. Hopefully, no one broke the law during the race, or they surely would've been terrified to see a Batmobile barreling toward them. 

2002's "Minority Report" envisions many things that could feasibly come to pass by the year 2054. Surveillance seems ever-present, and advertising exists everywhere. To truly capture the futuristic aesthetic, director Steven Spielberg collaborated with Lexus to figure out how one of their cars would look decades from now. The result is the 2054 Lexus, which features a curved body to the point where it can be difficult to ascertain what's the front and what's the rear. And the public doesn't have to wait until the 2050s to see this thing in real life. 

In 2016, it was reported that someone had designed their very own 2054 Lexus and apparently put it up for sale on eBay (although that listing is no longer available). Interestingly enough, the base for the vehicle was a Porsche as opposed to a different Lexus model. The description of the vehicle also claims it comes with a 2.7-liter V6 engine.

If someone purchased the real-life 2054 Lexus, they've kept a low profile with it because there's not much out there about it. Everyone else may just have to wait until 2054 rolls around to see if Lexus makes good on its prophetic vision. Fun fact: Spielberg specifically wanted to work with Lexus on designing a futuristic car because he drove a Lexus himself at the time. 

Some fictional cars that are made in real life are so technically impressive that you can only marvel at the wonderful feats of engineering required to bring it to life. Then there's the Planet Express Ship from "Futurama" that's basically just a painted 2002 Honda Odyssey with some fins attached. Honestly, we love it, and given how the Odyssey had a real moment in "Deadpool & Wolverine," it only felt right to conclude this list with something that shouldn't really be drivable but wins over people's hearts.

This Odyssey was listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace for the low, low price of $2,200 from Eric Nelson, who specializes in various car modifications based on pop culture. The description even states that while it can technically be driven, it's really meant for show more than anything else. That should be evident from the fact the windows have been painted over featuring various "Futurama" characters.

Additional photos show how the interior has been completely stripped except for the two front seats. For a diehard "Futurama" fan, it may be just the thing to add to a collection, even if it isn't really usable. Ultimately, all the vehicles on this list come from folks who simply love the various properties and wanted to put their engineering skills to good use bringing them to life. That's some dedication any nerd can be proud of.