5 Of The Most Famous Movie And TV Mopars

Chrysler coined the term "Mopar" in the 1930s to sell its brand-new product, antifreeze. The new brand — a portmanteau of the words "motor" and "parts" — was soon broadened to cover Chrysler's entire line of parts and accessories. It later came to be used as a catch-all for the company's cars as well. That initially included Chrysler's core three brands: Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth. 

Ram trucks began as Dodge models but were spun off into their own division in 2009. When Chrysler acquired American Motors and its holdings in 1987, it regarded Jeep as the main prize in that transaction and quickly let AMC itself fade away. Fiat and Chrysler merged in 2009, and the newly established Fiat Chrysler joined up with the Peugeot group to form Stellantis a few years ago. The Jeep brand was readily welcomed into the Mopar fold, but few auto enthusiasts consider Fiat, Peugeot, or its companion brands as being under that same umbrella. AMC's abandonment by Chrysler immediately after its acquisition also excludes that label from the mix, leaving only Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Ram, and Jeep as bona fide Mopar auto brands. 

These labels each have their own long history, including use in thousands of films and television shows. Here's a rundown of some of the most famous Mopar models to have a moment under the Hollywood lights.

The "Jurassic Park" franchise includes six films with a seventh, "Jurassic World Rebirth," coming next year. In the first movie, which hit theaters in 1993, the park staff scurries around in tan and red Jeep Wranglers. These are of the YJ variant, which covered the 1987-1995 model years and scored second in our ranking of the five Wrangler generations. Park computer programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) steals one of the Jeeps to ferry stolen embryos from the island, but he's killed by a Dilophosaurus inside the vehicle after getting it stuck in a river.

The park Wranglers were outfitted with Jeep's bulletproof 4.0-liter inline six engine, and one is found by youngsters Zach and Gray (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) in the 2015 sequel "Jurassic World." Despite the fact that it had been sitting for years at that point, the Jeep starts quickly, and the boys are able to crash it through the park's gate and drive to safety.

To those of us who came of age in the late '70s and early '80s, there's likely no more recognizable television car than the "General Lee," the orange 1969 Dodge Charger that was as big a star of "The Dukes of Hazzard" as any of its human actors. The car was used by cousins Bo and Luke Duke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) for numerous high-speed escapes from Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best). The General's doors were welded shut, forcing Bo and Luke to jump in the always-open windows after one of them slid across the hood to get to the passenger's side. The show aired from 1979 through 1985, featuring countless shots of the General Lee making improbable jumps and smashing its way out of trouble.

Richard Jensen was a stunt driver on the show and occasionally appeared on screen in small roles. In 2017, he told AL.com, the online outlet for three Alabama newspapers, that the production crew had "first-team" cars for low-speed close-up shots and "second-team" cars to be jumped and crashed. "The second team stunt General Lees had roll-bars and cages that could withstand a true crash," Jensen said, "but the first team cars had only lightweight roll bars for looks."

The General Lee later became part of the public debate surrounding use of the Confederate flag, which was painted on its roof. In 2015, the controversy prompted TV Land to pull "Dukes" reruns and Warner Bros. to stop licensing General Lee merchandise.

The Dodge Pursuit, Chrysler Enforcer, and Plymouth Gran Fury are among the most famous Mopar police models, but arguably the most iconic Mopar movie cop car wasn't driven by a sheriff or federal agent. The 1980 comedy "The Blues Brothers" starred John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues, Chicago-bred brothers who spend nearly the entire film fleeing from police in a car that once served the law. 

The Bluesmobile was a decommissioned 1974 Dodge Monaco from the Mount Prospect Police Department, which Elwood tells Jake has "cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks," etc. The Bluesmobile gets battered throughout the film, including in an epic chase scene where Elwood escapes police by smashing his way through a shopping mall. The car hangs on just long enough to help the brothers complete their "mission from God" to pay the back taxes on the orphanage where they were raised. Elwood brings the car to a screeching halt on the sidewalk in front of Daley Plaza, and it promptly falls to pieces.

"The Blues Brothers" is notorious for the number of cars wrecked during production. A staggering 104 vehicles were trashed by director John Landis.

"Breaking Bad" transportation coordinator Dennis Milliken worked closely with series creator Vince Gilligan to pair the main characters with vehicles that match their demeanor and place in the show's universe. The coolest cars in "Breaking Bad" include Walt's Pontiac Aztek, Saul Goodman's white Cadillac, and Skyler White's 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer with wood-grain sides. As the responsible, rock-steady one in her family, the dependable suburban cruiser is a perfect match for her no-frills character. 

While Walt's Aztek takes a beating throughout the series and Jesse Pinkman's original ride — a flashy red Monte Carlo lowrider — is destroyed in a shootout, Skyler's Grand Wagoneer makes it through five seasons unscathed. When the series wrapped, the woody Wagoneer went to a public auction. As reported by Motor Trend, the listing claimed that the Jeep "runs and drives, but leaks oil and has some paint bubbling and chipping." It sold for $11,250, about $3,500 more than the Aztek. 

The most iconic movie car of all time might be Christine, the homicidal 1958 Plymouth Fury that starred in the 1983 horror film directed by John Carpenter. The film was an adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name, a book that ranked 95th on an American Library Association list of the most frequently banned works of the 1990s. The human headliners of the film include Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham and Harry Dean Stanton as state police detective Rudy Junkins, but the unquestioned star of the film is the red Fury that can repair herself when damaged.

The film earned $21 million on a $9.7 million budget, much of which was spent on wrecked cars. The Saratoga Automobile Museum reports that sixteen '58 Furies were used in filming. King chose the model for his novel because he felt it had been forgotten by the early 1980s. In 1958, the Fury nameplate was still the top trim version of the Belvedere, but it became a standalone model for 1959. The movie car that survived the longest was one of three that went on a promotional tour after the film wrapped; it sold at auction in 2020 for $275,000.