From the Marbles - NASCAR

From the Marbles

Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:18 pm EDT

What Is ... The Greatest Car That Never Was?

By Jay Busbee

Hey, it's a summer weekend, and time for some fun, blog-busting polling! After the phenomenal success of our Greatest Driver That Never Was tournament, we're bringing you The Greatest Car That Never Was! But no tournament nonsense ... tournaments are so May 2008; we're much faster-moving now, baby! So we're going to throw out the 18 choices, and then you vote. Very, very simple. First, the photos:

And a few more ...

And now the poll:

What is The Greatest Car That Never Was?

View Results »

[By the way, welcome to Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR blog From The Marbles. Glad you're here. Bookmark us, and come on back tomorrow and next week for more of the same.]

And a rundown of your choices ...

Christine: A beautiful 1958 Plymouth. You wouldn't think a car could be jealous, but you'd be wrong. Dead wrong. Get it? Get it?

Bumblebee: A gigantic robot that could turn into a car and communicated entirely through radio songs. I fail to find any problems with that formula whatsoever.

Magnum, P.I.'s Ferrari: Dude lives in Hawaii and pulls more tail than Wilt Chamberlain. AND he's got a Ferrari? Life ain't fair, man.

The EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle: As Stripes demonstrated, if we had an army of these, we could've won the Cold War in three weeks.

The Vacation Family Truckster: Can carry an entire family's worth of vacation gear, plus the corpses of a grandmother and dog. Also tends to attract Christie Brinkley.

Bluesmobile: God's vehicle of choice for those on His missions. Simply cannot be stopped no matter how many cops are chasing it.

Mach 5: Go Speed Racer! SuperfasthappyfuncarHA!

Eleanor: Gone in 60 Seconds' real star, the car was the only vehicle ever to receive star billing in a movie. No joke.

Deathmobile: From Animal House; helped prove that in fact it was not over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

The DeLorean: Doc's DeLorean was the single coolest vehicle of the '80s, even if you couldn't take it over 88mph.

The Shaggin' Wagon: From Dumb and Dumber. Come on, who doesn't like a car dressed up like a dog?

Herbie: Forget tanks; Herbie was a virtually invulnerable VW Bug. Held his own in races against Jeff Gordon and the like.

Munstermobile: Any car with the suspension to handle Herman Munster is car enough for you, pal.

Batmobile (1960s): BIFF! POW! What could be better than a car with flames shooting out of the exhaust? Nothing, that's what!

Batmobile (2000s): The 21st century is a tougher world, one that demands a tougher Batmobile. This one drives through buildings.

The A-Team Van: Mission control, where all those plans that came together first started coming together.

K.I.T.T.: From Knight Rider, a loudmouthed car that was much more like a disapproving uncle than a crimefighting partner. Still cool.

General Lee: Could jump anything anywhere while playing "Dixie" on the horn. Terrifies anybody north of Virginia or west of Arkansas.

Make your case in the comments, and also tell us what idiots we are for forgetting something. (Yes, we know ... the Mystery Machine somehow got left off the list. And The Bandit's Trans Am was disallowed because The Bandit won The Greatest Driver that Never Was tourney. Feel free to offer up others in the comments, tho.) Go! Now!

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3045 Comments

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  1. The Pest
    1. Posted by The Pest Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:37 pm EDT

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    If Ford had went ahead and made the mach 5 thy would be closer to being out of the red.
  2. travisf
    2. Posted by travisf Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:54 pm EDT

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    Mad Max's pursuit special would have won this, hands down. Australian Ford Falcon with a big ol fake blower on the hood. Can't believe you didn't include it.
    Also, the original Elenor was better (71 Mach 1 Mustang), because it didn't spurn a cottage industry of fastback shelby clones.
    Having said that, gotta go w/ the truckster. Dig them woodwalls.
  3. Chris
    3. Posted by Chris Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    ok Jay,
    Which one did you miss?
  4. MarKn
    4. Posted by MarKn Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:08 pm EDT

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    The Vanishing Point
  5. Jay Busbee
    5. Posted by Jay Busbee Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:33 pm EDT

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    Chris...the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. Had it on my first brainstorming list, then completely forgot it. Ah, well.
  6. Chris
    6. Posted by Chris Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    Jay,
    Ahhh man.....I didn't even think of that one. Maybe you can compile a second list and vote on a winner from those. Then have the final poll. But then, you did say you didn't want a tournament style.
  7. Chris
    7. Posted by Chris Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    Although.........
    Bumble bee was a pretty bad as car. At least the second version was.
  8. Eric A
    8. Posted by Eric A Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:54 pm EDT

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    it's got cop tires, cop suspension, and, presumably, a cop cigarette lighter.
  9. kinggeorge
    9. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    Wow Jay, a one vote, winner take all extravaganza! That's cruel and unusual punishment. It's good (Bluesmobile/Herbie) vs. evil (Deathmoble/Christine). Real (General Lee/Eleanor) vs. imaginary (Mach 5). Work (K.I.T.T/Magnum Ferrari) vs recreation (Family Truckster/EM-400 UAV). Monsters (Munstermobile) vs. puppies (Shaggin Wagon). Campy (60's Batmobile) vs. dark ('05 Batmobile). How am I ever going to choose ONE from the Greatest of All Time?
  10. Spiderbandit88 - Read the Blogs, Not the Comments
    10. Posted by Spiderbandit88 - Read the Blogs, Not the Comments Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:08 pm EDT

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    I remember I mentioned Bumblebee before, but as I also mentioned back then, I was going to vote for the DeLorean. Back to the Future has to be my favorite movie(s) of all time. It's such a shame that one of the sets was in that fire a while back. =(
  11. tuffgrunt
    11. Posted by tuffgrunt Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:23 pm EDT

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    Now, I voted for Doc's DeLorean, not by its looks, but for its capabilities in the movies. Just think how great it would be to time travel. Even if I was only limited to go back in time in my own lifetime, boy there would be things I would do differently. I wouldn't change too many things, but as the saying goes,"if I knew then, what I know now".
    I couldn't change my past too much, because then I would have never met my wife of 20 years. To me, I have the best wife in the world. And I hope many of you also feel that you have the best wife in the world.
  12. Tiger
    12. Posted by Tiger Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:56 pm EDT

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    The Mach 5 hands down is the best. It looked great, ran great, and never even got dirty. It helped influence many a car designer & future race fan like me. Too bad it lacked a cup holder or a even a 8 track, and had a poor trunk lock any kid could open.............
  13. one finger willy
    13. Posted by one finger willy Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:15 pm EDT

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    I believe the question here was the greatest car that never was..
    so lets take the 69 charger W/440mag 4spd paint it black and get some black suits cool hats and dark sunglasses.
    then we salvage all the goodies out of that piece of crap delorian and throw it in the pile with the yugo!
    ya still with me here?
  14. Toad
    14. Posted by Toad Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:37 pm EDT

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    you missed John Milner's deuce coupe. The only movie prop that whipped Harrison Ford's butt. Where were you in '62's
  15. Wolfie
    15. Posted by Wolfie Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:54 pm EDT

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    The '60's Batmobile inspired more automotive creativity that 99% of the rest of these cars that never were. It gets my vote. Given a second vote, I might go with the General Lee. I glad I could only vote once.
  16. kinggeorge
    16. Posted by kinggeorge Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    buster---I like your thinking.
    I have got to go with a car that never was......The Wagon Queen Family Truckster from Vacation. It could haul your family and gear along with the towing capacity to pull your dog at 70mph. It was tough enough to jump the Mojave Desert and still had the chick magnet style to lure Christie Brinkley into a midnight skinny dip. What more can you ask for from your ride.
  17. pwfevenflowcity
    17. Posted by pwfevenflowcity Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:23 pm EDT

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    I Heart KITT
  18. Jim
    18. Posted by Jim Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:30 pm EDT

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    I voted for the Deathmobile because I recognized every other car immediately and had to think for a minute about what I was looking at, and then, when I realized that it was the car that transforms from a cake that says "Eat Me", I smiled. Car that makes you smile wins. I would have voted for the Family Truckster in second place, as it's the car I make the most references to in the course of a year, and again it's a car that makes me smile.
    Car that makes you cry should be included in the list tho- 1970 Chevy Nova with a skull and crossbones on the hood driven by Kurt Russell in Quentin Tarantino's Deathproof. That was one bad car.
  19. 4-1-1-exchange
    19. Posted by 4-1-1-exchange Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:07 pm EDT

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    Not that this would be one of the top cars or anything, but anyone remember the Coyote from Hardcastle and McCormick? At least I believe that was the name of it.
  20. kewpie76
    20. Posted by kewpie76 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:43 pm EDT

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    I know I went back to the dark ages............but growing up with Batman and Robin ........gotta love the Batmobile!
  21. grlovas
    21. Posted by grlovas Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:13 pm EDT

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    radio? who needs a radio?
  22. Kip C
    22. Posted by Kip C Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:51 pm EDT

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    Dude... The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour. NOT GERMANY.
    But VERY cool cars mate!
  23. ACE
    23. Posted by ACE Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:30 pm EDT

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    where is the "up in smoke" truck, where a dog got baked? the cop forgot why he pulled them over and they managed to smuggle the hempmobile over the border line. sheesh even a pigeon got wasted and a cop turns into a lizard. JJ!
  24. PatrickS
    24. Posted by PatrickS Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:41 pm EDT

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    A little bit of trivia....what became of the EM400 Urban Assault vehicle??????
    Anyone know?????
    Well, it became what was known in the late 70s and early 80s as the KDKA Radio "Rainbow Machine" and was a portable radio station that was used in Pittsburgh for pretty much any and all remote broadcasts, such as sporting events, holiday parades, etc.
  25. Go Vikes!
    25. Posted by Go Vikes! Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:29 pm EDT

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    I can't believe you left off the vintage Ferrari from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.... Come On!!!!

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