6 Terrible Movie-Inspired Special Edition Cars You Forgot About
Movie-themed special edition cars sometimes crop up where there’s a hint of some extra cash to be mined. Sometimes they’re quite subtle, while others are so obvious they might as well have been painted rainbow colours and parked in deeply conservative small-town America.
The latest one to join the after-party is the suitably odd Hyundai Kona Iron Man Edition, above, which doesn’t have any jets or advanced AI, and probably doesn’t fare too well when shot at. It got us thinking, though, about some of the most disappointing movie special editions ever. From the tenuous to the half-hearted and ultimately to the totally nuts, we’ve rounded up some of our, err, favourites.
Aston Martin DB9 Bond Edition
An Aston Martin is normally a wonderful thing, full of charisma and things to make you fall in love with it. The problem with the Bond Edition is that for anyone to actually notice its status you’d have to tell them. Once you start needing to tell people what it is, the cool evaporates faster than raindrops in Death Valley.
A few 007 badges dotted around the car, sterling sliver wing badges and a few bits from the options list – plus ‘Spectre Silver’ paint – didn’t really differentiate this from any other silver DB9. They just guaranteed that you’d make a depressing anorak of yourself by constantly telling people that it was the Bond Edition.
Citroen 2CV 007 Edition
Speaking of Bond-themed specials, you’d probably still take the DB9 over this one. Off the back of the 1981 Bond title For Your Eyes Only, where Roger Moore’s 007 takes the wheel of a yellow Citroen 2CV to escape bad guys in Peugeot 504s, Citroen really did launch this limited run of copycats.
Finished in the proper yellow, each had diabolically massive 007 graphics and stick-on bullet holes. Taste wasn’t a factor when they brewed this one. That said, it was so horribly uncool that it’s almost certainly going to become cool again one day.
Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Edition
Sticking to the yellow theme we arrive at the ‘Bumblebee’ Chevrolet Camaro. The Rally Yellow paint was correct, but adding a mildly tacky $995 appearance package onto the price of an LT V6 or SS V8 car, just for some graphics, Transformers sill plates and Autobot logo wing badges and centre caps was about as appealing to ordinary car buyers as gout.
The Transformers Edition was a let-down; an empty, fumbling attempt to appeal to fans of the franchise who wouldn’t stop to think about how little they were getting for their money, and how pointless it all was. Until Chevrolet adds a ‘turn into a massive war-robot’ function we’ll just stick to the regular range.
Fiat Panda Kung Fu Panda
Yes, this is a real thing. No, you can’t buy one, unless it’s this exact one. Fiat made it in tandem with the filmmakers behind the chubby martial arts panda-based movies in order to sell it for a pro-panda charity. That’ll be the David Attenborough kind of panda charity, not a helpline for people afflicted by Italian superminis.
The left-hand drive one-off appeared at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, complete with black rings around its eyes, panda-face headrests in a black-and-white interior, and a matching paint job. If you ever see it on the road, do let us know. It’s rare enough to make the endangered monochrome mammal seem ten-a-penny.
The Star Wars money-printing machine rolls on, churning out spin-off after spin-off in the much-loved Star Wars universe. A number of brands have hopped on and off the bandwagon as it crunches along, with Nissan among them. This clumsily-named Rogue SUV was the obvious choice to incorporate some Star Wars branding. Well, it was either this or something to do with the X-Men.
Nissan planned a 5400-car run for North America, so it was hardly exclusive, and all it boasted were some trim accessories, an assortment of logos and a collectible Death Trooper helmet. As good as the latest Rogue might be, the Rogue One Star Wars Limited Edition was hard to get excited about.
Jeep Renegade Dawn of Justice Special Edition
Yet another special that can be filed in the ‘underwhelming’ box is the Jeep Renegade Dawn Of Justice Special Edition. One model-exclusive paint option was available, but since it was just a black it was hard to jump for joy.
Some of the Batman v Superman homage’s interior trim accents were supplied in a new finish and it was generally a pretty high-spec version of Jeep’s flyweight, but it never lived up to the epic DC Comics mythology. Sadly, while the film could be enjoyed again and again for a quick fix of superhero-themed baddie-bashing, the novelty of the car didn’t last.
Comments
That Kung Fu Panda, lol great stuff from this list - especially the DB9.
Thing is though: Chrysler missed the opportunity this year to make a Bullitt edition Dodge Charger - I’ve banged on about this for ages, but it should’ve happened! The Mustang alone isn’t doing the 50th anniversary justice.
“The Transformers Edition was a let-down”
Cool! They made it just like the films!
Yeah, it may be cool, but does it EXPLODE?
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What gets me is you can pick up the Autobot badges and stickers for the wheels for about 30 or 40 bucks. There’s a Honda Fit at work with them
Can’t say I’ve seen the 1st one in real life…
Are you kidding?! Thats in Java hahahah only an indo would buy one of those editions hahaha
I wonder if video games theme count too. I’m sure they were as terrible as all these… that is if they even exist.
I had one of those back in like 2013 😂 it is a legitimate special edition Jeep, it’s not a fake badge though
Keen eye!
That was a Jeep I wanted, but it also came in black, the special trim and custom stitching on the seats made it look good, really went with the theme, I’ve only seen 2 in my country
Camaro Transformers special features: Sometimes it randomly explodes
The Jeep, Camaro, and Rogue were the stupidest ones. Especially the camaro. This is because in America, and Im not sure if anyone else around the globe does it, puts a Transformers badge on any Camaro they have or even worse, any car in general. I have seen an autobots badge on a mitsubishi mirage and a hyundai sonata. And they werent new models either. It turned into a nasty and disgusting trend that triggers me like how Richard Hammond is triggered by Jukes.
I was one of those idiots with my first car and very quickly realized how dumb it was. Can confirm, they’re still everywhere though
It’s not just America. I’ve lived between Saudi Arabia, Dubai and India and it’s a trend all over the world. I’ve seen so many cars with those autobot logos. 😂
I’ve seen an autobots logo on a Lexus RX350. A f*cking lexus
The Autobot trend is still around, but it’s more likely to see Decepticon logos on cars where I live
imagine if they made a *Fast and Furious” Special Edition Nissan Juke, would it come with it’s own super ugly mini Submarine or a useless Parachute?
It seems like you didn’t know there was a Cherolet Aveo Transformers edition… It was like a Rice-spec Aveo…
I liked the Kung Fu Panda and the Camaro Transformers Edition
They should make an MX-5 dedicated to youtube series about Phil
Comes with rust and no engine
Jaguar v6*