christopher lloyd in delorean with door open; michael j fox crouching down outside vehicle in a still from back to the future; blue, yellow and red circles with question marks surround them

Illustration: MOA Staff (Source: MCA/Universal Pictures/Everett Collection)

Take Our Car Trivia Quiz Out for a Spin

Buckle up and test your knowledge of vehicles from iconic TV shows and movies

Jayme Deerwester,

AARP

Published May 19, 2023

10 Questions

Fast X, the latest entry in The Fast and The Furious movie franchise, hits theaters on May 19, so we figured it was a good time to test your knowledge of iconic cars from film and TV. See how much you remember about the vehicles in James Bond movies, Back to the Future, Knight Rider and more. Put the pedal to the metal with our trivia quiz.

Take Our Car Trivia Quiz Out for a Spin

[ {
 "question" : "True or false: James Bond has driven an Aston Martin in every 007 movie.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Although Aston Martins — and its DB5 model in particular — are the most iconic Bond vehicles, not every 007 drove one. In 1963’s “From Russia With Love,” Sean Connery drove a Bentley in a nod to Ian Fleming’s novels. When he was sent to Japan four years later in “You Only Live Twice,” he got around in a Toyota. And during the Pierce Brosnan era, Bond drove a BMW.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Actor Steve McQueen is forever associated with the Ford Mustang because of this movie:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "“The Great Escape”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Bullitt”",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "“The Thomas Crown Affair”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Le Mans”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "To this day, the Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback is known as the Bullitt Mustang thanks to its prominent role in McQueen’s 1968 film “Bullitt.” His San Francisco cop character drives a dark Highland green one in what’s considered one of the greatest car chase scenes of all time. Two were purchased for the movie production. One ended up in a scrapyard; the other was bought by a New Jersey policeman who later sold it to Robert and Robbie Kiernan, who used it as their daily driver and sprung for a personalized “Bullitt” license plate. McQueen reportedly tried to buy it from them, but they turned him down. Their son, Sean, inherited the Mustang and got Ford’s help to get it running again. Eventually it reappeared as part of the launch for the 2019 Bullitt tribute model.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false: The Cannonball Run from the 1981 movie is a real car race.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The Cannonball Run — a coast-to-coast street race in which teams of drivers compete to see who can get from New York City's Red Ball Garage to the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach, California, in the shortest time possible — has been running in its current format since 1971. But because it’s illegal, details on record-setting attempts are usually kept secret for a year until the statute of limitations passes. COVID lockdowns were a massive boon to Cannonballers, who took advantage of having fewer cars and cops on the road to reset the record multiple times. The current record of 25 hours, 39 minutes was set in May 2020 by Arne Toman, Doug Tabutt and Dunadel Daryoush, who averaged 110 mph in an Audi S6 disguised as a Ford Taurus police vehicle.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "These small, sporty European cars were the star of “The Italian Job” movies:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Fiat 500",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "MINI Cooper",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Volkswagen Beetle",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Alfa Romeo Giulia",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "MINI Coopers were featured prominently in both the 1969 original film and the 2003 reboot. The stunt driving skills Charlize Theron and Jason Statham picked up on “The Italian Job” came in handy when they later joined “The Fast and the Furious” franchise.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false: Because American automaker GM sponsored the first “The Fast and The Furious” movie, the lead actors weren’t allowed to drive Japanese cars.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The movie was all about Japanese tuner car culture and owners spending big money tricking out Honda Civics and other affordable imports to be as fast and loud as possible. If GM had sponsored the movie, the car budget probably would have been a lot higher than $2 million. Only a handful of American cars were used in the first movie — the most famous of which was probably Dom’s (Vin Diesel) 1970 Dodge Charger.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Forty-one years after the 1982 premiere of “Knight Rider,” you can now buy cars with many of the futuristic features found on K.I.T.T., except:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Head-up displays",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Collision avoidance",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Internet connection",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "DNA analysis equipment",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "In many ways, modern cars have caught up to K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Two Thousand), a high-tech Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. These days, higher trim levels often offer features such as head-up displays that project information like maps and speed limits on your windshield, collision avoidance tech and even a high-speed internet connection. Teslas even come with an autopilot feature. But there’s not much mass-market demand for built-in DNA analysis equipment.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What was the name of the evil car in Stephen King’s book and subsequent 1983 movie?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Laverne",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Christine",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Lola",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Bonnie",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The 1958 Plymouth Fury in the book and the movie had already been dubbed Christine by a previous owner when protagonist Arnie Cunningham (played by Keith Gordon in the film) buys her. Christine behaves like a jealous girlfriend, killing anyone who poses a threat to her or her owner.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which sports car ends up in Lake Michigan in the 1983 Tom Cruise movie “Risky Business”?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Porsche 928",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "BMW M5",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Audi 5000",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Mercedes SLS",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Cruise plays Joel, a suburban Chicago high schooler whose parents are out of town. His father orders Joel not to touch his Porsche while he’s gone, but does he listen? Of course not. Instead, he uses his dad’s beloved 1979 928 to hit the town. Later, his prostitute love interest Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) accidentally bumps the shifter into neutral while grabbing her purse out of the car, and when Joel gets up from sitting on the hood, the Porsche starts rolling forward. Since the keys are locked inside, he can only watch in horror as it starts rolling across a fishing dock. The car briefly comes to a stop and Joel thanks his lucky stars – prematurely. A second later, the dock collapses, plunging the car into Lake Michigan. To pay for the repairs, he turns his family’s house into a brothel for one night.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "At what speed did the DeLorean time-travel in the 1985 movie “Back to the Future”?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "88 mph",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "90 mph",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "100 mph",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "120 mph",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The maximum speed of the 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 was 85 mph. For the movie, producers altered the car's dashboard to make the maximum speed appear to be 95 mph, which allowed for time travel when the vehicle hit 88 miles per hour.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What car did Wayne and Garth drive while blasting Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the 1992 movie “Wayne’s World”?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Ford Pinto",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "AMC Pacer",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Honda Civic",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Chevrolet Chevette",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Garth (Dana Carvey) drove a light blue 1976 AMC Pacer nicknamed the “Mirthmobile.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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Jayme Deerwester is an editor and writer with two decades of experience at USA TODAY, where she covered entertainment, travel, personal finance and technology. When not in front of a computer, she can be found rowing, kayaking or playing with her dog.

Take Our Car Trivia Quiz Out for a Spin

Take Our Car Trivia Quiz Out for a Spin

Take Our Car Trivia Quiz Out for a Spin

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