15 Cartoon Cars We Want in Real Life

Image via Complex Original

From: The Jetsons

Now that we're actually living in the future (well, according to the time of The Jetsons), two questions are on everyone's minds: Where are our flying bubble cars, and where are our hoverboards? This living in the future business is really kind of disappointing. At least DeLoreans are making a comeback?

From: Inspector Gadget

There was pretty much nothing the Gadgetmobile couldn't do. It's easily the most useful car on this list. The future has given us great smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets that pretty much do everything Penny's and Brain's computer and watch combo could do. But where are our Gadgetmobiles? We're guessing modern ones would sound like this.

From: Cars

Rather than simply base Lighning McQueen's design on any single iconic production vehicle, production designer Bob Pauley says that the team pulled styling cues from everything from the Ford GT40 to the Dodge Charger. Anything cool that struck a nerve with them was fair game. Incidentally, while it's understandable that you might think he was named after Steve McQueen, Lightning McQueen was actually named for dearly departed Pixar animator Glenn McQueen, who unfortunately died of melanoma in 2002.

From: The Magic School Bus

It's a bus that can turn into a rocket ship, a submarine, a micro machine, or whatever else you can think up in that creative brain of yours. This is for all those people who have always wondered about taking drugs but never actually took drugs. Have fun. 

From: Sugar Rush

Vanellope Von Schweetz, rightful princess of the video game Sugar Rush, has an amazing racecar that she built herself to win races. The entire thing is made out of CANDY. This is the car to have for long road trips, or if you're gonna have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere. You may not have 4G network coverage, but at least you're not going hungry.

From: Back to the Future

While the animated series was nowhere near as fun as the movies, the DeLorean clearly belongs on anyone's list of the greatest cars in pop culture in general. We don't care that the cartoon wasn't great. We'd still gladly put a DeLorean in our garage -- especially if it could travel through time.

From: Mask

Sure, it came from one of those shows that basically only existed to sell toys. But it's a Camaro with gullwing doors that can turn into a fighter jet. Who wouldn't want one of those?

From: S.H.I.E.D.

We're pretty sure just the phrase "Nick Fury's Flying Car" should have you convinced. It has hover wheels AND a rocket launcher. What more do you need in a flying S.H.I.E.L.D. car? Yeah, we know, some of you probably want Agent Coulson's "Lola" 'Vette from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That's fine. Get a bigger garage. Nick Fury's flying car is so awesome, a Lego kit of it was recently released.

From: Tron: Uprising

While our first pick of TRON vehicles for our dream garage would obviously be a Lightcycle, the Light Roadster is the car to have if you need to carry some passengers in ultraluminescent style. While it doesn't have armor, weaponry, or off-roading capabilities like the Lightrunner two-seater from TRON:Legacy, it can split into two separate two-seater lightcycles at the push of a button. It's also the only vehicle faster than a light jet, according to the evil General Tesler (voiced by horror movie legend Lance Henriksen).

From: Ghostbusters

First introduced in the Ghostbusters movie, this is probably the only hearse to grace the silver screen that everyone in the audience wanted to drive. The cartoon version was even better, because it brought the Ecto-1 straight into your living room every week, long before you could get the movie on VHS and play it until the tape wore out. Like most car nuts, Ray and Winston weren't satisfied with their Ecto-1 and kept modifying it throughout the series, adding things like a couple different types of cannons, a smokescreen emitter, and a jet jumper which allowed high jumps from a standing start.

From: Speed Racer

If you say you never wanted the Mach 5 as a kid, you're lying. Even now, we have a friend whose young son couldn't have been prouder of the Mach 5 he made with his dad for a pinewood derby competition. Its sheer awesomeness truly spans generations.

From: Batman: The Animated Series

How can you pick just one Batmobile? Since this list narrows it down to stuff from cartoons, we had to go with the Batmobile from one of the best cartoons ever (in our humble opinion), Batman: The Animated Series. Is it the best Batmobile ever? No, we'd probably still take a Tumbler over this one. But is it the best of the animated versions? Yes. The Batman Beyond one might be able to fly, but the sheer presence of this version, as well as the seamless melding of classic and iconic automobile design with art deco elements to form a timeless vision of Gotham City, completely made those visuals for us.

From: Initial D

With the exception of poor Itsuki's terrible AE85, what car wouldn't you want from Initial D. 

From: The Venture Brothers

We're not sure if this is a case of the car making the man, or the man making the car. We suspect it's a bit of both. If someone was ever stupid enough to tell you that they didn't understand why you thought a person's car said a lot about them, we'd kindly suggest that you keep this link in your back pocket to show them. This car is Brock Samson, through and through, and it is badass.

From: Archer

Apart from the fact that Archer has some of the most razor-sharp wit on TV today, it's also unbelievably great if you're a car enthusiast. Archer's Challenger shows up as a birthday present from his mother in Season 3 -- an episode where you also find out that Pam is an up-and-coming underground drift racer with an RX-2. The Challenger is bulletproof, has some secret weapons that shoot out the back, and also has a minibar -- stocked with "apple juice." Yeah, sure, apple juice, right.