Image via Complex Original
Whether they're robbing banks or committing murder, every criminal needs a getway car. Some of these vehicles have become a permanent part of the public imagination. Whether they housed high-rolling mobsters or deviant serial killers, a car used to speed up dirty deeds can become just as well-known as the bad seed behind the wheel. In some cases, the crime car becomes even more iconic than the criminal. There have been a number of notable cars used for crimes throughout history. Some of them sit, riddled with bullets, in museums; others have vanished into thin air; all of them have a story to tell. Here are the 15 Most Infamous Cars in Crime History.
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15. 1934 Citroën Traction Avant
Driver: Nazi Gestapo / French Mafia
It would be a lot easier to figure out who to shoot at if people would just drive different cars. Apparently Hitler's Gestapo and the French Mafia didn't get the memo, as they both rolled Traction Avants in Occupied France. The car was not only noteworthy for its beauty, but it was also legendary for its performance. Reports from the era indicate that this car handled far better than anything else on the market thanks to its self-supporting body, independent suspension, and hydraulic brakes.
As is often the case, beauty is expensive to produce, and this amazing car drove Citroën to bankruptcy. The company's founder, Andre Citroën died shortly thereafter, and in 1934 Michelin bought the company, taking over production of their prize vehicle. Production of the car continued and Citroën vehicles began to appear on the silver screen, including numberous ganster films and James Bond's From Russia with Love.
14. 1963 Ford Lotus Cortina
Driver: Bruce Reynolds
1963's Great Train Robbery remains one of the most infamous heists in crime history to this day. Though the gang used Land Rovers to haul away the $7 million dollars in cash, mastermind Bruce Reynolds opted to use a Lotus Cortina as his getaway vehicle. Apparently, he chose the right car. While many of his accomplices were arrested, Reynolds escaped; he lived in Mexico, Canada and France before chancing a return to Britain for a work opportunity, and finally being brought to justice. He did ten years in prison before being released.
13. 1966 Chevrolet Impala
Driver: The Zodiac Killer
Sometimes a criminal's ride is notable for how ordinary it is. The White Chevrolet Impala was a popular model in 1966, selling more than a million units. As a result, the perceived menace of the Zodiac Killer, who allegedly tooled around in an Impala, reached far beyond what one man could achieve. Reports from those claiming to see the serial killer's car flooded in and fed the aura of hysteria surrounding the notorious serial killer. This probably delighted the Zodiac, who reveled in taunting the police by sending cryptograms prior to his murders.
The Zodiac Killer claimed thirty-seven murders in a letter to police, though only seven have been successfully attributed to him. The case remains unsolved, though it was deemed inactive by San Francisco police in 2004. That hasn't stopped authors and criminal theorists from continuing to speculate on the identity of the Zodiac to this day.
12. 1911 Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton
Driver: Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Though Kennedy's assassination is probably the most famous to take place in an automobile, Ferdinand's likely had the most calamitous results. To refresh your memory from history class, Ferdinand's assassination set off a chain of events that started World War I. What you might not know is that Gavrilo Princip, the gunman who killed Ferdinand, was not the first person to try to kill Ferdinand that day. A grenade had been hurled at the car earlier, but bounced under another car in the motorcade. After the first attempt, Ferdinand famously shouted, "So you welcome your guests with bombs!" Ferdinand's words to his dying wife after taking a bullet to the jugular were a bit more sentimental, "Don't die darling," he said, "live for the children." Sadly for the children, Sophie died as well, succumbing to a bullet wound in the abdomen on the way to the hospital.
11. 1920 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost
Driver: Enoch "Nucky" Johnson
The inspiration for HBO's Boardwalk Empire had some pretty sick wheels if we do say so ourselves. While he was making his fortune from illegal booze, Johnson picked himself up one of the last of the original Silver Ghosts. Only men with wealth like Johnson's could even dream of affording this lovely Rolls. The $14,000 sticker prize seems low in today's dollars, but bear in mind that this price was the equivalent of fifty Model Ts.
Johnson was pulling in half a million a year, which works out to about $5 million today, so he didn't have much of a problem with the price. Reportedly, Johnson purchased suits that cost just as much as the car, because what's the point of having a dope ride if you don't have the clothes to match?
10. 1928 Cadillac Sedan
Driver: Al Capone
Though Capone was known as one tough customer, the man also knew how to take the necessary precautions. The notorious gangster installed inch-thick bulletproof glass and 3,000 pounds of steel armor plating in this car in order to protect his neck in the mean streets of Chi-town. The sneaky crook also outfitted his wheels with an authentic police siren and what is believed to have been the first police band receiver.
Once the fuzz finally caught up with Capone, the car was seized by the government and actually ended up being used by FDR following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was last seen in August of 2010 when Texan John M. Quinn attempted to sell the car, only to keep the vehicle after no one met his asking price. The story of Capone's vehicle doesn't end there. A second identical vehicle surfaced at a British auction in 2006 and has been verified as authentic. Rumor has it there may be yet another Capone Cadillac parked in a long forgotten Chicago basement or buried beneath a demolished building.
9. 1996 BMW 750iL
Driver: Suge Knight
Though the car driven by the perpetrators is at large (as are the culprits), Suge Knight's BMW has remained as famous as the man who died inside of it. On September 67th, 1996 Knight was driving Tupac Shakur back from the Mike Tyson – Bruce Seldon match in Las Vegas. Before they left the match, Shakur and Knight assaulted Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a California Crip who had beaten a member of the Death Row entourage in a Foot Locker. Later that night, a white Cadillac pulled up alongside Shakur and Knight, and shot Tupac, hitting him in the chest, pelvis, thigh, and lungs. Shakur died of his wounds shortly thereafter.
Though reporter Chuck Phillips wrote the definitive report on the case, concluding the Anderson and other South Side Crips had murdered Shakur, the case remains unsolved. Notorious B.I.G. and Knight are often sighted as possible co-conspirators, and of course, there are those who believe Tupac faked his own death.
8. 1968 Volkswagen Beetle
Driver: Ted Bundy
Bundy brought new meaning to the concept of a custom ride when he removed the passenger seat of his beige Volkswagen Beetle to better fit the bodies of his victims. Ted Bundy's killing spree began in January of 1974 and continued at the pace of one victim a month until he was pulled over in his Beetle in August of 1975.
Needless to say, the police were a bit suspicious of the removed seat, and the crowbar, icepick, gloves, handcuffs, and masks made from pantyhose they found didn't help his case much. After a series of failed attempts to pin crimes on Bundy, authorities searched the car (which Bundy had sold to a teenager after cleaning it) more thoroughly and found hairs that matched some of his victims. Bundy escaped custody twice, and conducted a second murder spree in another stolen VW Beetle before he was finally caught and executed.
7. 1993 Ford Bronco
Driver: O.J. Simpson
Next summer will mark two decades since America was captivated by O.J. Simpson's White Ford Bronco in June of 1994. The chase was a full-fledged media event; most of America was glued to their TV screens watching the surreal low-speed chase. David Hasselfhof's pay-per-view special that aired opposite the chase was killed in the ratings and Domino's Pizza reported record orders from enraptured pizza-hungry customers as the Bronco low-speeded its way into the history books.
The story of what has happened to the Bronco since the chase is pretty interesting as well: There have been law suits over the car's sale, it was jokingly sold as part of reality show prank in 2006, and you can now rent the Bronco for parties, corporate events and bar mitzvahs.
6. 1990 Chevrolet Caprice
Driver: John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
Hysteria and paranoia spread throughout Maryland and Virginia in the Fall of 2002 as citizens began falling victim to sniper rifle bullets. The gunmen eluded capture for almost a month due to their quick getaways. How did they flee the scene so fast? Muhammad and Malvo had drilled holes in the trunk of their vehicle, and were shooting from inside the car. Misinformation helped keep the gunmen on the lamb as well, as authorities were seeking out a white van as the result of a false tip. Sadly, the pair were even pulled over on several occasions, but were released by police who saw no link to criminal activity.
Finally, on October 24th, the pair was found sleeping in their car at a rest stop and was hauled in on a weapons charge that quickly escalated to murder. Alexadre Moore's film Blue Caprice, which tells the story of the attacks, debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
5. 1933 Essex Terraplane
Driver: John Dillinger
Over the course of his year-long, quarter million dollar crime spree, John Dillinger relied on his trusty red Essex Terraplane to keep himself one step ahead of the police. When Dillinger lost the car, it was a signal of the beginning of the end for the notorious robber.
On April 7th, 1934, Dillinger got into a shootout with police. He took one in the leg, and the car took two in the front panel. After the shootout, Dillinger crashed the car into a tree and abandoned it. It was only a matter of time before Dillinger got taken down; he was gunned down in a Chicago alleyway on July 2nd after his landlady Anna Sage, who would forever be known as "The Lady in Red" even though she was wearing orange, ratted him out.
4. 1935 Mercedes 770K Limousine
Driver: Adolph Hitler
Though the Führer didn't actually know how to drive, he liked to be driven around in a Mercedes Limo. He reportedly liked the car because it created an "imposing" and "commanding" presence. As if the vehicle wasn't imposing enough already, Hitler had each of his 770Ks outfitted with armor-plating until they weighed five tons. The vehicle was also outfitted with a mine-proof floor and 4cm thick bulletproof glass to thwart would-be assassins.
All of this armor created an epic gas-guzzler: The car only got three miles to the gallon. Dmitry Lomakov, a Russian collector who owns one of six known Hitler limos, views buying one of the cars as a symbol of Russian victory. He has said, "For Russians the second world war isn't a historical event. For us it happened yester day ... Buying a Nazi car is like sticking one finger up to Hitler."
3. 1961 Lincoln 74A
Driver: John F. Kennedy
Though Franz Ferdiand had been assassinated under similar circumstances fifty years prior, John F. Kennedy still rode in a convertible on that fateful day in Novemeber of 1963. Though history will probably debate the circumstances of the Kennedy Assassination for years to come, everyone agree that it would have been much harder to kill Kennedy had he not been rolling in a drop-top.
The car, code-named SS-100-X, was modified by Ford's Advanced Vehicles Group to meet Secret Service specs. Though the government put approximately $200,000 worth of work into the car, not one part of the car was made bulletproof. The car actually remained in the government's service after the assassination, though it was no longer a convertible, and bullet-proofing was added.
2. Ford Model 730 Deluxe Sedan
Driver: Bonnie and Clyde
If you ever find yourself about 40 miles south of Las Vegas, in Primm, Nevada, swing by Whiskey Pete's Casino and check out Bonnie and Clyde's getaway car. The legendary Ford V-8 served Bonnie and Clyde well during their two-year, 2,500-mile crime spree. The couple's and the car's luck ran out in May of 1934 when feds ambushed the bank robbers and sprayed more than 100 rounds into the side of the car. Don't be misled by shady entrepreneurs trying to make a quick buck: There are at least a half dozen tourist traps in America purporting to have the authentic car from the couple's robberies.
1. Ryder Truck
Driver: Timothy McVeigh
A rented Ryder Truck hauling a mixture of agricultural fertizer, diesel fuel, and a number of other deadly chemicals was used to perpetrate one of the most tragic events in American history. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols's truck bomb did some heavy damage. A full third of the Alfred P. Murrah Building was reduced to rubble and almost 170 people lost their lives.
McVeigh's escape from the scene of the crime was one of the shortest in criminal history. Ninety minutes after the bombing, McVeigh was pulled over by an Oklahoma State Trooper who noticed he was missing a license plate on his getaway car only to find he was carrying an unregistered concealed weapon. By the time the FBI caught up with him, he was already incarcerated. Though McVeigh was swiftly brought to justice, as he left an easy trail for investigators to piece together, a massive investigation ensued. The FBI conducted 28,000 interviews, amassing three-and-a-half tons of evidence before declaring the case closed.