It’s not a state secret that Christmas is based heavily upon traditional factors, be they Yuletide tunes or annual holiday favorites in the movie or television realm.
That is the way Christmas works–and who are we at MyStarCollectorCar to try and mess with traditional favorites?
Jim Sutherland
The fact is we buy into the Christmas vibe in a big way, including many of our choices for Christmas movie cars, although we added some new stars to our 2024 list. The following list of Christmas movie cars includes some traditional picks, along with a few new additions to keep our readers guessing about our choices.
The first car on our list is a traditional favorite, namely George Bailey’s 1919 Dodge Brothers Model 30 Touring Car in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. It’s Christmas, so we will ignore the fact that George crashed his car into a tree while under the influence and celebrate the fact he survived the impact. It was a moment when George’s very bad decision to drive drunk was moderated by the car’s durability and low top speed.
The second car on our Christmas car list is another easy choice for us: the 1937 Oldsmobile Six Touring Sedan in ‘A Christmas Story’ that hauled Ralphie and his family’s tree home, albeit with a memorable flat tire on the trip.
The car represented everything that is comfortable in an old sedan and is an appropriate choice for a nostalgic look back at a kid from a bygone era making Christmas memories.
The third addition to our Christmas movie car list is related directly to our second choice but this movie is only a few years old. The movie sequel is ‘A Christmas Story Christmas’ and it stars a middle-aged Ralphie who must cope with adulthood and a wonky 1965 Plymouth Belvedere sedan.
A 1965 Plymouth Belvedere sedan is a long-forgotten car that becomes an iconic car when it is used in a nostalgia Christmas flick and makes viewers scratch their heads when they try to figure out its year, make and model. Ralphie’s car is a miled-out beater that fits in perfectly with the trail of failure that marked his life. Ultimately, adult Ralphie finds his Christmas mojo-but not via a BB gun gift this time.
The fourth addition to our Christmas movie car list is the 1978 Checker cab used in ‘Scrooged’. The Checker taxi was actor Frank Cross’s (played by Bill Murray) magic bus back to his character’s youthful past and the Checker trip down memory lane was a perfect fit because it helped Frank Cross grow as a person in the movie.
Checker cabs were a familiar sight on urban American streets and were notable for their timeless mid-1950s style that never changed from 1958 until 1982. We believe a Checker cab was an ideal mode of Christmas movie transportation in ‘Scrooged’ because of its ageless design.
The fifth and final member of our 2024 Christmas movie car club is the 1989 Ford Taurus station wagon used in ‘Christmas Vacation’ by well-known stunt driver Clark Griswald (played by Chevy Chase). The Blue Oval long roof played a major role in the early stages of ‘Christmas Vacation’ and subsequently suffered major damage during the wild filming process.
The unforgettable driving sequence in ‘Christmas Vacation’ made the humble ’89 Taurus wagon an instant star in this holiday classic, so the car is an easy choice for our fifth and final movie car list with a Yuletide twist.
Our final Yuletide note: Merry Christmas to all car guys and girls from MyStarCollectorCar.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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