Cartoons have been around as long as film has existed, but this isn’t a history lesson.
This is a lesson in how pop culture (even in cartoon form) featured cars as part of the story.
Here are ten great examples of how cars were cartoon-ized over the last 60+ years.
Jerry Sutherland
The first example comes from the classic Warner Brothers late 50s Looney Tunes era. This one featured Bugs Bunny up against two cartoon hoodlums named Rocky and Mugsy in a 1957 Looney Tunes episode where Bugs set them up for an arrest.
Bugs ratted the two felons out, so the police showed up in cars that looked vaguely like early 50s Ford shoeboxes and hauled the two cartoon lowlifes away. The cars didn’t fit the late 50s timeline–but neither did 30s-era gangsters named Rocky and Mugsy.
Huckleberry Hound was one of my favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters because he was so understated–plus he took a cartoon shotgun blast to the face better than anyone since the classic Daffy Duck era.
Huck was a cop in the feature ‘Huck Hound Cop and Saucer’ and he drove what looked like a cartoon version of an early 50s Nash or Rambler. Again, the cartoon car didn’t fit the timeline of the late 50s, but who’s going to question the logic behind a cartoon? I sure didn’t—then or now.
Hanna-Barbera did get it right with the Yogi Bear short called ‘Trying to Escape’ .
The cartoon featured a long line of late 50s cars heading into Jellystone Park—the cars were perfect for the era because they all looked like a cross between a ’57 Chevy and a ’57 Plymouth. They had the perfect late 50s look—right down to the holiday trailers behind some of the cars.
Everybody remembers the classic Hanna-Barbera Fred Flintstone car, but fewer people remember the Barney Rubble car.
Barney’s car varied between two and four-door versions, but it was always shown as a log on rock wheels. It was definitely sportier than Fred’s car—but Fred’s looked more comfortable,
‘Pink Panther‘ debuted on ABC in 1969. It was created by some legends from the Bugs Bunny factory—plus the cartoon featured the Pink Panther cartoon character from the Peter Sellers movies.
‘The Ultimate Sandwich’ Pink Panther episode had a dog catcher van that was straight out of the post-war 40s era. It made no sense because this was the late 60s–but who was going to fact check the Pink Panther?
‘Scooby Doo’ debuted around the same time as The Pink Panther, and it featured a van called the Mystery Machine.
The Mystery Machine looked like a cross between a classic VW van and a ’66 Dodge A-100. This was more accurate because the Mystery Machine was more timely for 1969 so it was as accurate as a Saturday morning cartoon could be–because these weren’t documentaries.
‘The Simpsons’ debuted in 1989 and it’s still on TV in 2024, but Homer’s car never changed.
His car looks like a beat-up version of a late 1970s-early 80s Cadillac sedan. This car was more appropriate when ‘The Simpsons’ aired in ’89 but 35 years later Homer is driving an old beater. I like to think it’s because Homer is such a drunken lowlife it’s all he can afford to drive.
‘Animaniacs’ debuted in 1993. This was 90s version of the classic Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny era.
They didn’t really nail down the era in ‘Animaniacs’, but one clue came in the ‘The Monkey’s Song’ episode where a car that looked like a ‘63 Thunderbird with mid-50s Packard headlights. Those clues weren’t much to go on, but it sure was a cool cartoon car.
‘Family Guy’ debuted in 1999, and it had a very recognizable feature car.
A neighbor named Quagmire drives a 1957 Chevy convertible, and it’s been part of many plots over the 25-year run of the cartoon series. It might not fit the timeline, but it still works as a cartoon car.
The last cartoon car is found in ‘South Park’.
‘South Park’ had a ’57 Ford F-100 in one episode and it looked a lot more accurate than the cartoon characters in the series. In the end, that’s all that really counts.
What can we learn from all this? Nothing—because cartoons are about fun, not education.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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