Car Movie Goofs

February 29, 2012 by Tim Watson

Imagine the scene. You’ve just finished three months worth of filming, the actors have out-shone themselves, all the tape is finally ready for editing and then it hits you – the car you filmed going down an alleyway on two wheels has come out on the opposite side in went in on. Damn.

That’s one of the more famous goofs (from Diamonds are Forever), but how many other errors have you noticed? Are you eagle eyed enough to have spotted the tyres change on Bond’s Aston in Goldfinger? See how many of these you remember?

The Italian Job (1969)

Obvious one is the rear differential mistake when the team is prepping, but did you notice the spotlights change on the front of the Minis in the sewer scene? Or the colour changing ‘blue-red-blue’ Mini falling down the mountain? Remember that poor old “Aston” being tipped off the cliff by the Mafia? Be worth a fortune now that wouldn’t it… that’s if it was an Aston. It was actually a Lancia Flavia. The giveaway? The bonnet is hinged from the windscreen, not the nose as in the Aston, thus it falls open the wrong way when crashing down the mountain.

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Count the number gear changes that Brian makes. It’s well into double figures. Not only that, but during the conversation between him and Dom after the first police chase, you can hear the car change gear without Brian even taking a hand off the wheel. And have you ever seen a car wheel spin and pull a wheelie at the same time?

Unstoppable (2008)

Ok it’s a film about a runaway train, but did you notice the speedo from Eleanor in “Gone in Sixty Seconds” make an appearance? And that F-350 may have a V8 soundtrack, but the dual-tyre rear axle is only available with a diesel engine.

Bullitt (1968)

Everyone knows the Charger missed the exploding petrol station by a mile, as you can see it scream past behind it after the explosion, but did you notice that the car is an auto yet can clearly be heard changing gear? As the same sections of road were used from multiple angles, numerous cars appear many times in the background, a bit like an old Scooby Doo cartoon. See how many you can spot.

Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)

Listen carefully and you can hear Eleanor starting up before Memphis turns the ignition on using his tools. Sure it was only a second, but later, when the car stalls after the mirror is knocked off, he uses a key to start the car. The key and fob can be seen in a few scenes. The mirror that gets knocked off does the classic reattached/hanging off continuity error and it’s a different shape going into the crusher. For the really eagle eyed, keep on an eye on that car list – see if you can spot the numerous name/make/model mistakes from when they are crossed off to being loaded. They even misspell “Boxter”. Shameful.

Ronin (1998)

Falling to the same error as “Gone in Sixty Seconds”, Ronin also had problems with wing mirrors. After the driver’s side was shot out, the mirror magically re-appears in subsequent scenes despite it clearly flying off in shot and De Niro flinching away from it. Also, keep an eye on steering wheel in the Audi spy scene. At first, it’s a three-spoke wheel but then it changes to a four-spoke wheel later in the film. This wasn’t available on the S8.

Vanishing Point (1971)

And finally Vanishing Point. Luckily, no wing mirrors have dropped off and reappeared and the gear changes were right. But the end scenes, where the car finally crashes, the 1970 Dodge Challenger is actually a 1967 Chevy Camaro… Not only that, but the sound of the engine is actually from (whisper it) the 1968 Ford Mustang. The very same one that was in Bullitt.

If there ever was an excuse to watch your favourite car film, this is it. So tell us, what is your favourite car film and what other slipups have you noticed? Post them in the comments below…