The 14 coolest cars from Martin Scorsese movies (2024)

Happy birthday to the legendary film director, producer, screenwriter and actor, Martin Scorsese. A film-making maestro, chances are if you have a favourite film of all time – especially if it stars Robert De Niro or Leonardo DiCaprio – chances are it is one of Marty's. From Mean Streets and Taxi Driver to Goodfellas and The Wolf Of Wall Street, the outstanding auteur from New York has been making movie magic happen for more than 50 years and he's still going at the ripe old age of 78. And in all that time, he has never been afraid to cast some of the most mercurial, magnificent, temperamental, and iconic actors cars in the business. Here is our pick of the best supporting automobiles in his films…

1. Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75 (1940)

Depicting the early years of eccentric billionaire tycoon Howard Hughes as he became a successful film producer, The Aviator was a vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio. And what kind of car would a wealthy man who exuded power and charisma drive? Obviously a Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75. Powered by a 346-cubic inch V8 engine, only 48 were ever made and Hughes used his to travel around the RKO Pictures lot in Hollywood. As Scorsese said in 2004: “[Howard Hughes] had all the money in the world so he could do exactly as he pleased. He was a visionary and obsessed with speed and he was a man with a tragic flaw who ultimately does himself in.” And he had the right car for the job.

2. Packard Six (1942)

One of Marty's best movies, Raging Bull is the biographical story of self-destructive boxing legend Jake LaMotta. A brutal, beautiful study in rage, anguish and violence, it was shot it in black and white, which adds to its power… but robs viewers of the chance to admire LaMotta's maroon 1942 Packard Six (in the film, it looks jet black). This was the first year of Packard's convertible two-door sedan and LaMotta is seen cruising his New York neighbourhood either with his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) or his wife. As the Paul Schrader script recalls: Jake drives his Packard convertible down Shore Road. Vickie sits in the passenger seat, her blonde hair blowing in the wind. Vickie feels Jake's eyes all over her and loves it. On the radio, Bing Crosby sings "Just One More Chance".

3. Buick Roadmaster Sedanette (1947)

Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, the neo-noir psychological thriller Shutter Island stars Leo DiCaprio as a US Marshal. It is dark, disturbing and a little confusing, but it also features a magnificent Roadmaster. One of the finest post-War Buicks, fewer than 20,000 were made, in 1947, and Marty found this burgundy example in mint condition. You might not have much of a clue about what is happening on Shutter Island, but you can certainly appreciate how they get there…

4. Hudson Hornet (1951)

Scorsese's Netflix epic, The Irishman, is the story of mob “house painter” Frank Sheeran and the decades-spanning story is defined by the cars that carry the gangsters from the 1950s right through to the end of the century. It is packed with classic motors and mafia favourites (Lincolns and Cadillacs), but the most eye-catching is Frank's first car… a 1951 Hudson Hornet. Powered by a straight-six, it was one of the cars that would help make Nascar popular. Fans of the Hornet will also recognise it from its role in Cars, voiced by Paul Newman.

5. Chevrolet Impala Convertible (1961)

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster…” So says Henry Hill at the start of Goodfellas, Scorsese's gangster masterpiece and arguably his greatest film. It is also packed with a collection of cars befitting a bunch of sharp-suited degenerates who like to flash the cash and look the part. With so many to choose from, we went with Tommy DeVito's (played by Joe Pesci) Chevy Impala, a vast ocean-going land yacht and American classic that looks kind of funny compared with today's car designs. All together now… Funny, how?

6. Ford Mustang Convertible (1965)

Scorsese and DeNiro teamed up again for their remake of Cape Fear. According to movie folklore, Scorsese traded the rights to the movie with Steven Spielberg, swapping the revenge story of Max Cady in exchange for Schindler's List. (Probably, at least for the purposes of this article, because there weren't as many opportunities to feature great cars in a film about the Holocaust. Plus, Spielberg apparently wanted Bill Murray for the role and that wouldn't have worked… Would it?). Cady, of course, is a frightful and frightening sex offender hell-bent on ruining the life of the lawyer who helped put him in prison. He also has great taste in cars, driving a classic 1965 Ford Mustang. And in red? Well, as Cady would say, it looks as “hot as a firecracker on the fourth of July”.

7. Chrysler Imperial LeBaron (1972)

Powered by a 335bhp V8, the Imperial LeBaron was used by Harvey Keitel's Charlie and DeNiro's Johnny Boy around the Mean Streets of Little Italy in New York in this gritty crime movie about living in a state of sin. It is an automobile that fits the mood and times perfectly – it has ideas above its station but always demands attention, even if it's negative. As a couple of kids point out in the movie: "Nice car... Musta cost a lot," says one, as the starter motor screams in protest. As the engine turns over, the other kid adds, "You got a good buy on this, didn't ya? Cos you need a tune up." In 1973, this qualified as a burn.

8. Mercedes-Benz 450SL (1975)

Another Scorsese epic, Casino charts the rise and fall of street-smart, odds-savvy mobster Sam “Ace” Rothstein as he transforms the Tangiers Hotel in 1970s Las Vegas only to fall foul of his greedy partners in crime and his poisonous girlfriend, Ginger (Sharon Stone). Rothstein's undoing is that he gives Ginger everything, including a stunning Mercedes 450SL. She repays him by trying to have him killed and giving Joe Pesci oral sex. Life can be cruel, can't it?

9. Checker Taxicab A11 (1975)

De Niro's Travis Bickle was the eponymous Taxi Driver who memorably would pick up fares “any time, anywhere”. Uptown at night, South Bronx, Harlem, he didn't care. Travis wasn't even bothered about cleaning up whatever there was to be cleaned up off the back seats after a long night (if you know, you know). And he did it all in a classic 1970s Checker Cab. In the movie, he even picks up a deranged bearded businessman who tells the driver he is going to shoot his unfaithful wife with a 44 Magnum. It was probably one of Scorsese's best cameo roles.

10. Cadillac Coupe DeVille Phaeton (1979)

Henry Hill was going to be busy all day… He had to drop off some guns to Jimmy, pick up his brother from the hospital, sort out that Pittsburgh thing, collect Karen and make sure the sauce didn't burn. Thankfully, he had a Coupe DeVille to get him around. Of course, he went for the Phaeton package, which meant it came with the 7.0-litre V8, leather seats and a leather-trimmed steering wheel. Unfortunately, it was so distinctive it was easy for the cops to follow him and, well… you know what happens next. Henry gets to live the rest of his live like a schnook.

11. Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz (1981)

Just before Ace Rothstein's life goes up in flames, so does his Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. As Rothstein says: “When you love someone, you've got to trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And for a while, I believed that's the kind of love I had…” Officially, and this being based on a true story, no one knows who tried to kill him with a car bomb, but investigators confirmed that the only reason [spoiler alert] Rothstein survived, was because the 1981 Biarritz had a steel plate under the driver’s seat that deflected the blast. As the saying sort of goes: lucky in cars, unlucky in love.

12. Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham (1984)

When Paul Newman's pool hustler turned liquor salesman “Fast” Eddie Felson goes back on the road teaching Tom Cruise's Vincent Lauria how the nine balls really roll in The Color Of Money, he does it in a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. Considered Caddy's luxury car when it was released in 1977, it had a chunky 7.0-litre V8 and was the same car driven by Isaac Hayes in Escape From New York and by John Travolta when he starred as mob boss John Gotti. As Fast Eddie might say, “You need two things to look good driving a car like this: you got to have brains and you got to have balls. Not too much of one and not enough of the other.”

13. Lamborghini Countach (1988)

Probably the most unforgettable scene in The Wolf Of Wall Street is the one when morally bankrupt millionaire stock broker Jordan Belfort tries to get home from his country club in his ice-white Lamborghini Countach supercar after the ludes he has taken at home finally kick in and reduce him to a quivering, barely functioning, physical wreck. It is agonising, hilarious and surreal to watch, but the real shock was only revealed after the film was released. To make the scene as authentic as possible, Scorsese insisted that rather than use a replica, an original Countach should be mechanically mutilated to show the real scale of Belfort’s automotive carnage. Knowing that should be enough to put anyone off drugs for life.

14. Ferrari Testarossa (1991)

If any car sums up the 1980s it is this one. A 5.0-litre, 12-cylinder, mid-engined Italian thoroughbred, thanks to its Pininfarina design and those cheese-grater side panels it appeared in TV shows, films and adverts galore. Do you see the classic red Ferrari Testarossa in the picture? Nice, huh? Well, the literal translation of the name is “red head”, but as DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort, aka The Wolf Of Wall Street, points out at the start of the movie as he voiceovers his own driving, snorting and encouragement of his passenger's oral skills: “No, no, no. My Ferrari was white, like Don Johnson's in Miami Vice. Not red.”

Now read

The most iconic cars in the movies

The greatest car chases from the movies: the 1960s

Greatest movie car chases: the 1970s (part one)