During the early moments of performance vs. strict emission standards, the emissions won out and performance enthusiasts were faced with a slew of overrated blow hard vehicles that had much more bark than bite. But that did not stop Hollywood from using the magic of cinematography to make these cars into classics in our own hearts… and hey, they still are kind of cool even today despite their short-comings!

The 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from “Smokey and the Bandit”-

This sleek black curvaceous classic body style of the 77′ Trans Am had a beautiful 6.6 liter engine and a slick looking shaker hood scoop to boot. Unfortunately, this was back in 1977, which was the golden era in engine humiliation. This beast pumped out a putrid 200 horsepower with the optional W72 engine. The standard L78 was rated at an even more embarrassing 180 hp. It was still a beautiful car and made some breathtaking scenes laying some thick rubber during some of the movies highlights.

1981 De Lorean DMC-12 from “Back to the Future”-

The movie version may have ran off of a 1.21-gigawatt nuclear/electric hybrid with a five-speed manual, but the actual car had a 2.8-liter Peugeot V6, which certainly could have used the extra nuclear waste to propelled it off the line beyond that of a Volkswagen Van. It was truly amazing to witness this car on the big screen make it up to 88 mph on several occasions on motor alone without a steep hill, a strong tailwind, and Carl Lewis pushing it. But all jokes aside, the gull-wing doors were certainly a nice touch, as well as the stainless steel (unpainted) body panels.