History Main / ImmortalIconicCar

!!Examples

* Media set in Italy will inevitably feature the Fiat 500. While it was ubiquitous once thanks to nearly 4 million units produced over nearly 20 years, you're more likely to see its modern counterpart produced since 2007 these days.
* America has multiple examples:
** Movies, TV shows, and music videos set in New York City will frequently feature the famous Checker Marathon taxicab even to this day - once a common sight across major cities in America, however, the last one rolled out of the factory in 1982, and the very last one on the streets of New York was retired in 1998, already heavily worn out and on its last legs. More recent works will depict the Ford Crown Victoria, though even that was discontinued in 2012.
** Though the continued prevalence of the Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car as police cars, taxis, and limousines in contemporary media is somewhat explainable as they make cheap production assets, seeing them continue in these roles in animation is more difficult to rationalise beyond recognisability and iconic status.
** Media set in the hoods of Los Angeles frequently feature lowriders based on models such as 1960s Chevrolet Impalas or Lincoln Continentals. While many of these are still well preserved to this day, you're not going to see them driven as poor folks' hoopties (which was more common in the early 1990s, during the height of the hip-hop culture, as back then they would've been a little over 25 years old).
** The DeepSouth or other poor, rural American settings may feature pickup trucks from the 1950s to 1970s even well into the 21st century.
** The wood-paneled station wagon is still seen in media as the quintessential family hauler of North American suburbia, even though they mostly fell out of favor in the 1980s and haven't been produced whatsoever since 1996.
** In some American series such as ''Series/TheWire'', the related [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Colt#Third_generation 1973-1979 Dodge Colt]] will appear. Due to the car's reliability ([[TimeMarchesOn for its era]]), this car often appears in movies set in TheEighties and even TheNineties.
* Anytime you see France, you will see at least one Citroën DS and Citroën 2CV.
* In the United Kingdom, it's the original Mini. Bonus points if it has the Union Jack painted on the roof. If you're in London, you will see the classic red AEC Routemaster double-deck buses and the original Austin [=FX4=] black cabs.
* In works set in Japan, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Lancer#1979%E2%80%931987 1979-1983 Mitsubishi Lancer]] will often be present.

** Movies, TV shows and music videos set in New York City will frequently feature the famous Checker Marathon taxicab even to this day - once a common sight across major cities in America, however, the last one rolled out of the factory in 1982, and the very last one on the streets of New York was retired in 1998, already heavily worn out and on its last legs. More recent works will depict the Ford Crown Victoria, though even that was discontinued in 2012.

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:Film - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' is set in ostensibly present day in Paris and features many Citroen [=DSes=] and 2CVs alongside more modern cars on the street - one of the many deliberately anachronistic stylistic choices in this film.
[[AC:Film - Live Action]]

* ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' has a brief portion in Paris where the director of the Louvre is assassinated in a car accident. Of course the car has to be a vintage Citroen DS.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', set in then-present 2001 in partially New York-inspired Liberty City has the Checker Marathon-based Cabbie as one of the two available taxis in traffic despite the real life counterpart being obsolete at that point. [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Subsequent]] [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas games]] carry the vehicle over and fare much better due to being set in TheEighties and TheNineties respectively.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' seems to fall TwoDecadesBehind in its portrayal of the ghetto, where everyone who doesn't drive luxury Maseratis seems to drive mint condition 1960s muscle cars or even 1950s Bel Airs in 2013. Compare this to the previous installment, ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', which had more realistic traffic to be found in poorer areas (cars mostly from the late 80s and the 90s in 2008) and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' which also had an LA-based city which similarly had 1960s classics driven around in ghettos, but much more plausible with its 1992 setting.

* The Mystery Machine used by the ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' gang appears to be a 1960s van resembling various designs at the time such as the Ford Econoline no matter the amount of different incarnations and reboots. Averted in the 1998-2001 direct to video movies.
* The family cars in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' appear to be 60s-70s designs intended to be slightly out of date but common for everyday use by the average lower middle class American family at the time of the show's debut. Like many things throughout the show's run, they do not change and would be considered classics by the 2010s.

* The second-generation Mitsubishi Delica, first introduced in 1979, can still be found on Philippine and Indonesian roads to this day thanks to its remarkably long production run--while the Philippine-market Delica, known locally as the L300 and first produced in 1987, has been around for decades, its utilitarian nature precluded any major redesigns at the cost of safety, though it received minor facelifts and an engine upgrade to a Euro 4-compliant 4N14 common-rail diesel engine[[note]]4N14-equipped Delicas can be distinguished by having a taller ride height than earlier model years to accommodate the larger engine[[/note]]. The van variant which was a common sight as getaway vans for {{Mook}}s in action movies in the Nineties (no thanks to its dual sliding doors allowing for criminal gangs to conduct ambushes easily) was retired in 2012 in favour of cheaper cab-and-chassis variants though.

Compare SteamNeverDies, ImprobablyCoolCar, MetallicarSyndrome, RareVehicles.

** Media set in the hood of Los Angeles frequently feature lowriders based on models such as 1960s Chevrolet Impalas or Lincoln Continentals. While many of these are still well preserved to this day, you're not going to see them driven as poor folks' hoopties (which was more common in the early 1990s, during the height of the hip-hop culture, as back then they would've been a little over 25 years old).

* The anime adaptation of the [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo fifth part]] of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has Italian city streets full of classic Fiat 500s in 2001. This was less the case in the original manga.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{ratatouille}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ratatpuille_2007_redimensionner.jpg]]]]

This is common in drawn or animated media, however, live action filmmakers are aware of this effect and may deliberately go out of their way to find vintage car models for filming in order to establish a location. Indeed, it may be invoked deliberately for a RetroUniverse aesthetic.

A sub-trope of AnachronismStew. Ever since the 20th century the automobile has become an important part of daily life, so of course you're gonna see plenty of them in any urban landscape. Combined with the fact that there are many automobile manufacturers and makes around the world, plenty of car models have become a visual shorthand for various locations, much like [[EiffelTowerEffect landmarks]] or [[RegionalRiff musical pieces]]. And in a ThemeParkVersion of a certain setting, they may be so iconic that you're going to continue seeing them in media even well past their prime, in a period where these cars have become classics and you're unlikely to find them in everyday situations on a city street. This is common in drawn or animated media, however, live action filmmakers are aware of this effect and may deliberately go out of their way to find vintage car models for filming in order to establish a location. Indeed, it may be invoked deliberately for a RetroUniverse aesthetic.

* The Lada classic series is a Soviet-built clone of the 1960s Fiat 124 sedan. The first Ladas were built in 1970 and production lasted until 2012 with little change. To this day it's the ubiquitous Russian car and is still fairly popular in Europe in the cheap second-hand market. Similarly, the Niva 4x4 truck is a 1970s Soviet design that as of 2019 is still being produced in Russia with minimal changes to the original design.

* The second-generation Mitsubishi Delica, first introduced in 1979, can still be found on Philippine and Indonesian roads to this day thanks to its remarkably long production run--while the Philippine-market Delica, known locally as the L300 and first produced in 1987, has been around for decades, its utilitarian nature precluded any major redesigns at the cost of safety, though it received minor facelifts and an engine upgrade to a Euro 4-compliant 4N14 common-rail diesel engine. The van variant which was a common sight as getaway vans for {{Mook}}s in action movies (no thanks to its dual sliding doors allowing for gangs to conduct ambushes easily) was retired in 2012 in favour of the cheaper cab-and-chassis variants though.

* Domestically produced transport trucks in North America often see decades of manufacture with precious little changed over time. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenworth_W900 Kenworth W900]] has been in continuous production since _1961_ and has seen very few changes save for drivetrain and safety improvements.

** Movies, TV shows and music videos set in New York City will frequently feature the famous Checker Marathon taxicab even to this day - once a common sight across major cities in America, however, the last one rolled out of the factory in 1982, and the very last one on the streets of New York was retired in 1998, already heavily worn out and on its last legs. More recent works will depict the Ford Crown Victoria, which was discontinued in 2012.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan_Ambassador Hindustan Ambassador]], which was based on the 1956 Morris Oxford sedan, remains a common sight in India even after its discontinuation in 2014.

* Mexico City continued to use Volkswagen Beetles as taxicabs until as late as 2012, and would have probably continued to use them even longer due to its iconicness and drivers and passengers alike being fond of them if it wasn't for government regulations.

* Mexico City continued to use Volkswagen Beetles as taxicabs until as late as 2012, and would have probably continued to use them even longer due to its iconicness and drivers and passengers alike being fond of them if it wasn't for government regulations.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' is set in ostensibly present day in Paris and features many Citroen DSes and 2CVs alongside more modern cars on the street - one of the many deliberately anachronistic stylistic choices in this film.

This trope may also apply to individual characters with signature cars in LongRunner series that are subject to either ComicBookTime or multiple reboots where the vehicle is just far too iconic to update for contemporary times.

* Movies, TV shows and music videos set in New York City will frequently feature the famous Checker Marathon taxicab even to this day - once a common sight across major cities in America, however, the last one rolled out of the factory in 1982, and the very last one on the streets of New York was retired in 1998, already heavily worn out and on its last legs. More recent works will depict the Ford Crown Victoria, which was discontinued in 2012.

* Media set in the hood of Los Angeles frequently feature lowriders based on models such as 1960s Chevrolet Impalas or Lincoln Continentals. While many of these are still well preserved to this day, you're not going to see them driven as poor folks' hoopties (which was more common in the early 1990s, during the height of the hip-hop culture, as back then they would've been a little over 25 years old).
* The DeepSouth or other poor, rural American settings may feature pickup trucks from the 1950s to 1970s even well into the 21st century.

** In some American series such as ''Series/TheWire'', the related [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Colt#Third_generation 1973-1979 Dodge Colt]] will appear. Due to the car's reliability ([[TimeMarchesOn for its era]]), this car often appears in movies set in TheEighties and even TheNineties.

* Movies, TV shows and music videos set in New York City will frequently feature the famous Checker Marathon taxicab even to this day - once a common sight across major cities in America, however, the last one rolled out of the factory in 1982, and the very last one on the streets of New York was retired in 1998, already heavily worn out and on its last legs.

* Media set in Italy will inevitably feature the Fiat 500. While it was an ubiquitous sight once thanks to nearly 4 million units produced over nearly 20 years, you're more likely to see its modern counterpart produced since 2007 these days.
* Movies, TV shows, music videos set in New York City will frequently feature the famous Checker Marathon taxicab even to this day - once a common sight across major cities in America, however, the last one rolled out of the factory in 1982, and the very last one on the streets of New York was retired in 1998, already heavily worn out and on its last legs.
* Anytime you see France, you will see at least one Citroen DS and Citroen 2CV.
* Media set in the hood of Los Angeles frequently feature lowriders based on models such as 1960s Chevrolet Impalas or Lincoln Continentals. While many of these are still well preserved to this day, you're not going to see them driven as poor folks' hoopties (which was more common in the early 90s, during the height of the hip hop culture, as back then they would've been a little over 25 years old).

** In some American series such as ''Series/TheWire'', the related [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Colt#Third_generation 1973-1979 Dodge Colt]] will appear. Due to the car's reliability ([[TimeMarchesOn for its era]]), this car often appears in movies set in The80s and even The90s.