What Are The Cars Most Defined By Their Role In A Blockbuster Movie?

Jeep is doing a new marketing campaign for the latest Jurassic World film, and while I was initially going to write about how boring it is relative to the original Jurassic Park marketing brilliance, I’m not going to hate. I think it’s fine that Jeep is doing some Jurassic Park-themed marketing, even if the brand will never live up to what it did back in 1993. But this leads me to wonder: Is there a vehicle more defined by its role in a blockbuster movie than the Jeep Wrangler YJ?

The Jeep Wrangler YJ is the “cheap Jeep,” largely due to its polarizing looks (square headlights) and its successor being a significant improvement by pretty much every measure. But there’s always been one thing keeping the YJ’s value from dropping to the level of sauce packet or refill: The vehicle’s starring role in Jurassic Park.

Seriously, you cannot watch Jurassic Park and not fall in love with the charming little YJ and its beige-and-red Jurassic Park livery:

There’s a reason why so many people still put Jurassic Park livery on their YJs; this one that was up for auction at Mecum looks really nicely done:

And there’s a reason why, a couple of years ago, Jeep offered a modernized Jurassic Park-inspired appearance package for the modern JL Wrangler:

Jeep’s latest bit of marketing, meant to ride the wave of Jurassic World Rebirth, which hits theaters early next month, isn’t quite as cool; it’s basically just a 30-second-spot showing a green four-door JL driving among Dinosaurs:

Stellantis gets into other elements of this marketing campaign in its press release, writing:

• 360-degree marketing campaign includes a long-form video to launch across Jeep brand social media channels later this week, including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok; 30-second version to run across television
• New York City Times Square billboard will feature the flying dinosaur (Quetzalcoatlus) as it soars above the Jeep Wrangler
• The campaign is being activated at more than 2,000 U.S. dealerships via a point-of-sale kit that includes a poster, dinosaur egg mirror hangers and dinosaur claw and footprint decals
• Press tour kickoff for the film in Mexico City at CCXP featured a Jeep Wrangler 4xe arriving on stage
• Similar to Jeep brand’s Super Bowl commercial, “Owner’s Manual,” the spot will offer eagle-eyed viewers a cameo appearance of a future Jeep 4×4 vehicle inside the dinosaur lab
• The Jeep brand design team has created a first-of-its-kind Jurassic badge, appearing in the Tier 2 spot, which will be available soon in limited supply to consumers

It’s fine, but it’s impossible to live up to the brand equity the original move created in the Wrangler YJ. Though that makes me wonder: Are there other examples where a movie truly defined a model in the eyes of the general population?

People call the YJ “The Jurassic Park Jeep,” though they never call the XJ “The Boonies Jeep,” even though The Boonies was one of the XJ’s first and most important appearances in a blockbuster film.

There’s Back to the Future, which definitely defined the way the world sees the DeLorean DMC-12, but what are some other examples? That’s todays’s Autopian Asks.

Top graphic image: Jurassic Park/Universal Studios via screen grab