Autoblog

Think of what the automotive landscape looked like nigh on 25 years ago. Mentioning "family car" in 1983 would have conjured a station wagon. Some of us dig wagons, while others think we're daft because of the stigma they still carry. There's no denying that a wagon is an excellent way to transport kids and stuff, but those beasts of yesteryear often led to yearnings for an alternative. We all remember getting carsick while sitting in the rear-facing third row torture chamber, cut off from the rest of the family and their future-looking vantage point. The tailgunner position was a great way to test out new hand gestures on following motorists, though.

When the Chrysler minivans were revealed to the world in 1983 as 1984 models, they were a revelation. The Caravan and Voyager were not the first vans based on compact chassis, but they were such a successful combination of the elements that sales took off and imitators sprang up only after Chrysler had firmly established its status as the segment trendsetter. Continued after the jump.

Forbes' automotive listmeister Nate Chapnick has been at it again. This time, he's chronicled the top 10 vehicles in 2005's highest-grossing movies. Automobiles enjoyed a good year in Hollywood, from buxom Jessica Simpson's cavorting around in a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon in the Dukes Of Hazzard redux; to the his-and-hers Cadillac CTS-V and Mercedes-Benz C320 Wagon featured in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But it wasn't all about more spirited iron... Katie Holmes Tom Cruise helped save the earth with a little help from a workaday Plymouth Voyager in War of the Worlds, and Steve Carell's 40 Year Old Virgin had audiences doubled-over with that drunken PT Cruiser-driving barfly. 

Chapnick and Co. must've popped more than a few bowls of popcorn, as in order to compile the list, it was deemed necessary to screen the 25 top-grossing U.S. films of last year to see which "most effectively integrated the vehicles into the storyline."

[Sources: Forbes and Warner Bros.]