As children, cartoons failed to manage our expectations in terms of what real-world motoring would be like, but weird and wonderful vehicles certainly enlivened our televisual viewing. Not the most scientific of our top-10s, we listed these cars in order of ‘coolness’.
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Merchandising has long been an important component of any feature-length animation's commercial viability. But Cars (2006) took merchandising to a whole new level, with Lightning McQueen in particular being reproduced on duvet covers, mouse mats and pencil cases around the world.
The flying car is still a distant dream, sadly, but we can always watch an episode of The Jetsons to see how automotive life might be in the future. Not only does this vehicle somehow fit inside George Jetson’s attaché case, it can hit speeds of at least 2,500mph.
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It doesn't talk, fly or go very fast, but you can’t argue with 45 years' service in the cartoon world. It was the favoured transportation unit of Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby. For the rest of us it is truly nostalgic – if only as a reminder of what bathroom decor looked like in the 1960s.
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At least the Turtles themselves were named after Renaissance artists to make them seem less banal; the Party Wagon enjoyed no such benefit. Still, it looked like a lot of fun.
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Epitomising the Batman series' unique blend of dramatic art deco styling and high-tech prowess, the Batmobile was impressive in all its guises. But perhaps the most iconic of all was the Batmobile from the 1990s cartoon series.
Not as technologically advanced as the Batmobile, The Mean Machine from Wacky Races was nevertheless a lot of fun to behold. In each episode it seemed to sprout new gadgets with which to thwart other road users.
OK, this one should probably feature on a 'top 10 cartoon armoured personnel carriers', but we put it on here regardless. Fabricated with scrap metal taken from a wrecked space ship, it's not the kind of vehicle you would tail-gate with any confidence.
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In contrast to Thundercats, Enid Blighton's Noddy hailed from a more genteel time in children’s entertainment. It's basically just a car – colour-coded to Noddy's outfit.
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Before they invented the wheel they came up with the rolling cylinder – or that’s what The Flintstone's would have us believe. Although only powered by Fred and Barney's hairy legs, it seemed to manage 0-60 in about six frames.
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The brief for the VW Beetle may have been created by Adolf Hitler, but in Transformers this yellow cartoon version was actually a force for good. Replaced by a fuel-injected GM speed-demon in Michael Bay's big-screen version, it remains one of the most human of all the Autobots – and one of the very coolest cartoon cars ever.
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