The 10 Most Iconic Porsches In Movie History

Article and Photos by: Justin Owen

14 April 2022

Porsche has made some of the most iconic and sought-after cars in the world. Hollywood has created some of the most iconic movies in the world. Occasionally these two things meet. Sometimes a car plays as much of a role as any actor and other times the car plays a supporting role, adding to the action, elegance, or action throughout the plot. While no Porsche has ever been featured as the leading automobile, many of them have played parts in memorable scenes of fast-paced cat and mouse games of speed. The first Porsche vehicle was produced in the early fifties and their unique style and flair for performance meant they would be on set in Hollywood in due time. Since then, actors of the highest calibre from Al Pacino to Jeff Bridges have been filmed in the most iconic Porsches in movie history. Here are ten of them.

Risky Business (1983) Porsche 928

movies. The most iconic scene happens early on with Joel exploring his newfound freedom by cranking up Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" and dancing and lipsynching in an oxford shirt and socks. The other iconic scenes revolve around dad's Porsche 928. While many movie cars get lost or salvaged and forgotten not long after filming wraps, this 928 was preserved. Autoweek reported as recently as September 2021 that the car had been auctioned and fetched a healthy $1.9 million. The car was sold new with white paint and was painted gold for the film and features signatures of the cast on the passenger's sunshade. While 928s have seen their prices rise lately, trying to get a million dollars out of any other late '70s 928 really would be some risky business.

LeMans

No other actor ties together auto racing and Hollywood blockbusters like Steve McQueen. Not only did he play many roles in which he raced cars or drove them in high pursuit and high speeds, but he also owned many race cars and motorcycles and, later in life, dedicated much of his time roaming the country racing Triumph motorcycles. LeMans is one of the oldest and most grueling of all auto races. According to High Consumption, LeMans started in 1923 as the ultimate endurance test for automobiles and runs cars on a 10.7 miles course for 24 hours straight. From its inception, it offered manufacturers and race teams the opportunity to show off their engineering prowess and it became wildly popular. McQueen starred in the film LeMans driving the Porsche factory LeMans car, the 917.

Risky business features 17-year-old Joel, played by Tom Cruise, left to his own devices among his upper echelon Chicago home as his parents leave town for the week. Wealthy parents leaving town is a pretty common plot device for '80s

Arthur (1981) Porsche 924

Dudley Moore had a long acting career, but his finest performance may have been that of the drunken Arthur Bach in 1981's smash hit Arthur. The titular character Arthur Bach is an heir to a family fortune in New York who spends the greatest portion of his time drunk. As a wealthy young man with no responsibilities and even less ambition, Arthur fills his days with meaningless pursuits and alcohol. It is a fantastic movie and the skill with which Moore portrays a drunken and spoiled aristocrat is stunning. As a wealthy playboy of New York City, Arthur has all of the fanciest and most expensive toys of the time, and this includes a race car. Anyone who has ever been involved in racing will know it is one of the most expensive hobbies one could engage in. Arthur is seen taking laps on a closed course in an apparently race-ready Porsche 924. In its day the 924 would have been an excellent choice for road racing courses. Their four-cylinder engine can be tuned yet remain light and with the rear-mounted transaxle with a very even weight distribution — the perfect toy for an unencumbered young heir

Scarface (1983) Porsche 928

It makes no difference whether it is 1967, 1981, or the present day, escaping communist Cuba to immigrate to the United States is a harrowing journey. Fortunately for those who do, United States policy offers all Cuban immigrants asylum as long as they make it onto American soil. This has been documented through many Hollywood films, but none as celebrated as 1983's Scarface, starring Al Pacino. Montana does answer to another more powerful man during his rise. It is in service to his superior that Montana is tasked with accompanying this other man's wife, Elvira, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, and takes a detour through a Porsche dealership. Throughout the scene, a playful Montana simultaneously toys with the salesman and flirts with Elvira until she gets bored with the charade. He instructs his assistant, Manny, to pay for the car and bring it to him later. Scarface is by no means what could be considered a "car movie" but every self-respecting drug lord needs expensive toys to spend their ill-gotten gains on, and a brand-new Porsche is the perfect example.

Condorman (1981) 911 fleet

There is nothing like a good cold war spyversus-spy thriller. With a tip of the hat to the James Bond film series, Condorman follows comic writer Woody Wilkins as he stumbles his way into the world of Soviet-era espionage. At the request of Wilson, the CIA creates several vehicles and contraptions modelled after those he wrote in his Condorman comic so that he may assume the real-life role of his comic hero.

The movie is a silly but fun parody of the spy genre and features many impressive machines, including the jet-powered Condormobile. Wilson as Condorman manages to elude a team of murderous KGB agents in black Porsches even though it is doubtful a team of Soviet spies would have access to a fleet of West German sports cars.

The lead assassin, Morovich, leads the pack in a Flachbau, or flat nose, 935 while the rest of his comrades make do with standard 911s. Supercars.net lists this car with a 2.9-liter turbo engine cranking out nearly 600 horsepower. It would be a great car for a chase as it was developed to win races. The other cars in the pack appear to be contemporary 911s, which means they would have more trouble keeping up if they weren't getting roasted by Condorman's rear-mounted flame thrower and laser cannons. Regardless of how powerful any one of these Porsches is, they cannot compare to the jet power of the Condormobile.

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)

In a movie all about cars, it should be no surprise that a Porsche would show up. The real stars of Gone in 60 Seconds could be considered to be the cars as it features some of the most desirable vehicles ever built, particularly a 1971 Ford Mustang known as Eleanor. But hiding in the shadows of the classic Mustangs, Ferraris, Astons, and Mercedes are a few Porsches, including a late 90s 911 996 displayed in the window of what appears to be a downtown dealership. Kip Raines, played by Giovanni Ribisi, sees the car on a rotating platform and proceeds to do his thing, driving the car through the front window less than 60 seconds later.

No Man’s Land (1987)

No Man’s Land follows the exploits of Ted Varrick, played by Charlie Sheen, who runs an operation that specializes in stealing Porsches and his nemesis is police Lt. Vincent Bracey, played by Randy Quaid, who sends a young officer to infiltrate Varnick’s operation. There are plenty of nice-looking Porsches in this movie and, in particular, they drive a silver 911 during a failed attempt to boost another Porsche. After evading gunfire in a parking garage, they lead a high-speed chase through the city, running from a Camaro and a Lincoln land yacht, with a predictable outcome. Car Magazine lists the horsepower rating of this car at 300 horsepower and, with its weight of just below 3000 pounds, the Porsche is among the fastest cars of the time period.

Good Guys Wea

Good Guys Wear Black (1978)

John T. Booker, played by Chuck Norris, is a Vietnam vet deemed too dangerous for the streets by the CIA. Booker finds himself over and over fending off a cabal of martial arts-trained assassins and armed killers seemingly at every corner. When he is not putting down an assailant with a roundhouse or left jab, he is running laps around a Riverside, CA race track in a purpose-built Porsche race car. With the film happening in 1978, the car in question is certainly an air-cooled flat-6 that is either built up with strong internals or boosted with a turbo to get it screaming around the track. How Booker can afford such a toy remains a mystery as his day job appears to be kicking ass and taking names, and Indeed.com does not list a salary range for such a profession.

When he isn’t laying rubber on the track, Booker is running from cold-blooded killers in a black Porsche 911 with a perfectly huge whale tail spoiler.

Top Gun (1986) Porsche 356 Spyder

There is no denying the box office powerhouse that was Top Gun in 1986. Fuelled by heightened levels of Cold War patriotism and state-of-the-art fighter jets, this movie showed audiences the skill and supremacy of the United States military in theoretical and hypothetical cinematic glory.

Maverick and Charlie are at loggerheads throughout the film, which leads to a memorable scene featuring Charlie’s beautiful automobile. Maverick takes off on his Kawasaki Ninja after a tense dispute between the two so Charlie pursues him in a shiny black Porsche 356 Spyder.

Against All Odds (1984)

There is not much that can make 1980s Jeff Bridges any cooler, but a shiny bright red Porsche helps. The movie “Against All Odds” has everything you could want in a 1980s drama. There’s romance, betrayal, murder, shirtless Jeff Bridges, and a street race between a Ferrari and a Porsche.It is not so much a race where there is a clearly defined start and finish, nor is there a clear winner, but the super high-speed dangerous driving in traffic makes for a riveting scene.