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Bullitt Charger Or Bluesmobile Monaco?

We took a break from Star Car Shootout last week during all the Geneva coverage, but we're back today with another great matchup. The last shootout had two of Steve McQueen's silver screen rides go at it, and after two weeks of voting, the Mustang from Bullitt has beaten the Porsche 911 from Le Mans in another closely contested battle-o'-cool.

Just to keep everyone excited for this Saturday's Bullitt screening Detroit meetup, we're pitting the '68 Dodge Charger from Bullitt against the '74 Dodge Monaco Bluesmobile from the original Blues Brothers movie. Both are big black Dodges with thumping V8s. Both starred in spectacular chase scenes and performed big-air jumps. But your votes will decide which one has that certain undefinable something: Which one is cooler?


The chase scene in Bullitt was unquestionably groundbreaking from a film-making standpoint. Which is great—but irrelevant for the purposes of this contest. What we're concerned about right now is what we think of that sinister Charger. Without the sheer evilness of the larger and darker Dodge, the Mustang driven by McQueen may have never really become all that big a deal. And while the Mustang has become a pop-culture icon through new Mustang "Bullitt" editions, the Charger has stayed true. Yes, there have been other black Chargers in prominent movie roles over the years, but they always seem to pay subtle homage to the original rather than trying to just cash in on the image. As for the action in the film? Well, the Mustang had to be modified just to keep up with the stock 440 cubic-inch Mopar mill. And who wouldn't want a car that can regenerate hubcaps? Watch closely and you should count a total of seven on the Dodge during the sequence. Sure, it has a vinyl roof and whitewall tires, but that just adds to the cool factor, like James Bond wearing a tuxedo. The most important thing to consider is that the Dodge went out in an explosive fireball, which is the proper way to go. Judge for yourself just how cool it is:

There have been a few Bluesmobiles over the history of the Blues Brothers franchise, but none really compare to the original '74 Dodge Monaco. I know exactly what's going through your head at this point, so let's all just recite Dan Aykroyd's famous lines together: "It's got a cop motor, a four hundred and forty cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, it was a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas..." Yes, the car and it's specs are well known. And rightfully so, since this was the cause of the most outrageous pileup ever filmed. But does that fame detract from the cool factor? Not really, because the Bluesmobile was never trying to be an action star. It was a comedian. In many ways, this car is the automotive equivalent of John Belushi; loud, absurd, a bit bruised up, and willing to do anything for a good laugh. Does that make it cool? Well jumping a drawbridge is always good for cool-points, but we'll let you be the judge:

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1:01 PM on Wed Mar 12 2008
By Mark Arnold
3,367 views
106 comments

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