5 Best Sci-Fi Vehicles Of All Time, Ranked

Science fiction sure is a hell of a ride sometimes, isn't it? Over the years, we've seen countless mind-melting stories and, more importantly, used some eye-popping means of transportation to get us there. From starships to phone boxes, these vehicles have helped save worlds, universes, or even taken the scientifically safe journey of time travel, while heroes looked ridiculously good as they maneuvered through these dangers. This is what brings us to this list of carefully curated vehicles and vessels that stood out from the crowd (and we really wish we owned ourselves).

Whether highly advanced automobiles or rust buckets that could travel across star systems, some of the best sci-fi vehicles of all-time have earned such a title because of the character they bring to the tale they're a part of. They're not just nifty movers to get around iconic science fiction movies or television shows, but ones that have a life of their own, and in some cases even a voice to go with it.

Yes, we know there might be a few missing from this compilation, and they're instead held up in the sci-fi garage that's housing the bike from "Akira" or even the phone booth from the "Bill and Ted" movies. Ultimately, though, if we had to pick our favorite picks over the years, this collection is one we'd love to do a lap in if given the chance.

A quick little mover from a cult-classic family film, the Trimaxion Drone Ship, aka Max in "Flight of the Navigator," is a gorgeous bit of space-age transportation with a great sense of humor. Snatching young David Freeman (Joey Cramer) from his home and returning him eight years later, our titular navigator is sent on a wild adventure that throws him across time and space. Wild escapades like this are standard fare in science fiction, but few look as good as the super-smooth, seashell-looking ride that takes us there.

Made on the planet Phaelon, Max looks impenetrable from the outside but can change shape when necessary. Should Max need to switch gears, the ship can enter the First Class Maneuver, transforming into a sleeker, sharper form that allows it to travel faster than light. Like many rides on this list, though, it's what's inside that counts. In this case, the ship's liquid-metal staircase leads you into a strobe-lit cockpit where everything is metallic, and your co-pilot moves around like a highly advanced Ring doorbell. Plans have been in place for some time to remake the original "Flight of the Navigator" with Bryce Dallas Howard in the director's chair (per Collider). While there's been no update since 2021, if a remake does happen, they clearly don't need to adjust Max or his ride. Sometimes a classic just needs to stay that way.

Set in the futuristic world of (ahem) 2019, Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and its tech-noir landscape thrive on its dark, dingy hustle and bustle. Besides skyscraper-sized Coca-Cola ads lighting the way, there were also the super cool Spinners that tear across the skyline and became a template for so many other futuristic worlds and their transportation in the years to come.

Devised by Syd Mead, who helped create Scott's worn-down world of tomorrow, Spinners look as worn down as the city they're flying through, yet have just enough advanced aesthetic to set them apart as an iconic set of wheels. Somewhere between a car and a biplane, their distinctive look comes from the front, or lack thereof. With only its two wheels protruding and nothing between them, a Spinner looks like otherworldly kitchen tongs, spouting smoke whenever it takes off. That would undoubtedly contribute to the smog-filled landscape that makes up the world of Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) and the androids he's after.

While the Spinner might certainly be one of the roughest second-hand-looking entries on this list, there's no denying the impact it had on science fiction from here on out. Every cyberpunk future, every neon-lit street thriving in a tech-based world, had cars that weren't far off the Spinner model. It might be a while before flying cars go mainstream, but here's hoping they look like this whenever they do.

The handy convenience of the Lightcycle from the "Tron" franchise is matched only by its high risk of turning its rider into a pile of pixels scattered across the Grid. First debuting in the 1982 film, the original Lightcycle didn't look too great, but the concept was certainly sound. It could be generated from a baton in an instant, and the rider could then speed and swerve through the Grid, creating a wall that other programs could crash into if they weren't careful. It was sleek, speedy, and spectacularly dangerous — and it only got better with age.

By "Tron: Legacy," these high-speed bulb-mobiles were far more polished. Pristine and slick on the upgraded Grid, they were a futuristic sight that reminded fans of what they'd originally fallen in love with 28 years earlier. In fact, as the franchise continued, it became clear that the aesthetically awesome Lightcycles were the highlights of a franchise struggling to deliver with every installment. By the time "Tron: Ares" rolled around, these high-speed motorbikes had become the biggest draw and were as essential to the franchise as Batman's Batmobile or James Bond behind the wheel of an Aston Martin. Unfortunately, the "Tron" world hasn't had quite as much popularity, but that hasn't stopped the Lightcycle from being a staple of high-speed science fiction, so much so that the experience can be replicated from your very own sofa.

The Millennium Falcon might be one of the most well-known spacecraft ever to soar onto our screens. Debuting in 1977 in "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope," the ship that made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs is a distinctive way to get around. Like a crab claw made of nuts and bolts, carefully managed by a smuggler and his Wookie friend, it's still probably the coolest vessel any fan would love to have if they had to get from A to B across the galaxy.

It might still not be the best thing to fly logistically (surely the pilot has a permanent blind spot given where the cockpit is?), but gosh darn it, the Falcon is just too awesome to care about such an issue. Nothing about the Falcon is conventional. In fact, according to a 2006 interview with George Lucas, the creator of this world-changing universe, he wanted the Falcon to look like "completely different from everything else." 

Helping take down not one, but two Death Stars throughout "Star Wars" history and evading the Empire on several occasions, this "piece of junk" is at the forefront of the greatest franchises in movie history. Sure, we can ride it in "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge," but taking off for real would be the dream.

As the esteemed scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) rightly pointed out, if you're going to build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? That's exactly what we got when we got our first look at what is quite simply the coolest-looking ride of all time, thanks to a car that can travel across all of it. Even before Doc had tinkered with the car, the DeLorean was a work of bonkers art, and yet, "Back to the Future" turned it into the stuff of dreams. From there, all that was left was gunning it to 88mph, and history took care of the rest.

Perhaps the reason the DeLorean is leagues ahead of the rest is that it feels bolted together from bits of other entrants on this list. It looks like it belongs in Rick Deckard's world, but also like a Millennium Falcon on wheels, thanks to the huge vents that belch smoke from the rear and the wiring that wraps around its front fender and across the roof. The inside is just as cool-looking, with basic but brilliant time circuits, a clicky entry pad, and that surging flux capacitor that helped make the sucker nuclear. Putting all these elements together made you believe it could go careening through time, and that's before Doc told us he didn't need roads anymore. Truly timeless.