Six iconic cars from the Twilight Saga

Ah Twilight. What can we say about Twilight? Truly a series of a generation. You’re either Team Edward or Team Jacob. You either wanted to be Bella Swan or thought she was totally not it (seriously girl, vampire men aren’t that good… I’m looking at you depressed-broken-up-with-Bella in Twilight: New Moon).

If you’re anything like me and currently in lockdown, you may have also reached the point of emotional despair where you thought watching the Twilight Saga was a good idea. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, I’m just saying a lot has changed since you were a 17-year-old swooning over Robert Pattison. The acting, however, remains the same.

For those who aren't across it, The Twilight Saga is a series of five vampire-themed romance fantasy films based on the novels by author Stephenie Meyer. The franchise put actors Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner on the map and kicked off the surge of vampire inspired TV series and films throughout the late 2000s.

But what I didn’t notice when I was first rushing to the movie theatres between 2008 and 2012 for these cinematic masterpieces was how many amazing cars the series featured – in both the books and the films. More specifically the Cullen’s, no doubt a symbol of their eternal life. I mean it strikes me as a little odd that these vampires, some which are 100s of years old and are pretending to be high school students that are turning up to the school car park in BMWs and Ferraris. Is no one asking how they can afford these cars? I don’t see Edward or Jasper waiting tables at the diner after school for pocket money.

The connection between the Twight Saga and cars is no accident. It turns out that the choices of cars were quite intentional by author Stephanie Meyer who puts it down to having brothers that are obsessed with cars.

Meyer says on her personal website, "This comes in very convenient when I need to know what kind of car one of my characters is driving. I simply call Jacob or Paul and ask, “What’s the fastest and most powerful four-door sedan out there?” and then whichever one I’m speaking to will immediately rattle off a long, specific description of the car I want, including the price, the horsepower, the time it takes to get from zero to sixty, and any new body styling that might be on the way. They will also probably email me a picture within minutes. (And the insane part is that if I ask the other brother the same question, he’ll give me the exact same answer, though possibly a different picture.)

"I know it would kill them if someone thought my vampires were driving lesser cars."

So, without overthinking this any more than we already have, here are six of the more impressive and iconic cars of the Twilight Saga.

When I first saw this car in Twilight: New Moon, it became my favourite car ever. I loved how it looked (even if it was bright yellow) and I loved how fast it went… even if there was an anxious Bella in the passenger seat.

Anyway, the 911 Turbo was the choice of car for Alice Cullen. That’s right, a vampire trying to pull off being a teenager was rolling around in a Porsche 911. In Australia, these cars start from $300,000… so make of that what you will. However, when you can see into the future and need to save your vampire brother from revealing himself to humans, you need a good getaway car! 

This whole situation has me in stitches. The F430 was given to Bella after she joins the Cullen clan and is turned into a vampire in Breaking Dawn. She gives up human life, they gave her a Ferrari. Fair deal.

This car was also present from hubby Edward, to replace her Mercedes Guardian (a fictional car based on the real Mercedes S600 Guard), which she had on loan until after their wedding.

Considering she was already a mother to Renesmee (never forget that CGI monster) this isn’t necessarily a family-friendly ride, with a top speed of over 300km/h and getting to almost 100km/h in just 3.5 seconds. It’s also another car worth over $200K so a very generous “welcome to the family” gift!

The next two cars belong to Mr Edward Cullen and once again I am in stitches because vampire… they’re not relatable just like us.

The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is Edwards’s ‘special occasion car’ (like okay fancy pants) and while it doesn’t make a major appearance, the mere thought of a high school student driving James Bond’s car sends me into fits of laughter. Very nice car though. You’d consider turning into a vampire for the car alone.

This is Edward’s ‘everyday car’, and it even makes a few appearances in the first film. Who could forget his somewhat dangerous driving in order to save Bella from a group of guys while walking home… before they had actually spoken? Then there is the scene where he and Bella turn up at school, making their debut as a couple. Iconic.

In the novels, Edward Cullen drives a Volvo S60R however, when it came time to make the films, Volvo was no longer making the S60R so a Volvo C30 was used in the first film and a Volvo XC60 in the next two.

Honestly, a Volvo isn’t really the most offensive car to rock up to school in and definitely screams “I’m trying to fit in!” Sure, it’s more understated than the Aston Martin, but it’s stylish enough. It’s also probably the more affordable cars in the Cullen collection...

This car belonged to Rosalie Cullen, and you can spot this car in the movies as Rosalie takes Alice, Jasper and Emmett for a ride… to school. Or to play baseball in a field during a thunderstorm.

Once again, how is no one asking how Rosalie, as good a character as she is, is affording this car? And what a car it is with a powerful 4-litre V8 engine and being able to hit 100km/h in 5 seconds. Practical for the school run.

I don’t think any Twilight car list is complete without mentioning Bella’s truck. Sure, later in the series she gets her fancy Ferrari, but before the Ferrari, there was the red Chevrolet pick-up truck, gifted to her by her dad upon her move to dreary Forks, Washington. In the books author Stephanie Meyer says it’s a 1953 Chevrolet, but the vehicle used in the movies is an early '60s model.

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