Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – The Car’s the Star

Cars in movies are often more than just props. They can help set a scene, they can be used as characters in their own right, or they can be used for exciting action. In the case of 1998’s brilliant Guy Ritchie breakthrough flick, Lock, Stock and Two Smocking Barrels, the cars managed to lend themselves to all three avenues. Firstly, the cars lean into the gritty aesthetic. Watch the film again and you’ll notice that there are are no contemporary cars to be seen. Everything is old, and a bit weather beaten. Despite this film scratching at the nefarious, criminal underbelly of London, there are no flash BMWs or Rollers. Instead, there are battered old Mazda vans, Minis, old Fords and more. The cars help set the scene. They help pull viewer into this immersive world. By using older cars, it all seems more… real.

Then of course we have the cars that are characters. This film wouldn’t have worked if Big Chris was driving around, enforcing the work word of Hatchet Harry, in a Nissan Primera. No, it had to be something big and burly, something intimidating, but something that was cool with it. That’ll be a Rover P6 3500, then. As for the four ragtag protagonists, we learn later that Tom has a Rover P5B. However, for the duration of the film, we see them rolling around the backstreets of London in a Granada 2.8i Ghia, a car with a bit of menace and brutal design, and one that blends in with the film’s sepia-toned grit. If it was a Vauxhall Cavalier, it would have been wholly less believable.

And finally, we have examples of the cars being used in the name of action, and as we have all the sexy screenshots care of the dedicated userbase of the Internet Movie Car Database, we can explore it all in a bit more detail…

The RS2000

Today, the droop-snoot Ford Escort RS2000 is a sought after classic, a fast Ford legend and a car that even in poor condition, can sell for five figures. For many, the RS2000 is the ultimate in ‘blue oval’ expression, and rightly so. It was fast, it was handsome, it was well equipped for the time and it was a rally superstar. In 1998 though, it was just an old car. And an easy to steal old car at that. It was the perfect ride for Kenny and Gary then. The two hapless burglars that get caught up in the film’s wider scheme. The car used still survives, though its exact whereabouts are unknown.

The Mk2 Ford Transit

You can’t have a crime caper without a Ford Transit. Ironically, to not use one is illegal. The rare side-sling door, low roof, short wheelbase van used in the film, with the useful and again, rare, upwards opening rear door was the perfect choice for the baddies. After all, the Transit was favoured by criminals, thanks to its agile, car-like handling. Prior to the Transit, vans were wallowy, ponderous old things that could barely break walking pace. The Transit changed all that though, and became a legend because of it. As for the B-reg van in the film, it sadly met its demise in 1999 according to the DVLA.

The Rover P6

The most defining car of Lock, Stock has to be the Rover P6 driven by Big Chris. We don’t know what it is, but there is something so very right about a burbling V8 on the grimy backstreets of London. It just… works. Big Chris is a debt collector and enforcer for the film’s main antagonist, and you really can’t imagine him driving anything else other than perhaps a big Jag or Daimler (he did drive the latter in Snatch). The P6 does meet an unfortunate end when it gets slammed into the back of a Ford Granada. Chris then uses the door to reduce a gangster’s head to its component parts. A graphic, powerful scene to which the P6 plays backdrop. But don’t fret, a stunt car was used for the smash. The real car still lives on.

The Ford Granada 

The Mk2 Ford Granada, especially in estate form, was a formidable machine. Full of electric gizmos, comfy velour, power steering and with a big V6 up front, it was quite rightly a flagship car for Ford. It was also a tough old beast, too, which is why so many were sent around the banger track. Sadly, the car in the film didn’t do much better. The glorious gold Granada was the car that Big Chris slammed his P6 into. And while the Granada did a good job of absorbing the impact, there is no escaping the fact the damage was terminal. There is speculation that two cars were used, but we don’t see why that would have been. In 1998 the Mk2 Granada was nothing special, and it was cheap. A shame, but it made for a brilliant scene.