We look back at the vehicles from the Jurassic Park movie franchise.

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Photos: Universal Pictures

Jurassic World: Dominion roared to the top of the domestic box office over the weekend, overtaking Top Gun: Maverick generating more than USD$143 million in ticket sales during its debut. Internationally, the third instalment secured around USD$245.8 million since opening earlier this month, bringing its global tally to just under USD$390 million according to CNBC.

Some of the most iconic moments of the Jurassic Park movies involved vehicles. These vehicles played a supporting role in the dinosaur drama, from the original movies to the upcoming trilogy. 

The original Jurassic Park movies’ biggest stars were of course the prehistoric dinosaurs, but a nice side-show were the vehicles involved too. Between the original films and the re-invigorated Jurassic World trilogy, this franchise has a set of unique cars that caught our eye.

Triumph Scrambler

Jurassic World (2015)

Chris Pratt riding a scrambler alongside a pack of raptors sounds insane, but that’s what happens in Jurassic World. The bike that Pratt rides is the Triumph Scrambler. It’s basically the modern version of the classic scrambler-style offroad bikes of the 1960s. 

The movie Scrambler was upgraded with an Arrow 2-1 exhaust, Renthal handlebars, and a Lucas tail light. It looks like a great motorcycle. However, using it to race alongside a group of trained raptors is quite silly – it’s heavy, and a proper offroad motorcycle would have been more suited to the task, like a Dakar racer. 

Although we’ve yet to make out what bike Pratt rides whilst being chased by raptors in the trailer, we do know the American Actor does have a preference for Triumph Motorcycles. If he’s sticking to tarmac, maybe he should consider the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS given that these raptors won’t stop at anything.

Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG Coupé

Jurassic World (2015)

In Jurassic World, operations manager Claire Dearing treks around the park in a Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG Coupé. Throughout the movie, she puts the GLE through its off-road paces as she and Owen Grady attempt to track down the Indominus Rex in the jungles of Isla Nublar.

With 367hp and 520Nm of torque, we reckon the car’s top speed of 225km/h was more than enough to tail the genetically modified dino that claims to have a top speed of up to 48km/h. Editor Derryn reviewed the GLE 450 back in the day and found it very fast on the road, but given its limited visibility and iffy suspension setup, it’s again not the most logical choice for chasing dinos.

Rolls-Royce Phantom VII

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

In the sequel to Jurassic World, Dearing attempts to save the stranded dinosaurs left on the island after a volcanic eruption. She rolls up in a Rolls-Royce Phantom VII to the Lockwood estate hoping for someone to help her.

Although we can expect the final instalment of the Jurassic World sequel this June, we are only a year away from the release of the Rolls-Royce Spectre. The British luxury car manufacturer’s first electric car is slated to arrive in 2023 with leaked images suggesting a stately two-door coupe.

Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 4000

Jurassic World (2015)

If there’s one vehicle that makes repeat appearances throughout the series, it’s the Mercedes Unimog. The Jurassic Park franchise is filled with them, but we think one Unimog, in particular, deserves its call-out. In Jurassic World, Dearing and her nephews drove this big machine from a pack of velociraptors in one of the film’s most intense scenes.

The Unimog is one of the most recognisable work vehicles in the world, and it’s been produced by Mercedes-Benz since 1951. You might have seen a few on our roads too – the SAF has a few in its Signals division. 

Speaking of sizes, one particular, very popular Mercedes -Benz is back in Singapore, and bigger than ever. Wait till you see how dramatic the cockpit is.

1969 Pontiac Custom S

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Oddly enough, this Pontiac is the only sports car on the list, perhaps because jungle islands and dinosaur theme parks are noticeably lacking in tarmac.

The streets of San Diego will never forget this scene. After stealing a baby T-Rex, Dr Ian Malcolm and Dr Sarah Harding sped away in this car, hoping to escape an enraged mother looking for her baby. Who knew sports cars and dinosaurs would give the best car chase scenes?

Driving a sports car with a baby dinosaur in tow would definitely get you stares. Lose the dino, and we’re certain you would still be turning heads in the 2022 Tesla Model Y.

Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Jurassic Park (1993)

The Jeep Wrangler is the most iconic of all the Jurassic Park vehicles. The Wrangler makes a cameo when the visitors catch their first glimpse of the Brachiosaurus during the tour back in 1993. And keep your eyes open for an old, abandoned one that pops up in the sequel’s first instalment, Jurassic World.

Apart from looking out for the old abandoned Wrangler, here’s something every Singaporean driver would be keeping tabs on the latest COE update.

Ford Explorer

Jurassic Park (1993)

This unique liveried Ford Explorers set appeared in the original Jurassic Park when the park’s guests embarked on the tour. In the film, the Ford Explorers are self-driving, following along an electric track built throughout the park. Thanks to the storm, two Explorers got stranded outside the T-rex enclosure, giving us one of the most iconic scenes in the history of film entertainment.

The Ford Explorers aren’t the only car that’s capable of limited self-driving. The new Lexus NX 350h is well-stacked on safety too, with the car featuring the Lexus Safety System+ suite of driver assistance features.

Mercedes-Benz ML 320

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

We talked about a few Mercedes Benz models above, but The Lost World: Jurassic Park marked the first official product placement of the brand. At the time of filming, Mercedes gave the movie a few pre-production modes of their then-upcoming SUV — the Mercedes-Benz ML 320.

Dinosaurs aside, SUVs have indeed become the most popular car body style in Singapore, surpassing the regular sedans. However, with the recent increase in ARF car taxes, would this change concern new car buyers? We guess time will only tell.

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