So, we’ve lost Tony Soprano twice.

It was a tragedy the first time, when HBO’s The Sopranos—which in this writer’s opinion, changed television forever—ended in ambiguous fashion in 2007.

And this newest loss is worse, with the news that actor James Gandolfini is dead at the age of 51 after an apparent heart attack while vacationing in Italy.

Tony Soprano is, with apologies to Walter White, the best television character of all time.

It’s devastating news. Truly tragic, as most mob stories—fiction or otherwise—typically end.

With respect to Tony Soprano, and in honor of Gandolfini’s magnificence portraying him, we celebrate the life of both men with a list of our favorite Mafia movie cars of all time. In no particular order:

The Best Mafia Movie Cars Ever

1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille — Goodfellas

Johnny Roastbeef should have definitely heeded Jimmy’s warning about not attracting attention following the airport cargo heist. Because Jimmy doesn’t mess around.

1942 Packard Super Eight Bugsy

We like Packards. You just don’t see very many of them these days. This car starred in the Warren Beatty film Bugsy based on the life of notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel who literally started Las Vegas. How does one evaluate a man’s life who started something so magnificent, but did a lot of morally questionable things along the way? Viva Las Vegas? Yeah? Yeah!

1972 Imperial LeBaron Mean Streets

Mean Streets is one of the great Martin Scorcese’s first films from 1973. In addition to a solid cast including Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, the movie also includes some cool cars. This Imperial LeBaron is our favorite of the bunch.

1929 Buick Road to Perdition

While we didn’t love this film as much as we wanted to, there’s no denying the genius of Tom Hanks, and there’s no denying that the entire movie just looked awesome, visually. Some great scenes with this 1929 Buick certainly contributed.

1968 Cadillac DeVille convertible A Bronx Tale

Cadillac must have made a fortune off the Italian-American Mafia, if cinema is an accurate representation of how these gangsters rolled. We can’t say that we disapprove of their taste in automobiles.

1940 Lincoln The Godfather

Look away, children. Look away. Because no one but the Barzini family was happy to see Sonny Corleone get whacked. Plus, you’re not old enough to watch The Godfather, and we don’t want you seeing any spoilers. This is one of the more iconic scenes in the most-iconic mob film of all time. If you didn’t know, there were three of them…

1958 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan The Godfather: Part II

Unlike the Sonny Corleone assassination, the scene where Michael Corleone is driving to Hyman Roth’s house in the second Godfather film is infinitely less important. But the car might be proportionally more awesome. We’re pretty sure we could get girlfriends driving one of those.

1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo — Casino

Little known fact: Joe Pesci’s character Nicky Santoro, after driving this Monte Carlo out into the desert to meet with Ace, played by De Niro, says the F-word 21 times in two minutes. If you count ‘mother-effer,’ he says it 23 times. There’s a YouTube clip of it if you need proof. We’d link to it, but our grandmother would not approve.

1931 Buick Series 50 The Untouchables

A lot of these early 1930s-era cars looked the same. And that’s in no way a bad thing. How gangster is this car? It’s from a car chase scene. With gunshots and stuff. People were shooting at this car. Savages.

1971 Chevrolet Nova Carlito’s Way

We’re thinking this might be the first car on the list that could, legit, outrun some police. And monetary value aside, this is certainly one of our favorites.

This one’s for you, Mr. Gandolfini. Thank you for sharing your talents. Thank you for giving us Tony Soprano.

We won’t fuggedaboutit.

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Author: Matt Griswold

After a 10-year newspaper journalism career, Matt Griswold spent another decade writing about the automotive aftermarket and motorsports. He was part of the original OnAllCylinders editorial team when it launched in 2012.