In 1993 Steven Spielberg created a movie that made the world stop terrified and remember why they were so scared of dinosaurs as a child; today we are talking about the cinematic masterpiece and absolute belter of a film, Jurassic Park.

For a film that was such a trailblazer for early CGI animation it seems odd that we would feature it in a car blog, however the franchise has actually been host to some cool cars during its 23 year lifespan. The cars featured throughout Jurassic Park have inspired fans to replicate with their own off roaders, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the ones used throughout the franchise.

In 1993’s Jurassic Park curator John Hammond stated that he had ‘spared no expense’ when it came to the park, so is that why he used Ford Explorers as electric tour cars over the much more elegant Range Rover Classic, then? Regardless, the film made the Ford explorer a cult icon in its classic green, yellow and brown livery before it met it’s untimely demise beneath a T-Rex in that infamous scene. We can’t help think that if they had used a Range Rover Classic the T-Rex might have gotten to those kids a little easier due to build quality issues, maybe the Ford was a good choice after all! The Ford explorer proved such a hit with the American public after the first Jurassic Park that sales increased by 100,000 units between 1992-1995 making it one of Ford’s best selling cars for the period!

In the First Jurassic Park film there were two categories of vehicle – electric tour cars and Gas powered Staff Vehicles. The electric tour cars were played by Ford Explorers whereas the Staff were treated to the more exciting Jeep Wrangler Sahara edition with an open roof and 2.5 litre engine, our kind of car! In the film the staff Jeeps faire a little better than the Explorers and two even make it to the latest Jurassic Park offering, however in classic Jeep Fashion they do need repairing before they will move! If a movie car were ever to inspire its fans, few do it better than the Jurassic Park Jeeps as their simple design evokes a wealth of memories and still looks cool to this day and, as movie references go, having a Jurassic Park Jeep is a pretty cool car to have!

The Jeep Wrangler also made an appearance as a hunter vehicle in 1997’s Jurassic Park: The Lost World in which it was kitted out with guns, camo netting and a host of people who wanted to hunt dinosaurs. While many regard this as one of the weaker Jurassic Park films it does include a host of interesting cars and shows the beginning of a partnership with Mercedes. In the Lost World the explorers use two Mercedes ML 320’s as off roading cars capable of bridging any gap and crossing any terrain, ironic as in real life as the car’s were largely incapable of that; but at least they looked the part in the film!

Where viewers might have had to use some imagination to get the ML’s actually off roading they certainly didn’t when the Mercedes Unimog enters the screen. The unimog is Mercedes’ off roading, go anywhere demon of a car which is renowned for being one of the toughest and most practical vehicles on the planet, it is fitting then that one of these would be used to hunt dinosaurs. The unimog is so tough, in fact, that many people have picked them as the perfect apocalypse vehicle like this one, and they are definitely the right tool for surviving any Jurassic Park Film.

After a substantial Break between Jurassic Park 3 and 2015’s Jurassic World we are again treated to some product placement courtesy of Mercedes. We can ignore the GLE coupe that makes several appearances to appeal to any parents watching and head straight to the metal we actually want to see. While the vanilla GLE gets some substantial screen time so too does the MVU-12, the successor to the indestructible Unimog, which casually shrugs off a velociraptor attack like it’s a fly hitting the windscreen, as well as showing off the generous modification options on offer. You’re welcome, Mercedes!

The eagle eyed viewers will notice that Jurassic World also features a Mercedes gem and the car that dominated Social Media in 2015, the Mercedes AMG 6×6. In the film it is used as a troop transport vehicle and shows just how capable it is off road and through the forests. Unfortunately the crew transported by the car don’t fare as well at the claws of the Indominus Rex, but their last ride was in a 6×6 which is quite cool in itself.

There are few franchises on earth that capture the hearts and minds of generations and still manage to thrill in the same way that Jurassic Park does. It is only a bonus that it features a host of exciting and iconic cars throughout the films. It is no wonder, then, that people deck their Jeeps out in Jurassic Park livery as homage to the great films!