This is probably the best series I’ve ever seen, and since I haven’t found any article about cars that are driven by the main protagonists, i feel obliged to write this story that covers some really powerful vehicles that are perfect match with the characters who drove it . Like in case of The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, The Wire producers really put their mind into giving each main protagonist the vehicle that goes perfectly well with its character. Since streets of East and West Side Baltimore are places where you can spot numerous luxury vehicles with shinny rims, we’ll need to separate this text into few parts to put all the cars driven by the police, dealers, politicians and the ones Donut stole from who knows who. Presenting you Cars from The Wire Series:
Before we start with listing the cars driven by: Avon, Stringer, McNulty and the rest of the crew, maybe you would like to check out this series’s Wire: & All the Pieces Matter – Five Years
Avon Barksdale’s Ford Excursion
This is a clear example on how good producer’s were when it comes to picking up cars and sticking them to series characters. This is one of the heaviest SUVs in Ford range up to this date, and it was incredibly popular among the gangsta crowd at the time of its production, same as its main competitors in the full size SUV segment, like Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Suburban. First one is being mentioned in numerous hip hop songs, and the second one was driven by Tony Soprano in another popular gangster series . Avon is a real player and he doesn’t hide it, unlike his best friend and business partner Stringer Bell. He’s been on the streets for a long time and although he needs to dress and act like he doesn’t care much about anything, he still has a third sense to feel the police presence and avoid being followed, which he demonstrates in the famous scene when Cedric Daniels, and several other policemen tried to tail Avon, but just after a few blocks he realized that, which lead to an epic scene when he’s passing next to Lt Daniels while showing him the “No” gesture.
Omar Little’s Dodge Ram Van
Although being a true gangsta same as Avon, Omar never give to much attention to his ride. He and his gang drove totally inconspicuous white Dodge Ram Van whose only purpose was to drive his stick up crew to and from the dealers place. His cover van didn’t last long, and this hasn’t got much to do with its engine or corrosion, but with the fact that when living Omar’s lifestyle you need to know that ones or twice a year somebody will burn your truck, wreck your apartment or kill your friend or life partner. That’s probably why Omar doesn’t drive Cadillac Escalade, or some expensive lowrider Impala from the sixties.
McNulty’s Chevrolet Cavalier
Another character who shouldn’t have a nice ride is Detective McNulty, although it’s not because of his dangerous job, but because of him living a bachelor life, driving around high on whiskey and chasing easy women around bars of Baltimore after his shift ends. During the series he crushed his car numerous times, since after being a police hound dog during the day, he regularly turns into alcohol soaked party animal during the night, together with his friend Bunk of course. I guess that if he didn’t got fired from the force, he would end up like detectives Polk or Mahone, hiding whiskey hip flasks in its desk, after his “Real police-work” phase would came to an end in 10 years or so.
Stinkum’s Mitsubishi Montero Sport
This is just another vehicle from the Barksdale’s fleet and it is used in several memorable scenes, including when cops are arresting D’Angelo in “the pit” and in one of the rare successful police chases when police arrest the boy who was delivering the re-up to the Franklin terrace crew. This vehicle is mostly driven by Stinkum and as well as the other vehicles from Barksdale’s fleet it is a true gangsta looking SUV, one you would imagine to see in rap videos. It comes with really good off-road equipment, but I guess Stinkum didn’t go camping much with it. In the police chase scenes this vehicle shows all of its good maneuverability, and Stinkum successfully runs away from 5-0. When it comes to its driver, accept being a really skillful when it comes to running away from police chases, he was one of the real players in first season of the show, which didn’t really went well for its crew, since one big part of the case against Barksdale’s organization was built upon Stinkum’s wrong doings. Other than that he was also part of the crew who tortured and killed Omar’s boyfriend Brandon which later cost him his life.
Stringer Bell’s Toyota Camry
Stringer Bell used this vehicle only in one episode, but by the looks of it and knowing that he’s desperately trying to stay out of the police radar, this vehicle was probably the one he used for his every day life. He also lives in a quiet neighborhood, regular suburban house and he attends business school, like no other drug dealer in this series. This enables Stringer to stay away from the radar for a long time, although McNulty and some other detectives really had an eye on him. Camry is just part of his public image, he is also as ruthless as his friend and business partner Avon. He shows that especially in the second season when he organizes D’Angelo’s murder. On the other hand the world which Stringer tried to become part of simply doesn’t see him as equal. Big boys club, with politicians, investors, and other sharks uses him just to get his drug money, and that’s why he’s just a poor bastard in the Camry who dreams to become the big businessman who drives aRoller, but he falls somewhere in between this ideal image of himself and the regular player from the hood with some bumpy SUV. Not smart enough for the Rolls Royce, and not though enough for Chevy Suburban, that’s always been his story, and that’s how he ended up later.
