The cars of Stranger Things: Billy's Camaro, Hopper's Blazer, the Surfer Boy van
Universe · Cult objects · The cars
In a show where the children ride bikes, the cars say everything about the adults: Billy's roaring Camaro, Hopper's dented Blazer, daddy's-boy Steve's BMW, Argyle's pizza van. Here are the models, the scenes, and what they tell about their drivers.
The essentials
- Billy: Chevrolet Camaro Z28 bleue, 1979
- Hopper: Chevrolet K5 Blazer, 80s
- Steve: BMW 733i marron
- Argyle: Volkswagen van “Surfer Boy Pizza”
Contents
Billy's Camaro
Billy Hargrove arrives in Hawkins in season 2 behind the wheel of a blue 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, engine screaming and music blasting, and nearly runs the group over in the middle school parking lot. The car is the character: aggressive, flashy, Californian. It comes back in season 3, when Billy, possessed, uses it to kidnap Heather and her parents, and to ram Nancy and Jonathan.
After his death, the Camaro stays in the Hargrove driveway; Max never drives it. It is the most reproduced car in the show, in miniatures as in convention costumes.
The Surfer Boy Pizza T-shirt, delivery not included.
In the shopMen's Chief Hopper Hawkins Police T-shirt39,90 €See the product
Hopper's Blazer
Chief Hopper drives a Chevrolet K5 Blazer, a Hawkins police 4x4, in the county's beige and brown colors. He sleeps in it, smokes in it, hides Eleven under a blanket in it, and tears through the woods in it. The car disappears with him in 1985, and his return in Season 4 is on foot, in Russia.
The Blazer is the counterpart of the Camaro: worn, utilitarian, without pretension. What Hopper does with it, rescue, protect, flee, is the summary of his character.
| Character | Car | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| Billy | 1979 Camaro Z28, blue | Arrival at middle school, Season 2 |
| Hopper | Chevrolet K5 Blazer | The run through the woods, Season 1 |
| Steve | BMW 733i | The exit in front of the Wheelers', Season 1; the rescue, Season 2 |
| Joyce | Ford Pinto | Wandering through Hawkins, Season 1 |
| Jonathan | Ford LTD | The teenagers' car, Seasons 1 to 3 |
| Argyle | Surfer Boy Volkswagen van | The crossing of the West, Season 4 |
| Nancy | The Wheelers' station wagon | The trip to the trailer park, Season 4 |
Steve's BMW
Steve drives a brown BMW 733i, the car of a high-schooler whose parents have money. It is in that car that he comes to pick Nancy up in season 1, and it is with it that he takes Dustin, Lucas and Max in season 2 for the hunt for the demodogs, to the dismay of his seats. The BMW is the accessory of his transformation: from high-school king to the party's driver.
In season 4, it has disappeared: Steve, a video-store clerk, drives a more modest car, and it is the Wheelers' station wagon that takes everyone to the trailer park.
Argyle's Surfer Boy van
The Surfer Boy pizzeria's delivery van, a Volkswagen painted with waves and suns, is the Season 4 car: Argyle, Jonathan, Will, and Mike cross the American West in it from California to Nevada, looking for Eleven. It serves as a refuge, a place to talk, and cover to approach the Nina project.
The van made miniature fans and replica builders happy: it is, with the Camaro, the most recognizable vehicle on the show.
Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy: the ordinary cars
Joyce drives a Ford Pinto in Season 1, a cheap car that tells you her situation: single mother, two jobs. Jonathan has a Ford LTD, the car of the generation before, which carries Nancy and him through every season. Nancy, in Season 4, borrows the family station wagon to investigate with Robin: it is in that car that they get chased by Jason's militia.
None of these cars is glorious, and that is the point: in Hawkins, only Billy and Steve have cars you notice.
The Billy figure, Camaro not included.
In the shopSurfer Boy Pizza Lego van50,90 €See the product
The cars in the show, in one table
| Character | Car | What she says about him |
|---|---|---|
| Billy Hargrove | A 1979 Chevrolet Camaro, blue, on arriving in Hawkins | The provocation: the engine, the rock, the speed, and Max in the passenger seat |
| Jim Hopper | A beige-and-white police Chevrolet Blazer | The police chief who lives in his car, from the morgue to the Hess farm |
| Steve Harrington | A brown 7 Series BMW, the rich kid's car | The pretty boy of 1983, who ends up packing six teenagers into it |
| Argyle | The Surfer Boy Pizza van | The Season 4 road trip, from California to Nevada |
| Joyce Byers | A Ford Pinto, the car of families with no money | A mother who drives what she can |
| Jonathan Byers | An old Ford, inherited, often broken down | The older one who gets by |
| The lab | Unmarked white vans | The 1983 threat, turned back by Eleven |
The big car scenes
-
The overturned van, 1983
The lab vans chase the bikes; Eleven flips one with her mind.
-
The Camaro at the high school, 1984
Billy arrives on Scorpions, and the whole town watches him.
-
The run of Max, 1984
Max takes the wheel of the Camaro for the first time, Steve unconscious in the back, as far as the tunnels.
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The Blazer at the Hess farm, 1985
Hopper and Joyce drive toward their first meeting with Grigori.
-
The Surfer Boy van, 1986
Argyle drives Jonathan, Will and Mike across the desert, and it is in that van that Will talks to Mike about Eleven's feelings.
-
Steve's car in the Upside Down, 1987
Steve runs over a Demogorgon, follows it through the gate and crashes into the wall around Hawkins.
What the cars say about the period
The cars in the show are chosen with the same care as the songs: nothing later than the year of the action, and each model tells a social class. Billy's Camaro is the attainable sports car of a teenager who wants to be seen; Steve's BMW, that of a well-off son; Joyce's Pinto, one of the cheapest and most maligned models of its time, says a cashier raising two boys on her own.
Hopper's Blazer is a typical police vehicle of small American towns in the 80s, and the Surfer Boy Pizza van a delivery van like thousands that rolled in California. Fans have made collectibles of them, in miniatures and replicas, the Camaro and the Blazer first.
The Camaro keychain, for your own keys.
In the shop44 mm Surfer Boy Pizza van pin9,90 €See the product
Frequently asked questions
What is Billy's car in Stranger Things?
A 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, blue, with which he arrives in Hawkins in season 2.
What car does Hopper drive?
A Chevrolet K5 Blazer, the Hawkins police 4x4, in the county colors.
What is Steve's car?
A brown BMW 733i, in seasons 1 to 3.
What is Argyle's van?
A Surfer Boy Pizza Volkswagen van, painted with waves, that crosses the American West in season 4.
Who drives Billy's Camaro after his death?
Max takes the wheel as early as 1984, to drive an unconscious Steve to the tunnels. After 1985, the Camaro does not appear again.
What becomes of Steve's car in the last season?
She crushes a Demogorgon in front of the barn, follows it through a gate into the Upside Down, and slams into the wall that encircles Hawkins, in episode 4.
Does Hopper's car come back in the last season?
Hopper, wanted by the army, no longer has a Blazer in 1987: he moves through the tunnels and hijacks a military truck to enter the Upside Down in the first episode.
What car do the Byers have in California?
No memorable scene gives them one: it is Argyle's Surfer Boy Pizza van that takes Jonathan, Will, and Mike to Nevada in 1986.