Why A Subaru WRX Was Cut Out Of 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Few compact cars have the same World Rally Championship pedigree as the Subaru WRX. The first- to fourth-generation models were Impreza-based rallying machines with turbo Boxer engines, all-wheel-drive, and stiff suspension. Subaru made the WRX a standalone brand in 2015, and the second-gen 2022 WRX is the latest iteration of the brand's iconic World Rally eXperimental vehicle.

Sure, the new WRX is not easy on the eyes, but its rugged countenance makes it great for executing donut burnouts in the Mojave desert. However, the previous-gen WRX that debuted in 2015 looks good enough to appear in "Top Gun: Maverick," the sixth highest-grossing Hollywood movie in domestic box office history (per Variety), surpassing "Avengers: Infinity War" for overall ticket sales.

The Drive initially reported that "Top Gun: Maverick" would feature a 2018 WRX as a pilot's car in the movie. However, something happened along the way. Subaru of America's Dominick Infante confirmed to The Drive that the automaker supplied the WRX when filming began in 2018. But if you watch the movie, you won't find a Subaru WRX, so what gives?

As with all good things in life, the COVID-19 pandemic put an abrupt end to everything we enjoyed to maintain our sanity in this fast-paced world — including new movie releases. "Top Gun: Maverick" was supposed to release in the summer of 2019 before being pushed back to 2020, but then COVID reared its ugly head. Before we knew it, we were wearing masks, working from home, and prohibited from seeing each other for fear of infection. It also meant movie theaters were closed, and movie producers had no choice but to delay the release of their ultimate moneymakers to maximize audience reach and ticket sales — including "Top Gun: Maverick."

The much-anticipated sequel to the original Tom Cruise hit movie was rescheduled to debut at theaters in 2021 — until the surge of the Delta variant. Then, Variety reported it would finally release on May 27, 2022, and the rest is history. However, editors must have deleted all the Subaru WRX movie scenes in the final cut version shown in theaters, despite entering into a product placement deal with Subaru (per The Drive). It could have something to do with the new WRX entering the market in time for "Top Gun: Maverick," or it could be an artistic, creative decision since the production team had more than enough time given the lengthy COVID-19 furlough.

Another catch: Subaru unleashed the all-new, second-generation WRX in early 2022. If the previous-gen WRX did appear in "Top Gun: Maverick," it would have been a silent diss to the new WRX that isn't getting much love in the first place. The incident apparently didn't damage Subaru's bottom line, but you have to admit things would be a lot different if the body-armored 2022 WRX successfully made it to the big screen.

12 Bizarre Vehicles That Celebrities Actually Owned

Celebrities are people just like any of us. This means, of course, that celebrities have quirky habits and a tendency to collect strange things. They generally have money, which means that ant weird hobby or eccentricity is exponentially magnified. Some of us normies might have a train set, while Oscar winners have buildings constructed for entire train ecosystems. Some of us have a car fetish — while some celebrities have fleets of odd and obsolete vehicles.

People are interested in the lives of the A-list set, and that interest goes even deeper for dedicated fans. Actors and musicians alike have to deal with their lives being picked apart and scrutinized on camera wherever they go. Plenty of ink (or pixels) has been dedicated just to the rides of the rich and famous. Usually, these articles focus on the supercars and ultra-luxury limousines they own, but not all celebrities fit that stereotype. For those who don't fit into a mold and keep their cars a bit away from the norm, here are a dozen bizarre vehicles celebrities own or have owned at some point in their lifetime.

While he has matured into adulthood and has been coming into his own as a performer for some time, Justin Bieber first showed up as a teen star and quickly rose to fame. With such fame always comes money and the ability to buy whatever you want. And that is exactly what the Biebs did. At some time about a decade ago, he bought a Fisker Karma and then had it wrapped in chrome, per Car Throttle.

The Karma itself is a somewhat rare car only because it did not sell well, and it did not sell well for good reason. According to The Drive Mag, it sought to be sort of a hybrid alternative to Tesla with an all-electric powertrain backed up by a GM 2.0-liter range extender. But the interior is cramped, the styling a bit garish, and reliability poor. But if Bieber assaults our public thoroughfares with his Fisker, he just might blind anyone sharing the road on a sunny day. Should chrome be an optional color for a car? Perhaps not.

As a member of the Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am is accustomed to showing off a unique, loud, and outrageous style. It is part of his stage persona to be larger than life, but it also bleeds into his everyday vibe. Motorious reported that he has taken this penchant for over-the-top styling into the automotive realm. With the help of others, such as West Coast Customs, he takes sketches of what he thinks a custom car should be and commissions brands to build it.

Will.i.am has become fairly well known for his custom cars, which many say are huge efforts to ruin good cars, such as a Mercedes AMG GT. If you are looking for a great car turned terrible, he may be the one to help. A case in point is his concept for the Delorean. The Delorean is not just a concept but is what he said would be a car he is building with his new car company using Chrysler parts, according to Jalopnik. But a quick peek beneath the skin makes it obvious it is just a Delorean that has been modified with fiberglass and bad ideas.

George Clooney has had a long and successful career acting on the small and the silver screen. He first gained notoriety as a TV heartthrob playing Dr. Doug Ross on the hit television show ER, per IMDB. He has since starred in such blockbuster films as Batman and Robin, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, and Ocean's Eleven. His star power is formidable. He is also one to put his money where his mouth is, and that translates to his activism on climate change.

Clooney is well known for his work to combat climate change, with Fast Company reportingon a recent irreverent campaign to raise awareness. As part of his devotion to the cause, he purchased a Tango 600, a tiny, dumpy little electric car that came out before most anyone had heard the name Elon Musk.

The Tango 600 is a tiny car with two seats riding tandem, one in front of the other. It is powered by electricity and is the perfect car to give your son if you want him to never bring home a date. The Tango is fitting for a movie star because, according to Auto Evolution, the brand started making them before the EV trend gained popularity and drove down prices on parts, and therefore, they cost upwards of $400,000 to build. With no real market and no real buyers, it appears it never took off and left plenty of room for Tesla to take its market share.

Pope Francis became the 266th pope in 2013 and has had a habit of forging his own path and breaking with convention ever since. Part of his papacy has been embroiled in scandal brought on in the decades before him, and that has, in part, caused him to look over the church's finances and corruption and find ways to clean up the institution (via Biography.com). A man of honor, Pope Francis is also known to heed his own warnings and live according to his own decrees, including his transportation.

The current Pope has been known to ride in less luxurious vehicles than his predecessors. Not long after becoming pope, according to the BBC, an Italian priest named Father Renzo Zocca gave Francis his 20-year-old Renault 4 as a gift. Upon receiving it, Francis indicated that he had every intention of driving it around the Vatican, much to the chagrin of his security staff. The Renault is not necessarily a bizarre vehicle, but as a leader of around a billion faithful, it is far from what would be expected for him to drive.

One of the best-known names in hip-hop today is Ludacris. He has enjoyed a long and fruitful career that includes best-selling albums as well as acting gigs including the Fast & Furious franchise. Having such a full and dynamic career in music and film should allow him to buy and drive whatever he wants. However, his most cherished car might seem a bizarre choice, a 1993 Acura with 255,000 miles (via The Drive).

The 1993 Acura Legend was Honda's response to the highly acclaimed Lexus LS400 and brought with it a sharp Japanese design with legendary Honda reliability. Although famous and wealthy now, Ludacris started as a man of more modest means. He bought this Acura in 1999 before hitting it big and he has kept it ever since. Ludacris was hired at some point to promote the Acura brand and helped to launch the new NSX that was when Honda took his old worn-out Legend and restored it to like-new condition to factory specifications, The Drive noted. While an old high-mileage Acura seems like a bizarre choice for a famous rapper, Ludacris holds this old Legend close to his heart.

Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States of America, is arguably the most famous person on this list. He acted in Hollywood for years but it was his post-movie career that made him known worldwide. While he was never Hollywood's a-list leading man like Fred Astaire or Jimmy Stewart, he worked prolifically in front of the camera for decades, as IMDB shows dozens of film credits. His second career in politics shot him to the White House. Part of what got him to the highest office was a well-crafted campaign that often showed him as a rugged outdoorsman and cowboy in the way he had played many roles on film. It was an image that worked but seemed to be at odds with one of his favorite vehicles, a Subaru BRAT.

Long before he entered the White House, Reagan owned a ranch in California, Rancho del Cielo. Jalopnik reported that among the vehicles used at the ranch was a Subaru BRAT. It had been offered to Reagan before running for president as a sort of test vehicle for Subaru as they were having trouble finding ways to get them to die. The only requirement was that the Gipper would send reports of its performance every six months. However, running for president and being seen in a Japanese vehicle, especially in the early '80s, was a bad look, so no photos exist of the candidate or president with the little Subaru.

Cher's rise to superstar singer and actor began in the mid-'60s as part of the husband and wife duo Sonny and Cher. They hit the top of the charts in 1965 with their hit single I Got You Babe, and it has remained a permanent part of pop culture ever since. The duo did not last, and Cher went on to be one of the best-selling solo artists. However, during their time in the spotlight, at least a modicum of wealth came their way and allowed them to buy things and even pay to customize them...for reasons.

Sonny and Cher bought a pair of then-new Ford Mustangs and immediately sent them to George Barris for a personal touch. Known for creating such outlandish creations as the original TV Batmobile, Barris is a kind of genius madman of custom cars, and he helped turn Sonny and Cher's Mustangs into absolute travesties. According to Auto Evolution, Barris managed to take one of America's best-loved cars of the sixties and transform them into something only a mother could love, replete with weird squared-off headlights and furry seat upholstery inserts. These Mustangs are another piece of evidence that money does not automatically grant one style or class.

Kids all over the world dream of the opportunity to star in a Hollywood blockbuster film and enjoy the fame and wealth that comes with it. Few ever realize such a dream. For young Briton Daniel Radcliffe, that dream came true as he became Harry Potter in 2001's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. One would think after reaping the rewards of starring in one of the biggest films of the year, he would want to go out and spend some of that money on extravagance and luxury. He did not.

The Daily Mail reports that after receiving his £23 million ($27.5 million) paycheck, he wanted to buy a car first thing after his eighteenth birthday. While most kids with that kind of cash would head straight to the Lamborghini or Ferrari dealership, Radcliffe made a b-line to the Fiat store, where he picked up a shiny Punto Grande. While the Punto would be a sensible choice of economical supermini for the average European schoolteacher or shoe salesman, it is hardly the evident choice of a movie star. However, Radcliffe had a great concern for the environment already honed by the time he turned eighteen and choose the Fiat due to its high rating on a scale of green European cars. Perhaps his views have changed a bit since then. As Motor Biscuit notes, his wealth has grown and so has his car collection, which now includes Lamborghinis, BMWs, and Range Rovers.

Elvis Presley was known for having plenty of rare cars, some of them a bit bizarre. Among his collection were many custom cars, lots of Cadillacs, and even more Lincolns. Elvis had more money than he knew what to do with and used it to buy cars in the way most people buy new clothes. But unlike most people, Elvis gave away cars as gifts, often to strangers. He also loved driving and he enjoyed his cars, driving around Memphis late at night, showing up at random gas stations, surprising the locals.

Among his many vehicles was a Messerschmitt 200, a tiny, German car with two seats placed inline and powered by a motorcycle engine. According to The Truth About Cars, nobody knows much about how Elvis acquired it but he owned it for a couple of years, driving it occasionally. Like many of his other cars, it became a gift to his long-time Clothier Bernard Lanksy, whose family owns it to this day.

Jay Leno is not just known for having a large and expensive collection of cars, he also appreciates the odd and unusual as a result of his eccentric tastes. Having a garage with more than 200 vehicles will end up with a few oddballs. His collection is most enviable and most of us would be happy just to have a tour. Among his cars are some of the greatest automobiles ever built from fantastic Duesenbergs to the amazing McLaren F1. Also found within the walls of his oversized garage is the one-of-s-kind turbine-powered Ecojet.

The Ecojet is a jet-powered car that, according to Motorious, started out as a sketch Jay put down on a napkin. While GM has the ability to build pretty much whatever for whomever, only someone like Jay Leno could actually get it done. Motorious noted that Leno had wanted to build a jet-powered car for some time but finally got around to approaching GM to build it in 2006. The final product is a sleek and aggressive mid-engined car with styling similar to the Cadillacs of the time. On his show, Jay Leno's Garage, in 2016, he took astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson for a ride in which the driver's window was blown off as it headed down to reach 165 mph.

Justin Bieber's career has been relatively short compared to some of the biggest names in pop music, but it has not been without a bit of controversy and, for him, a whole lot of money. Selling out arena tours worldwide is a good way to amass enough wealth to buy whatever you want, even if maybe you shouldn't.

Sometime in the mid-2010s, Bieber saw a concept Rolls Royce car that was done as a design study and showcased what the future of design for Rolls would be, according to Robb Report. It was never a functioning car nor was it ever meant to be anything but an exercise in style. However, he decided he wanted one and reached out to someone to try and buy it. As it turns out, the car was not possible for anyone to buy, so customizer to the stars West Coast Customs opted to create an alternative. What Bieber wants, he shall get.

The resulting custom Rolls Royce is dubbed the Uriel and imitates many of the design elements of the prototype. It is built on a standard Wraith and maybe it should have stayed that way. The car is hideous. It looks vaguely like a prototype and comes off looking like a giant waste of money as it took thousands of hours to make. It is proof that just because you can definitely does not mean that you should.

Shaquille O'Neal is one of the hardest-working players to ever play in the NBA. He had a great career on the court and has parlayed that success into wealth and good fortune off the court. Not only is he successful, but he is also a genuinely nice guy and is known for throwing his name and finances toward good causes to help those less fortunate. He is also a giant of a man, standing at 7'1" tall.

Being a man of considerable height means that not only does he have to custom order shoes that fit, he sometimes has to custom order cars that fit. He is wealthy, but cannot enjoy many of the toys of the affluent such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris and he even has trouble with cars most of us would consider large. However, West Coast Customs is never a company to shy away from a challenge, and it helped Shaq by creating a Jeep Wrangler fit for a giant. They took a four-door Wrangler and fused the front and rear doors into one and relocated the front seats to where the back seats go. The finished Jeep looks completely natural and gives Shaq ample room to sit back and relax (via Motor Trend).