The new heroes and antiheroes get new wheels

TUCSON zombie survival machine

SHIELD may be backed by Lexus, but boss Phil Coulson prefers his little red Corvette.

Automotive product placement is becoming ever more prevalent in TV, movies and video games. From “Hawaii Five-O” to “Transformers,” writers and producers have never met a car that they didn’t like. Here are some of the more interesting parts for these four-wheeled ‘actors’:

SHIELD prefers Lexus; Coulson prefers his little red Corvette

Marvel’s Avengers team had four superheroes, a couple of super-skilled humans, all supported by a highly capable organization called SHIELD, which had a killer set of vehicles provided by Honda’s US luxury division Acura, including the MDX and ZDX, with Tony Stark himself taking the wheel of the yet-unreleased NSX.

Now, for Marvel’s “Agents of SHIELD” TV series, the secret organization has switched to Lexus, a black GX being seen in key scenes in the first few episodes. Several matt-black IS sedans have also been on the show. But lead agent Phil Coulson, portrayed by Clark Gregg, has other ideas. Parked beside the Lexus in the SHIELD plane is his personal vehicle, a Roman red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette that he calls Lola. A younger agent suspects its Coulson’s midlife-crisis car, but Coulson insists that she’s an important part of the team’s equipment. The car is content to stay dormant for the most part, although she had a memorable, if inconsequential, scene in the closing moments of the pilot episode with the “Don’t touch Lola” line.

Bond prefers Jensen

PILOT and ‘cavalry’ Ming-na Wen with the Lexus GS in the cargo bay of the SHIELD plane

British sports car Jensen has been back in the pop-culture limelight lately. In “Fast & Furious 6,” the Jensen Interceptor gave Michelle Rodriguez a thrill of a drive through London, against Vin Diesel’s Dodge Charger Daytona. Now, British secret agent James Bond has added a Jensen to his automotive collection, which already includes Aston Martin, Bentley, and the rather inappropriate BMW.

The novel “Solo,” an authorized Bond novel by William Boyd, has the famed superspy taking the wheel of a Jensen FF Solo, set in 1969, reportedly featuring a 45-year-old Bond who is highly sexed, but less cruel and misogynistic than the Ian Fleming version of the character.

The Jensen FF is a four-wheel drive GT car produced by the now-defunct British sports car manufacturer. The FF has its place in the history books, being the first non-off-road car equipped with four-wheel drive, preceding Subaru by five years and Audi by a decade; and being one of the first with antilock brakes.

The “FF” stands for “Ferguson Formula,” after Ferguson Research Ltd., the company that designed the Jensen’s four-wheel-drive system. The FF looks quite similar to its more famous Interceptor sibling, but is 127 millimeters longer and is mechanically different.

BOND’S new (in 1969) Jensen FF is closely related to this Interceptor. The Interceptor was also prominent in ‘Fast & Furious 6.’

Bond, who is always fond of curves, is apparently enamored with the Jensen’s sweeping dashboard. It is the latest of Bond’s conquests, in the automotive sense. As the BMW ad copy said, “How could Bond possibly be faithful to just one?”

The walking dead prefer Hyundai

When you’re in a postapocalyptic, zombified world, the few pleasures of life could be enumerated as: food, a safe place to sleep, a shower, and reliable transport. Hyundai’s Tucson apparently is one of the best examples of the last one.

Season 1 of “The Walking Dead” series saw the group of Rick Grimes and crew pick up a lime green Hyundai Tucson from a bridge in Atlanta. Since then, the car has been a recurring cast member in various episodes. Always clean and ready to outrun the brain eaters.

This past week, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., in collaboration with Fox Philippines, has jumped on the zombie parts-wagon, with a Philippine edition of its zombie machines.

After that successful association, Hyundai created the Walking Dead Chop Shop app, for users to design their own zombie-fighting machines based on the company’s cars. The winner of a design contest had his design made into a real vehicle, in time for New York Comic-Con. The Philippine Walking Dead Tucson was designed and fabricated by Atoy Customs.