In the entire Transformers movie universe, Bumblebee is probably one of the most loved Autobots. He’s not a walking arsenal like Ironhide, or as lethal as Optimus Prime. He’s not as swift as Sideswipe. He’s not even as comical as Skids and Mudflap! He’s still loved because he’s loyal – he’s supposed to be a guardian. He looks after the characters played by Mark Wahlberg and Shia LeBeouf, which somehow also involves ferrying them around (and also looking after their close ones). Because of his characteristic traits, Bumblebee has made the yellow Camaro a very recognisable car, even with people who have absolutely no interest in cars.

But Bumblebee was not always a yellow Chevrolet Camaro – it’s only in the movie series that GM has used various generations (even concepts) of the muscle car to portray Bumblebee’s non-robot, alternate mode. In fact, the alternate modes of most of the Autobots (the ‘good’ Transformers) that are played by GM cars now have been of different makes and manufacturers in other iterations of the Transformers franchise.

Bumblebee, which has always been a yellow Camaro with black stripes in the movies, was originally a Volkswagen Beetle in the first generations of the animated series and Hasbro toys. In a few editions the guardian Autobot was also played by a Suzuki Swift. The formidable Ironhide, which transforms into a GMC Topkick pickup truck when it isn’t firing a gazillion bullets and ballistic shells at Decepticons, has been a Hummer, a Nissan Vanette, and even an African elephant. Jazz, the flamboyant aide to Optimus Prime in the first Transformers film, was originally a Porsche 935 turbo in the toy line (it was a Pontiac Solstice in the movie).

It’s only with the third instalment of the Transformers movie series that we started seeing more of non-GM Autobots (Decepticons have always had mostly military vehicles or aircrafts as alternate modes in the films). Transformers: Dark of the Moon featured a Ferrari 458 Italia and a Mercedes-Benz E550. The latest, Age of Extinction, features a Bugatti Veyron as an Autobot’s alternate mode.

But some Transformers never had alternate modes that were production or concept vehicles, or any specifically recognisable aircraft or ground vehicle for that matter. Megatron’s alternate mode has mostly been a Cybertronian jet or various trucks. Interestingly, some of the craziest sports cars have ended up as the bad guys, the Decepticons, such as the Pagani Hyuara, Audi R8 and Lamborghini Aventador.

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