The top 5 retro cars you can play in Rocket League

For a game that’s free to play, Rocket League sure is good at getting me to give it money.

In large part, that’s because they do a really great job of creating scarcity. The item shop only has a limited number of items each day, so if you see something you want, you feel the pressure to buy it right away.

Then there’s the licensed content—aka, my Achilles heel. Sometimes it’s tied to a specific promotion, like the 007 cars, or sometimes it just seems to pop up out of the blue. 

And when I see a nerdy, retro car out there with only a limited time to buy it? It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Here are the five retro cars from Rocket League that were totally worth the money—keep an eye out for them coming back around or, if you must, you can peruse third-party sellers to get your hands on one.

The Back to the Future DeLorean 

Complete with the OUTATIME license plate, the chance to drive the DeLorean circa 1985 is one I refuse to miss. 

It also comes with some fun little Easter eggs, like the fire tracks when your car demos, or how the wheels move under the car ala Back to the Future II when you go airborne.

But the DeLorean is also a really solid car in Rocket League. The shape of the car (aka, the “hitbox” in RC lingo) is better than you’d think for playing defense, and it controls surprisingly well. It’s not just fun, it’s actually a great car.

K.I.T.T.

This was one of those that just popped up one day for no apparent reason, and took me back to when I must have been maybe 5-years-old, visiting Universal Studios in Hollywood, sitting in a replica K.I.T.T. car and talking to the real KITT.

At least, that’s how I remember it.

While falling short of my dream to one day own K.I.T.T. in real life (hopefully without having to fake my death and get a new face), this is a pretty solid substitute. 

It doesn’t have the best hitbox, so it’s less practical—but that’s not really why you’re going to buy it anyways, is it?

1965 Mustang Shelby GT350R RLE

The only car on this list that you could actually buy in real life (well, in theory if you have roughly $300k lying around), owning a ‘60s era Mustang of any kind in any form is a good call in my book.

There are fewer customization options with this bad boy, but who cares? The bundle comes complete with an accurate engine sound, so rev it up to your heart’s content.

Like the DeLorean, this car is also surprisingly easy to play and effective in the game—not just a pretty body. 

Sadly, it recently left the item shop, and since it’s branded with Ford, it’s hard to say when it will come back. But it’s well worth keeping an eye out for.

1989 Batmobile

This is probably the least practical of any of the cars on this list in terms of actually playing competitively in Rocket League, but who cares when you’re pretending to be Michael Keaton from Tim Burton’s 1989 masterpiece?

The insanely-long front end of the car makes maneuvering generally pretty difficult, and even a simple dodge is a bit of a struggle. 

But again, if you purchase this car it’s not really about doing well in the game, is it?

Ecto-1

Who you gonna call? That’s right, yourself! 

Live out your bustin’ dreams with the Ecto-1, which was briefly available in 2019 and again in 2020. You never know, they might bring it back to the item shop to celebrate one of the next sequels.

You can’t customize this car at all, but why would you? It’s pretty much perfect as is. It’s a bit bulky, but its size and shape actually make it a pretty good car for playing defense or just demoing opponents into the afterlife.

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Which retro car, real or imaginary, do you want to see Rocket League offer?