The cars of "Mad Max: Fury Road"

The fantastical "Mad Max: Fury Road" won six Oscars at the 88th Academy Awards. The film, richly rewarded for production design, costume design, makeup & hairstyling, sound effects editing and sound mixing as well as film editing, is essentially one continuous chase scene. So it's no surprise that its vehicles are true characters who nearly steal the movie.

Director George Miller and his gear-head production designers went deliberately old school. Their Frankensteinian convoy of psychobilly hotrods was assembled the old-fashioned way: not with pixels, but by grease, sweat and muscle.

Return of the Road Warrior

Tom Hardy stars in the fourth film of George Miller's "Mad Max" franchise, taking over the role originated by Mel Gibson in the 1979 thriller, "Mad Max."

For "Mad Max: Fury Road," set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by a tyrannical war lord, the production created 150 vehicles that not only evoke the futuristic heavy metal setting, but could also withstand (as best as possible) the grueling filming conditions in the desert of Namibia.

The Interceptor

Max Rockatansky's signature black 1974 XB Ford Falcon Coupe was left for dead at the end of "The Road Warrior" (1982). As Production Designer Colin Gibson put it: "A legend spotted in the gutter, rusted through and rattling with one too many repairs and far too few original parts."

The Interceptor

Max's Interceptor returns in the new movie, salvaged from the desert, and worked over: double-aspirated, augmented with 4-wheel drive -- and, of course, weaponized.

The War Rig

This king of the convoy is the bastard lovechild of a Czechoslovakian Tatra and Chevy Fleetmaster, welded into a twin V8, 18-wheeler. Fused to the hull are the shells of a VW Bug and truck cabin that double as mobile forts for War Boys.

The War Rig

"The War Rig is a distinct presence in the film, so we spent a huge amount of time designing it," director George Miller offers. "It's covered in tar and pitch. They put spikes and skeletons on it to keep people away and to project a sense of dread to anyone who would want to attack it. It had to be very functional, but it also had to be memorable. After the human characters, the War Rig is probably the most important character in the film."

The Gigahorse

Miller calls the Gigahorse, the chariot of The Warlord, a "Cadillac on steroids."

Created from piggy-backed 1959 Cadillac Coupe De Villes, the Gigahorse is powered by twin V16 engines, and bounces atop two-meter-high double rear wheels.

While the Gigahorse lacks a sunroof, it does come standard with a whaler's harpoon and mounted flamethrower.

Doof Wagon

Built from a repurposed 8 x 8 m.A.N. Missile-carrier, the Doof Wagon has subwoofers for its subwoofers.

Doof Wagon

Does your car stereo boast mounted drummers? These pound their beat on resonators built from industrial air conditioning ducts.

The Nux Car

Nux's souped-up Chevrolet 5-door coupe is a hotrodder's dream, a super-turbocharged, nitrous-boosted chariot made from a polished steel chassis, powered by a coiled V8 engine, with canted wheels and swooping, wing-like exhaust pipes.

"Forty-five years post the apocalypse, the vehicles most likely to survive and have some chance of functioning would be those without microprocessors, computer chips, or the crumple technology that you have in today's cars," said director George Miller.

Instead, the "Mad Max" fleet was built on old-school muscle cars and rat rods -- less aerodynamic but with stiffer bodies.

"Using vehicles from the '80s right back to the '40s gives them a certain style as well," Miller added.

The Nux Car

Nux has personalized the interior with toys and knickknacks, from an eyeball stick shift to his doll-face steering wheel.

Plymouth Rock

This rusted, porcupine buggy looks like Herbie took a wrong turn and ended up in "Game of Thrones."

Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rock in action.

Cranky Frank

A chop-topped Holden FJ "rat rod" with a 4-intake supercharged v8 engine, Frank has a serious blindspot, thanks to his tower of carburetors and a belt-driven blower.

Elvis

This high-speed hotrod was built from a pair of GMC 6's slung end-to-end on the extended chassis rails of a 3-window coupe.

Elvis

Elvis pulls a wheelie.

The Peacemaker

The ultimate hybrid: a water-cooled Merlin V8 sitting atop tank treads.

Buick

The Buick boasts double-wide rear treads, a slew-ring turret and anti-aircraft gun.

Prince Valiant

This fire-breathing Valiant Charger V8 is a muscle car of Australian heritage, with some truly outback mods.

The Ploughboy

An EH wagon jacked up over an off-road frame and rigged with harpoon and hydraulic-driven plough, which the Ploughboy uses to drag its victims.

The Big Foot

A monster truck you might find parked in Mary Shelley's driveway. This supercharged V8 beast is nearly seven-feet tall, thanks to 66-inch terra tires and four feet of suspension. The heavy duty axles come from an ex-military super tanker.