FAN SUBMITTED ARTICLE
In the pilot episode we met a whole new cast of shiny new characters including Agent Coulson’s car, Lola. For those unfamiliar with the comics, the introduction of Lola may have been simply a nod to Coulson’s collector side (ala the trading cards in Avengers), but as die-hard Marvel fans know there’s a lot more to Lola then being classy.
For those who don’t know S.H.I.E.L.D. was originally designed for Marvel as a way to enter the spy craze that James Bond. The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Danger Man started in the 1960s. They turned their grizzled WWII vet Nick Fury into a kick-butt spy with a bunch of very cool spy toys. Part of that charm of the spy life, of course, is the sports car equipped with everything. To that end Stark Industries created flying cars. These cars were usually red or yellow (the first one being a Porsche). There were around 2,000 of the flying cars in use by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents all over the world including Nick Fury himself. While Lola may look like a rip off of Back to the Future‘s flying delorean or Star Wars‘ hover car, S.H.I.E.L.D’s flying cars have been around a bit longer.
According to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Howard Stark first unveiled his flying car at Stark Expo.
The first appearance of the S.H.I.E.L.D. flying car was in 1965 and agents were flying in style ever since:
Adding a flying car to the show may seem like a weird element, but the vehicle-as-character has been the highlight of many much beloved shows (including Star Trek, My Mother the Car, Eureka, Dukes of Hazzard, Supernatural and Firefly — just to name a few). Clark Greg has been teasing that Lola may have as much of a storyline as Agent Coulson does. Saying recently to Eonline, “…I think, like with Phil Coulson, there’s more story to come with Lola!”
Whatever her story, Lola is a great nod to the comic book history of S.H.I.E.L.D. and to the continuity with the recent movies. Plus, she’s pretty sassy, if I do say so myself.
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