It's not a futuristic utopia. It's a post-WW3, totalitarian ****hole held together by keeping everybody on drugs.

Best vehicles to work on to soup up, don't have to mess around with computer **** and excessive wiring.
Ho Ho Ho

Buna, my beautiful wives is make my jumper for me, hana

Your jumper looks ridiculous… like something Stan Ogdens will wear it 70 years before, hana

That car on top of the car looks ridiculous, hana

I prefer it the Hedgehog, hana

Mad Machs was set in the future, but some of the souped up vehicles looked like they were from 1950s USA, hana

Did any of you forget to mention that they had a 3rd World War.
Maybe it put a halt on technological advances and even MAYBE it eliminated some technology.
The car was simply there to show it was for transportation only, not for emotional liking like one would have if he were to choose a car of his own.
A bright light can hollow the deepest of nothingness.

Did they run out of budget just as it came time to source a vehicle?
They didn't necessarily run out, as it might not have been intended to vehicle anyway.
Seriously, the world is this futuristic utopia and they decided they'd whitewash a 90s Caddy?
Just because it takes place in a future doesn't meant that it is futuristic. It's actually not unusual for a "utopia" to be kind of behind the times in certain aspects of technology. The regime depicted in this film has vehicles at all whereas the peasants have to walk everywhere. It's obvious that the theme is that of not only artlessness but "economy" too. I don't understand why so many people don't understand this.

I remember watching this movie when it came out and being bothered by the damn car. Watching it 15 years later my reaction is: What's with the damn car? Movie bad. Bad movie, bad!

I thought it was a late 90's T-bird, but you might be right.

I like this movie but I agree, it looks like they must have run into some budget issues unfortunately.