MARVELous Machines: the cars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (pictures)

Back in 2008, the Tesla Model S was just a sketch on some engineer's drawing board. So when the producers of "Iron Man" needed a set of wheels for billionaire technocrat Tony Stark, they turned to the Audi R8, which had just been unveiled with a new V-10 engine.

Stark's love affair with Audi continued in 2010's "Iron Man 2," which featured a new drop top R8 Spyder.

Acura gets its foot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's door in the 2011 film "Thor." The Japanese premium automaker designed tactical variants of its newest vehicles for use by agents of the covert organization, S.H.I.E.L.D.

RDX and ZDX models were featured prominently in promotional materials and in scenes for "Thor." Acura also designed custom TL sedans.

The Avengers assembled in the 2012 film of the same name, and they brought Acura with them. The vehicles were featured less prominently than before, but can still be found in various scenes and promotional materials.

Perhaps the most memorable vehicle in "The Avengers" is the NSX Roadster concept that Acura designed specifically for the film.

The low-slung Roadster makes an appearance during the film's epilogue, driven by Mr. Tony "Iron Man" Stark.

"Iron Man 3," the next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sees Audi reclaiming its place in the Iron Man's garage. Among other Audi vehicles, the film features the electric R8 e-tron as Stark's ride of choice.

For a film about the most American hero of them all, Marvel partnered with the most American sports car and then, ironically, put a Russian behind the wheel. The newly redesigned Chevrolet Corvette Stingray makes a fairly prominent appearance in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," where it is driven by the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.

"The Winter Soldier" ride that I'd most like the keys to is Colonel Nick Fury's Chevrolet Tahoe. This S.H.I.E.L.D. custom is outfitted with bulletproof doors, autonomous evasive driving software and a combination minigun-rocket turret that pops out of the center console. YES, PLEASE!

The stories of "Thor: The Dark World"and the "Guardians of the Galaxy" take place largely off-world, so the next time we meet a Marvel hero behind the wheel is during "The Avengers:Age of Ultron." Iron Man has, of course, added again to his small fleet of Audi R8s with the latest facelift of the V-10 coupe.

Audi's compact A3 Cabriolet also makes a fairly prominent appearance during the film's climax.

Blink and you'll miss it, but there's also an Audi TT-S that makes a brief appearance.

Marvel's "Ant-Man" doesn't feature many cars, but we'd have loved to see more of Hank Pym's Triumph Spitfire. The little roadster driven by an even little-er hero makes too brief an appearance.

This year's "Captain America: Civil War" features the divided Avengers doing battle along lines drawn by Captain America and Iron Man. By now you shouldn't be surprised that Stark will be driving the latest Audi R8, which was just unveiled last year.

Other Audi vehicles that will make appearances in "Civil War" include the A4 sedan, A7 sportback and the SQ7 full-sized SUV -- which gets destroyed in spectacular fashion in a clip released by Audi this week.