These Real-Life Vehicles & Objects Inspired Star Wars' Most Famous Aircraft

"Star Wars" is one of the biggest franchises in the world. With movies, TV shows, Star Wars games, Millennium Falcon in LEGO form, and so much more, "Star Wars" has had a sweeping impact on popular culture. Unless you've done a deep dive into "Star Wars" history, however, you might not know the inspiration behind some of the most iconic Sci-Fi vehicles in media, or who was responsible for many of the original concepts.

It turns out that one artist and engineer was responsible for many early designs involved in the Star Wars franchise. Colin Cantwell, who worked at NASA before connecting with George Lucas in the '70s, created the original designs for the TIE Fighter, X-Wing, Star Destroyer, and even the Death Star. In Cantwell's own words, some of the iconic designs had some interesting sources of inspiration, even if the original versions did not make it into the films.

Fortunately for "Star Wars" fans, Colin Cantwell's legacy has been preserved on a website run by his estate. While Cantwell passed away in 2022, plenty of interviews and even some Reddit AMAs document his thoughts about his work, including how he came up with various designs.

According to Cantwell's website, a World War II Torpedo Bomber inspired the Y-Wing aircraft. In short, the ship was meant to look like a bomber, specifically the TBF Torpedo Bomber. Design elements borrowed from the bomber include a gunner facing backwards in the belly of the craft, one behind the pilot, and then the pilot facing forward.

Cantwell's website claims that he was the first Lucasfilm employee, hired by George Lucas himself. Later, Ralph McQuarrie would paint Cantwell's designs in pre-production artwork. The Y-Wing appeared in various films in the franchise, cementing it as a classic Star Wars aircraft that is easily recognizable today.

As iconic as the X-Wing Fighter is in Star Wars, its inspiration came from a rather unlikely place. Colin Cantwell wrote in a Reddit AMA back in 2016 that the idea for the X-Wing came to him while he was in a British pub. Seeing someone throw a dart at a dartboard apparently sparked the idea, and it "went forward from there," according to Cantwell's comment. He also noted in the same comment that he wanted the X-Wing to be "ultracool" and very different from other aircraft in "Star Wars" – it had to be "alien."

Although you'll have to visit Boeing's working X-Wing in the museum where it now resides, plenty of X-Wing models exist for enthusiasts to enjoy. According to Cantwell, because the LEGO Star Wars sets were not released until much later, he did not own any of them. Instead, he had drawers full of plastic model parts (nicknamed nurneys) with which he created the first designs.

As for Cantwell's designs, he seemingly agreed with one Redditor who suggested some of his designs "don't quite seem to make sense." In response, Cantwell replied that his aircraft were "80% looks, 10% aerodynamics, 10% whimsy."

The Millennium Falcon design we know may be iconic, but it's not the original. Initially, Colin Cantwell created something of a pirate ship for Han Solo to fly. What inspired that design? According to Cantwell's website, he wanted the ship to look "sort of like a mechanical lizard."

However, a TV series running around the same time as "Star Wars" featured a similarly designed ship. A redesign took the mechanical lizard out of the Millennium Falcon. Later, though, Princess Leia's Blockade Runner used the original Millennium Falcon design. It featured a hammerhead shark-shaped cockpit, the original iteration Cantwell came up with.

As for the modern Millennium Falcon, it's one of the many Star Wars vehicles we wish we could pilot. Fortunately for fans, there are many LEGO sets featuring Star Wars vehicles. Although Cantwell never owned a set, the Millennium Falcon ultimately became one of the biggest LEGO sets ever made.