There is actually some case law about this. The car Elenore from gone in 60 seconds has its rights held by some organization that was going around suing people.
Some US district court ruled that cars could not be copyrighted (although this did reverse a previous decision).
I think the major distinction is that the car isn't actually a character in the film (and the previous decision was because the rights holders disingenuously indicated that the car was a character in the movie and the court didn't double check that this was in fact the case iirc).
Some US district court ruled that cars could not be copyrighted (although this did reverse a previous decision).
I think the major distinction is that the car isn't actually a character in the film (and the previous decision was because the rights holders disingenuously indicated that the car was a character in the movie and the court didn't double check that this was in fact the case iirc).