50 Top Car Movies of All Time

Original copy published at History A2Z, provided images under protection by publisher https://www.history-a2z.com/th...

Two-Lane Blacktop

Starring a not-yet famous James Taylor and, at the time, Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) is an existential film that cruises the open highways to the tune of Easy Rider. The instant cult-classic directed by Monte Hellman depicts the two drifters on a cross-country trek, heading east from the West coast. The boys’ journey is punctuated by intermittent drag races and existential angst. The Driver (Taylor) and The Mechanic (Wilson) meet GTO, a dude named after his Pontiac. All agree to a winner-takes-all road race. Their prospective pink slips are up for grabs, and the cars are all each man is.

Cruising the gamut of Americana scenes in a bulked up, modified ‘55 Chevy, The Driver and The Mechanic run into a drifter named The Girl at a gas stop at a Route 66 town. After stowing away in the backseat, The Girl’s chatter mixes up the monotony of dialogue-sparse, open-road scenes. Director Hellman says the plot lives almost entirely in subtext. What he creates is arguably the most poignant road film ever made and a lovely contribution to 1970s cinema aesthetic.

Corvette Summer

In 1978, Warner Bros. studio billed its summer comedy Corvette Summer, “a fiberglass romance.” And that’s exactly what it is. Corvette Summer is fun and playful and revolves around a Stingray Corvette that is especially precious to one young man who is just finishing high school. The action lights up when the spicy red and flame-licked orange Corvette vanishes. Ken Dantley (Mark Hamill) and his auto shop classmates poured their hearts into restoring the Corvette, and suddenly, one day, it went AWOL. You can expect spectacular car chase scenes on par with those the Fast and the Furious franchise created decades later. The movie is also extraordinary because it stars Hamill, right off the heels of his epic Luke Skywalker role in Star Wars.

Grand Prix

In 1966, MGM and director John Frankenheimer did everything possible to make Grand Prix authentic to Formula One racing. In the backroom, the film’s technical adviser was none other than legendary Le Mans racer and car maker Carroll Shelby. The final product won three Oscars: best sound, best sound mixing, and best film editing.

Making the film was director Frankenheimer’s dream project. In 1969 he told Motor Sport Magazine, “To be able to indulge your fantasies with ten-and-a-half million dollars is, I think, marvelous.” Star power drove shotgun to the film’s success. Hollywood heavy-weights James Garner, Yves, Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato starred. A savvy film crew optimized 1960s filming technologies. They used helicopters to angle-in on race scenes and utilized multiple screens to produce amazing shots of the action. The fun kicks off once American driver Pete Aron gets launched off the iconic Monaco Grand Prix course into the Mediterranean. Splash! The near-fatal crash does not stop this racer from contending for the title.

Duel

Duel (1971), as fate would have it, is Steven Spielberg’s first movie. Before Jaws and E.T., there was this TV movie suspense thriller about a car and semi-truck dueling it out on the highway. Dennis Weaver played the unsuspecting motorist who found himself pursued in murderous contempt by a deranged truck driver. Universal Studios wanted to show the movie at theaters, so they added some scenes and edited it into a 90-minute theatrical release in 1972. The movie is celebrated as Spielberg’s break-out film.

David Man (Weaver), cruising his Plymouth Valiant, minding his own business, notices the old 1955 Peterbilt truck tailgating him. Then it gets scary. Just picture the Peterbilt as a great white shark with gaping jaws coming after you, then you’ll get a sense of the suspense in Duel. It is a chase to the death.

Ronin

In the world of cars, Ronin is a masterpiece. The spy-thriller boasts Robert De Niro, Sean Bean, and Naatascha McElhone. The action revolves around an international team of ex-spies and a cryptic briefcase. They go to the French Riviera to track the briefcase down for Russian and Irish sources. But who can you trust? The group of former intelligence officers compete for the mission with eyes wide open, trusting no one.

An epic car chase through the streets of Paris makes Ronin one of the best car movies ever made. Directed by car lover Frankenheimer of Grand Prix, this movie features two superlatively real-looking chase scenes. An Audi S8 and a Mercedes screech through Nice, a spectacular battle. But it is in Paris where a stunning street clash features an E34 BMW 535i versus a Peugeot 406. Excellent sound editing keeps it real with throaty engine revs, crunching metal, and screeching tires. If you spy a look of terror across De Niro’s face, that’s real too. He is riding shotgun while the stuntman maneuvers narrow Paris streets.

Need for Speed

Need for Speed is a 2014 movie based on a gaming franchise of the same name. If you’re a fan of the popular video game, this is your film. Directed by Scott Waugh and starring Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, and Rami Malek, it’s a product of Disney Studios and DreamWorks. Michael Keaton makes an appearance, as does Dakota Johnson. Aaron Paul stars as Tobey. Yes, Paul is the one who plays Jesse on Breaking Bad.

The action-thriller is based on a street racing maverick named Tobey who gets thrown in jail for no reason. But he knows who framed him, so revenge themes drive the film. If watching hypercars race wildly in fast-action suspense is your kind of thing, Need for Speed delivers. Featured is a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, a McLaren P1, and a GTA Spano, to start. But can you believe a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and a Koenigsegg also feature in the same flick? These blazing fast cars press the speedometer needle into the 300-mph territory and cost millions of dollars each. What are you waiting for? Cue up Need for Speed!

Drive

Based on the novel by James Sallis, Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn delivered the downtown LA-based film Drive to the big screen. Director Refn is also responsible for Bronson and Valhalla Rising and a cultish following. The 2011 movie was filmed entirely on the streets of DTLA employing helicopter shots lit with spotlights from other cars. No CGI, in other words. The budget movie performs.

The Driver, the only name given to the main character who is a movie stunt driver by day and a back-door delivery agent by night, is played by Ryan Gosling. He mans a sleek 1973 silver Chevy Chevelle Malibu, providing a crime scene get-a-way vehicle. But his nighttime work gets him in trouble when one of the heists goes south. Driver is forced into a situation that threatens his love interest, Irene, and her child. He must man-up or risk everything.

Carey Mulligan plays Irene, and Oscar Isaac plays her husband, Standard, who is just getting released from prison. This mixes things up as well, seeing how Irene and Driver just fell in love. A whopping 92% of critics liked it and it got an A- from Deadspin: “This is pop art of the highest degree.’

John Wick: Chapter Two

Following up on John Wick, the sequel, John Wick: Chapter Two is a high-caliber action-flick. Keanu Reeves leads as a former assassin who is forced to come out of retirement. Reeves dominates the action-star role with finesse, reminding us why we watch suspense thrillers featuring Keanu Reeves. The humor is spot on. Directed by Chad Stahelski, the 2017 flick also stars Common, Laurence Fishburne, Ricardo Scamarcio and Ruby Rose.

For those of us who are car freaks, what is even more exciting than Wick’s assassin impulses is the cars he drives. Prominently featured is a Mach 1 Mustang. Other classics include a 1970 Chevelle SS 454 and a 1969 Mustang Boss 429. That one was stolen from Wick. (You can bet he wants it back.) He employs his Chevelle SS for the task. Stay tuned for one of the best ever car scenes. It took about eight takes, but the jump and drift out of the narrow warehouse opening was worth destroying one of the film production Mustangs. Check it out.

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry

Based on Richard Unekis’ novel The Chase, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry stars Peter Fonda and Susan George. Released in 1974, the car chase movie also stars a yellow and black striped 1966 Chevy Impala and a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 440.

Filmed on location in the backroads of Stockton, California, with plenty of space to race muscle cars, NASCAR hopeful Larry Rayder (Fonda) steals cash from a supermarket to finance racing ambitions. He planned to buy a race car. Fleeing from the heist, the racing enthusiast runs into Mary; she tags along, and they complete their outlaw team. More than a third of the film is dedicated to wild car chases and superbly staged crashes, but don’t look too far for a point to this movie. It is what it is.

Hell or High Water

Hell or High Water premiered at Cannes in 2016 and hit the big screen in August of that year. The film received four Oscar nominations. Movie studio Film 44 brought the new-Western drama-suspense directed by Englishman David Mackenzie to theaters. Hell or High Water stars Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, and Dale Dickey.

Critics loved it. Vulture magazine wrote, “Hell or High Water is a rare humanist Western: Finality is the true villain.” A masterful score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis leads the mood. It takes place in Texas, where a pair of bank-robbing brothers (Pine and Foster) stalk small-scale banks for quick cash. For a Western, it is dialogue-heavy, and the commentary of its final scene outdoes any Western in the genre, according to Vulture. And, of course, there is a car in the picture. The brothers use a 1987 Chevy Camaro as their get-away vehicle. Plenty of other vintage cars co-star.

Locke

A juiced-up BMW moves the story of Locke down the road, along with its main character. Behind the wheel is Tom Hardy playing Ivan Locke. He is supposed to go home for dinner with his family, but when he gets a call from his wife wondering when he’ll return from work, he says, “I need you to hold it together.” Obviously, she asks what happened. All she hears back is, “I’ll fix it, and it’ll all go back to normal.” He doesn’t come home that night nor return to work the next day.

Even though a car shines front of center, this 2014 film is less about wild car chase action and more about delving into the deeper passageways of Locke’s complicated consciousness. Have no fear, the dramatic dialogue–a lot of monologue–doesen’t leave you high and dry, a bit of humor is waiting at every turn. Locke is a mystery-suspense drama that will have you reaching to grab the wheel.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 action-adventure comedy written and directed by Will Farrell and Adam McKay (Anchorman). Ebert & Roeper say it’s “One of the stupidest and one of the funniest movies in Will Farrell’s career.”

Ricky Bobby, son of parents who conceived him in a roadside cafe bathroom, makes it big in life. The riotous slapstick tale traces America’s No. 1 NASCAR driver and Wonder Bread sponsor, Ricky Bobby (Will Farrell), from the height of his wealth and glory as a Wonder Bread sponsor, to his game-ending crash-and-burn.

Bobby’s fall is grand. In a fiery crash, he loses everything. Gone is his sizzling-hot trophy wife, lost to his best friend and racing partner. No more is his McMansion abode with a garage full of high-end performance machines. Stuck living with his parents, Rick Bobby will never race again. And it is all because of a French Formula One racer named Jean Girard (Sacha Cohen). Will he have a comeback chance?

Tucker: The Man and His Dream

This story is about an automotive dream that didn’t come true. Ford dreamed of watching thousands of cars roll off his assembly line invention, and his dream created the biggest automotive company in the world. Tucker: The Man and His Dream portrays Preston Tucker (Jeff Bridges) and his dream to produce his beautiful and amazing automobiles, but frankly, automotive history did not roll in his direction.

Preston Tucker, the tale reveals, built 50 of his lavish 1948 Tucker sedans, but competition in post-WWII Detroit by the top three manufacturers pulled the plug on his ambitions. Corruption from DC served as their accomplices. This 1988 film by Francis Ford Coppola also stars Joan Allen, Dean Stockwell, Lloyd Bridges, and Martin Landau.

Herbie Fully Loaded

The year 2019 might be the last year that Volkswagen Beetles are ever produced, but the adorable VW Bug Herbie will live forever. In Herbie Fully loaded, Maggie Peyton has dreams to modify the magical Herbie into a competitive NASCAR racer. It’s playful and funny, a car movie the whole family will adore.

The endearing Disney movie stars Lindsay Lohan, as Maggie, Matt Dillon, Justin Long, Michael Keaton, and Breckin Meyer. Premiering in 2005, the movie is the sixth adventure starring Herbie. Herbie came to life first in The Love Bug, released in 1960. Guest appearances by NASCAR greats Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon delight. The Herbie Fully Loaded soundtrack features Lindsay Lohan’s single, “First,” among a spray of big-name artists’ tracks.

The Hitch-Hiker

They should not have picked up that hitch-hiking sociopath, but then there would not be a movie. Based on a true story, The Hitch-Hiker is a 1953 oldie starring Edmund O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy on the road; and William Tallman as the murderous fugitive. Directed by British filmmaker Ida Lupino, this movie was the first film noir by a woman.

The entirety of the film takes place inside of a generic car. The two men are off to a fishing expedition when they make the fatal mistake of giving a wanted murderer a lift. The hitchhiker is a psychopathic misanthrope wanted for murder in several states. The character was inspired by WIlliam Cook, who was ultimately executed at San Quentin for his long list of horrific murders. Watch it in its entirety at The Guardian.

The Blues Brothers

You might not think of The Blues Brothers as a car flick, but its chase scenes area classic too. To wit, its many spectacular high-speed pursuit scenes ending in a smashed-up mess contributed to the reason this film was one of the costliest comedies ever made. The hilarious “Bluesmobile” is so famous it now lives in Tennessee at Rusty’s TV and Movie Car Museum.

The 1980 film starring legendary comics John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd created an iconic masterpiece out of a Saturday Night Live skit. The Blues Brothers band played for real, and its fictional characters lived as household names. The movie was chockfull of epic scenes. Director John Landis brought the backbone of American soul music into a sprawling collage that is a musical, a comedy, a drama, a production of unmatched cinematic proportions. Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, to name a few, sing, dance, and make The Blues Brothers live on as a gift to American culture.

Baby Driver

Crime-action film Baby Driver hit theaters in 2017. Starring Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Lily James and Eliza González, this movie is about Baby finding trouble and also love and money. It’s a sweet ride. The Chicago Sun-Times says, “Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is one of the most entertaining thrill rides of this year, this decade.” People are drawn to the edgy avant-garde style of this flick.

Ansel Elgort is Baby. Baby is a heist accomplice, and he is on the run from would-be assassins. The teenage get-away driver brings a lit soundtrack to life through his earbuds. Part romantic comedy, Baby meets sweetheart Debora (Lily James) at a cafe. A souped-up, red Subaru WRX is one of Baby’s rides. But he also screeches around corners in a Dodge Challenger Hellcat packed with 707 horsepower.

Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood needs no introduction. In Gran Torino (2008), Eastwood produces, directs, and stars as cranky old vet Walt Kowalski. Riddled with PTSD, he’s not the most pleasant man to be around, but cracks of kindness in his veneer endear the film. The Guardian sums it up like this, “This is still an enjoyably big, brash, macho melodrama, saved from absurdity by Eastwood’s cracking performance.”

You can imagine the gun-toting old man was not happy when some thieves tried to make off with his precious Grand Torino. He helped build that car on the Ford assembly line when he was a worker. The local gang members, those who torment his neighbors and steal his prized classic car, are no match for this old Army dude. Audiences loved it more than critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Death Proof

Billed as a “crash course in revenge,” Death Proof is another foray into cinema by the renowned Quentin Tarantino. The 2007 film stars Kurt Russell, a psycho-killer former movie stuntman named Mike, who has a fetish for assassinating young women. Co-stars Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd (there is a long list of actresses, as he kills them off one by one) Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamila poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Zoë Bell are the objects of Tarantino’s sexploitation theme. The exploitation horror flick pays tribute to 1970s slasher, muscle car movies. Tarantino explains that his version “is going to be f*cked up and disjointed, but it seemingly uses the structure of a slasher film, hopefully against you.”

Most importantly, the car. Mike calls his muscle car “death proof,” and he uses it to kill the young girls by smashing head-first into his victims. He receives minimal injury since the car was built as a stunt car which is the reason he calls it, “death proof.” The revenge part, if you don’t mind a spoiler, happens when three of his victims survive and come after him as a team. The murder weapons include a 1970 Chevy Nova, a white 1970 Dodge Charger, and a 1969 Dodge Charger.

The Italian Job

Streets of LA and canals of Venice were shut down to shoot chase scenes for the American action-adventure heist film The Italian Job. According to Director F. Gary Gray, the 2003 movie pays homage to the 1969 British original of the same name. A fun cast of Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Seth Green and Edward Norton enliven the story of lifelong wealthy criminals and their caper of vengeance. Mos Def is even onboard, contributing to the clever and funny parts.

When Stella’s (Charlize Theron) mob boss gets killed by an act of betrayal, a band of high-class criminals work together on a revenge heist. Stella is dragged into their plans, which adds some wild chase scenes in her shiny, red Mini Cooper. It is the perfect size for tight alleyways and narrow passageways. The playful story shifts from Venice to LA. Three more Minis jump into the action, a nod of authenticity to The Italian Job (1969). Also making an appearance is an Aston Martin DB4 and a Lamborghini Miura.

Fast Five

Here’s a movie that is truly about the cars. Heck, it’s a whole franchise about the cars. In fact, Fast Five (2011) is the fifth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. It is also a sequel to the 2009 film. So, why are these movies so popular that Universal Pictures has made at least 10 Fast & Furious movies?: Vin Diesel, the late Paul Walker, and Dwayne Johnson. Oh, and the cars.

Fast Five, also known as Furious 5: Rio Heist, serves as the pivoting point in the Furious movies from primarily street racing to heist-action movies. In this movie, the heist they plot has a grand sum of $100 million. Audiences loved it. The movie brought in $625 million at worldwide box offices. It placed 66 on the highest-grossing movies of 2011.

The first awesome car featured is a Ford GT40. But the opening scene also includes a classic 1971 Pantera muscle car and a 1965 Corvette Grand Sport. The movie hosts a parking lot-full of various makes, it’s like a beefy buffet of automotive brawn. Notable, however, is the 1970 Charger manned by the strapping Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel). O’Conner (Paul Walker) is behind the wheel of a 1972 Skyline. And, to top the list, a Koenigsegg CCX; Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) claims that rare carbon-fiber hypercar. He brags, in the movie, that his car is the fastest in the world, and one of four ever made.

Mad Max 2

Mad Max 2 is another movie roaring with automotive might, though common makes and models you will not find. Instead, this movie is full of modified machines concocted out of necessity in a dystopic wasteland. It’s one of those sequels that rivals the original. Released in theaters as Road Warrior in 1981, it follows up on the original 1979 Mad Max story, inhabiting a post-apocalyptic desert landscape where everything is scarce, especially the fuel that powers each machine across the vehicle-strewn landscape.

Mad Max, played by Mel Gibson, is stranded in a wilderness of dust and dirt and lives as a nomad having lost his wife and child. Cruising in his modified Ford Falcon, a ruthless looking black V8, road battles are a common thing. Max faces villain Wex (Vernon Wells) in one of the most epic road battles. He also pairs up with Gyron Captain (Bruce Spence). Plots to acquire black gold, oil in other words, drive the action. It’s one of the most classic action-adventure, sci-fi films ever made.

Collateral

Collateral is a 2004 neo-noir crime thriller starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. A cabbie named Max (Foxx) becomes a hostage in the middle of a contract killing orchestrated by Vincent (Cruise). Directed by Michael Mann, Collateral co-stars Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, and Bruce McGill, plus Jada Pinkett Smith as Annie, a Los Angeles attorney.

In essence, Max, the cab driver, is bargaining for his life (and for others on the killer’s list) with a would-be assassin. He tells stories to extend people’s lives by distracting the murderer as they drive. His task becomes even more vital when he finds out that his pretty friend Annie, the one he gave a cab ride to earlier and shared a conversation with during the opening scene, is on the hitman’s list. The cars featured in this film include a Los Angeles cab, a 2003 BMW and a 2000 BMW X5.

Speed

Speed is one of those stressful movies that has you hanging onto the edge of your seat with your jaw clenched tight for the duration. A speeding city bus, full of people, is wired to explode by a crazed bomber, but only if it slows down to under 50 mph.

The race is on for stars Kenau Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels. This is what they are up against: Reeves plays LA Bomb Squad specialist and Dennis Hopper plays the mad bomber harboring an explosive extortion scheme. The 1994 movie features a bus most prominently. Critics liked it. Audiences agreed. All told, Speed brought $350 million to the box office.

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver is a legendary Robert De Niro’s breakout film and the start of his long dear collaboration with Martin Scorsese. De Niro’s role as the slightly whacked Vietnam vet Travis Bickle earned him his first Best Actor Academy Award nomination. Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, and Cybill Shepherd starred in the 1976 neo-noir psych thriller. Most memorable, arguably, is De Niro’s enduring line, “You talkin’ to me?”

Travis Bickle’s 1974 checkered taxicab is the leading car in this film. Taking a ride in the back of his mind is a creepy and sordid affair. The action gets heated when Bickle’s vigilante tendencies find him rescuing a young girl from a life of prostitution. He gets himself in a world of trouble, but he’s hailed as a hero for his efforts.

Christine

The car is not the good guy in this 1983 movie. Instead, the car is Christine, a demonically possessed self-driving murderer. What do you expect? It is Steven King’s brainchild. His main character from the novel Christine is a cherry-red 1958 Plymouth Fury, and she comes to life in this horror movie directed by John Carpenter.

Since the car is possessed by Satan, It possesses its driver as well. The car’s driver is Arnie (Keith Gordon). He’s a scrawny teen boy who doesn’t know what he is getting into once he buys Christine. Everything goes okay until the Plymouth Fury gets jealous of his new girlfriend. It’s a full-blown horror movie from then on out. Christine is 3,500 pounds of indestructible steel. As a bonus detail, Kevin Bacon was cast to play Arnie, but went with Footloose instead.

Dukes of Hazzard

The Duke boys’ 1969 orange Dodge Charger racer is truly the star of this movie. Consider yourself introduced to General Lee. It’s orange and black with NASCAR livery, replete, of course, with a special horn that honks in tune to “Dixieland.” The actual stars are Johnny Knoxville as luke and Seann William Scott as Bo. Daisy is brought to us by Jessica Simpson. It’s just like the old 1980s sitcom you may have loved as a kid, flash forward to the 21st century.

In 2005, Dukes of Hazzard rounded out the summer with its theatrical release. You’re not going to believe it (tongue fully in-cheek) but critics hated it. It hit just 14% on the Tomatometer. Apparently, there was no audience reaction worth posting on Rotten Tomatoes. One of ist best reviews comes from the Chicago Reader, who calls it, “Good, stupid fun.” So, if you like a movie with gratuitous, exploitative, crude sexual humor, then this is your flick.

The Transporter

Ex-Special Ops officer Frank Martin (Jason Statham) is available for hire. His price is steep, but he will transport anything, no matter the risk. He’s called “the transporter”, and everything goes well until it doesn’t.

The Transporter hit theaters in 2003. The action-thriller also stars Matt Schulze and Qi Shu. Filmed in France and directed by French director Louis Leterrier along with director Corey Yuen, it was inspired by The Hire series from BMW Films. It is filmed on location. The transporter’s car is a slick, black BMW 735i. Some highlights are shot racing through Nice. Reviews settled on ‘mid’. It’s a packed genre, to be sure, but hot-pursuit chases by elite team operatives played by Statham are always fun.

Repo Man

Everyone is after the Orange Crush-hued 1964 Chevy Malibu in Repo Man, but one team is paid to track it down. Emilio Estevez plays Otto, a repo man in training, as it were, by the quirky Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), a longtime repo man showing the rookie how to play the game. Car repossession is a dangerous gig. Most people don’t want to lose their vehicles, some of those people are 6’10” and aggressive. After the Feds put a bounty on the car, every other repo man in the LA-area is after the vehicle. It seems aliens may be involved with that Chevy, and the CIA is on a mad search to find it.

Variety enthused: “Repo Man” has the type of unerring energy that leaves audiences breathless and entertained.” It’s a distinctively LA film that hits home with Bud’s running commentary. Filmed mostly on location, Repo Man is an unconventional film that took spectacular risks that paid off spectacularly. The organic and original comedy hits spot on with a continuous string of hilarious surprises.

The Cannonball Run

In 1981, The Cannonball Run was a wildly popular movie at the box office. And why not? It’s got a fantastic cast, and it was directed by Hal Needham, former stuntman and movie maker. The Cannonball Run is a coast-to-coast street contest, racing from Connecticut to California. It’s known as America’s illegal Grand Prix, and anything goes. Dodging the law and sprinting to the finish line, plenty of fun is packed into this road adventure.

The American comedy starred Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, and featured appearances by Jackie Chan, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin. Some of the vehicles racing The Run are a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 manned by Seymour (Moore) and a Chevy Chevelle Laguna with Terry (Bradshaw) and Mel (Tillis) behind the wheel. The most implausible, a 1978 Dodge Sportsman ambulance, is driven by the film’s stars playing Victor and J.J.

Holy Motors

Holy Motors may be an artsy, intellectual French film, but that doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with surreal car scenes and bawdy humor. Limousines parked in the Holy Motors garage chit chat. While you’d expect cars to be talking to one another in an animated Disney movie, you don’t expect it in a full-length sci-fi film. The surrealist Holy Motors pulls it off masterfully. In this film’s magical fictional world about a mystery man named Monsieur Oscar, one of those limos is Oscar’s mode of transport.

When The Guardian asks director Leos Carax why he chose to feature those particular luxury cars, he said, “I always liked [stretched limousines]. I thought they were both sexy and morbid, obviously, they’re meant to be seen, but you can’t see who is in them, like a bubble or a virtual world.” He also pointed out that they are always rented, no one owns a limo.

Critics at Cannes goggled over it. At that festival, Holy Motors was nominated for the Palme d’Or. Many considered it the best film of 2012. Denis Lavant plays Monsieur Oscar. Édith Scob, Eva Mendes, and Kylie Minogue also star.

Rush

The movie is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth. Those two facts, alone, should get you rushing to see this 2014 historical drama about two entrenched rivals battling it out at the 1976 Formula One season. Rush portrays James Hunt (Hemsworth) in a locked competition with Niki Lauda (Daniel Brül). One is an English playboy and the other is a diligent Austrian racer.

The thrill of winning and the addiction to speed drive racers, but it’s a dangerous calling. And why don’t they make it safer? As James Hunt says, “The risk of death turns people on.” Rush looks inward too. At one point, Hunt warns, “don’t go to men who are willing to kill themselves driving in circles looking for normality.” It’s a philosophical look at death that risks it anyway.

Taste of Cherry

Here’s a predicament. Suicide is illegal under Islamic law, and Mr. Badii, living in Tehran, is searching for someone to bury him after he commits suicide. Specifically, he wants to be buried under a cherry tree. This film by Abbas Kiarostami won the 1997 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

On Mr. Badii’s search to find someone to provide his death wish, he runs into a Turkish taxidermist who drives him around the dusty roads of Iran while trying to convince the suicidal man of life’s beauty. Critics liked it. Time wrote, “The talk flows persuasively; the picture pulses with art and humanity.”

American Graffiti

Some might be surprised that American Graffiti was directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The 1962 coming-of-age story features a rocking soundtrack, crazy adolescent love, and rockin’ cars. It’s about a teen in the “good old days” of America. Starring Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Suzzane Somers, Cindy Williams and radio DJ Wolfman Jack, the nostalgic foray hit theaters in 1973. It was nominated for five Oscars.

American Graffiti highlighted a fleet of vintage cars. Most viewers remember the 1932 Ford Coupe and the white 1958 Chevy Impala. But there was also a 1956 Ford Thunderbird and a cherry-red 1951 Mercury Coupe. Memorably, Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) races a ‘55 Chevy sedan in the final match against a yellow Deuce Coupe.

Two for the Road

Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney star in Two for the Road (1967). It’s essentially a love story that takes place on the road. Accompanying the drives through the South of France are a white Mercedes-Benz 230 SL, a Roadster, an MG TD an Alfa Romeo, and a Triumph Herald. The various cars from different eras serve to remind the viewer of the setting’s time and place since the story is presented nonlinearly. It takes place through a 12-year time period, beginning when the couple fell in love.

AV Club calls it “a clear-eyed, openhearted, and ultimately open-ended portrait of a marriage.” Directed by Stanley Donen, Two for the Road was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. It was filmed on location in France.

Cars

The animated film Cars came to us from Pixar in 2006. It’s one of Disney’s best successes, adored by children and parents alike. Though these cars aren’t real, individually they represent some of the most popular classic cars on the road.

Doc Hudson, voiced by Paul Newman, is a ‘51 Hudson Hornet, a famous NASCAR stock car nicknamed “the Fabulous Hudson.” Fillmore (George Carlin) is the classic ‘60 VW Bus. And lovable Luigi (Tony Shalhoub) is a ‘59 Fiat 500. Representing classic 1950s automobiles is Flo, a ‘57 GM Motorama show car. And we can’t forget Lizzie, a ‘23 Ford Model T.

Owen Wilson voices the main character, an ego-heavy racer named Lightning McQueen, whose problems direct the storyline. It’s no wonder the band of anthropomorphic cars enamored kids. Toddlers will sit for hours driving their Matchbox cars around, making them talk to each other in pretend play, and Cars animated this world for them.

Vanishing Point

This action-thriller road flick is about a dude who wants to race cross-country to win a bet. He loves speed and the namesake drug too. His gig is to deliver a supercharged Dodge Challenger Race and Track (R/T) 440 from Denver to San Francisco, as fast as he can.

Vanishing Point stars Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, and Dean Jagger. Kowalski (Newman), a Vietnam vet, a former race car driver, and a dishonorably discharged police officer, is relentlessly pursued by two cops. He gets some help from a radio station DJ and hippie biker named Angel. On the way, Kowalski also gets propositioned to race a Jaguar E-Type roadster. You know who wins. (The maniac in the hero-car Challenger.) It’s a rock and roll movie, so it makes sense that Rolling Stone magazine liked it. “In a time when vacant retreads such as The Fast and the Furious are the problem, Vanishing Point is the answer.”

Bullitt

Bullitt was billed with its chase scene, and rightfully so. It is one of the most famous car chases ever, living in the hall of fame of chase scenes. The trailer screeches and squeals through the instantly-recognizable hilly avenues of San Francisco. It’s a classic film that was released in 1968. Frank Bullitt, a tough-as-nails SF police detective, played by Steve McQueen, the embodiment of ‘60s-era cool, goes after mobsters sullying the city. He drives the famous green ‘68 Ford Mustang Fastback like a madman. Bullitt also stars Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, and Don Gordon. Robert Duvall makes an appearance as a cabbie. The action-thriller was directed by Peter Yates.

The appeal of Bullitt lives on. Just recently, the iconic forest-green ‘Stang from the film sold for $3.74 million at auction. During filming, two ‘68 Fastbacks were used, one for stunt scenes and one for beauty shots.

Thelma and Louise

Not many car movies star two women behind the wheel. Perhaps that’s why Thelma and Louise is such an iconic road trip movie. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are Thelma and Louise. The women plan a weekend getaway to escape boyfriend problems. To that end, they hop into Louise’s ‘66 Ford Thunderbird and unwittingly become outlaws as they wind their way through the vast entrails of the country’s landscape, from Oklahoma to Colorado. A cop is on their trail, and he chases them all the way to the Grand Canyon.

Thelma and Louise won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Incidentally, this movie was Brad Pitt’s breakout film, for which he was paid a paltry $6,000.

Mad Max

Mad Max Rockatansky is legendary. He’s a badass cop who survives an apocalyptic disaster in the Austrian outback. Mad Max is a 1979 futuristic sci-fi film taking place during the not-to-distant future after the collapse of society. It’s a ruthless world and he’s seen the worst of man. The worst of the worst is a bloody, murderous pack of motorcyclists who were furious because Mad Max gutted one of their bad guys. In retaliation, the biker gang slaughtered Max’s entire family. He has nothing left to do but go savage on them to avenge the murders.

Written by James McCausland with director George Miller, the film sparked a massive franchise based on Mel Gibson’s portrayal as the indelible Mad Max. Barely recognizable, a blacked-out, modified 1973 Ford Falcon GT hardtop, growling with a supercharged V8 that thrusts prominently through the hood, is Max’s go-to vehicle. Quadruple side-exhaust nails in the car’s vitriolic demeanor. The iconic 600-horsepower hero car was so famous it starred throughout the franchise.

Taxi

Reminiscent of Taste of Cherry, Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015) is a docu-fiction film that takes place in Tehran. Due to political dissent, director Panahi has been banned from filming in Iran for twenty years. Undeterred, he has made three internationally acclaimed movies since then, and Taxi is one of them. He produced, directed, wrote, and starred in the movie. He did everything, including music and cinematography.

It goes without saying, a taxicab features predominately. Panahi mounted a camera on the dash of his yellow cab and drove around the streets of Tehran transporting people to their destinations. Meanwhile, he is recording the conversations which are sometimes touching and philosophical. As a political dissident, he is well known, so the self-aware commentary breaks the fourth wall, serving as a documentary film of his exile from filmmaking.

Smokey and the Bandit

That sleek, 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am driven by Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit made the Trans Am a very popular American car for Pontiac. The Bandit (Reynolds) is a vigilante racecar driver who makes a deal to deliver a shipment of beer all the way from Georgia to Texas in just 28 hours. The thing is, shipping alcohol without a permit is illegal. The adventure is rollicking fun. A love triangle tangentially involves Smoke, the sheriff, who is after the Bandit. The Bandit, our suave male lead, is directly involved, to no one’s surprise. It makes for a complicated and funny conflict. The action-adventure comedy opened in theaters on New Year’s Day in 1977.

Besides Burt Reynolds, Smokey and the Bandit stars Sally Field as the love-triangle interest, Jerry Reed, and Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Smokey. It was the No. 2 highest-grossing box office hit of 1977, second only to Star Wars.

The Last American Hero

Jeff Bridges and Valerie Perrine star in this 1973 NASCAR movie based on the true story of Junior Johnson. The Last American Hero is one tough dude. Junior Johnson (Bridges) is a Southern boy who drove moonshine runs through North Carolinian backroads. He trained as a ruthless demolition derby driver and dominated as a stock car racer. He and his black Mustang raced to the top of the professional stock car circuit. Johnson became one of NASCAR’s first celebrity drivers.

The story is based on two articles by Tom Wolfe. And, with Johnson on board as technical advisor for the film, the end product is an authentically told story brought to life on the big screen by director Lamont Johnson and 20th Century Fox.

Gone in 60 Seconds

Eleanor, a custom 1971 Ford Mustang Sportsroof model, stars in Gone in 60 Seconds (1974). She’s the only Ford Mustang to ever receive a starring role credit in a movie. Co-stars Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda, James McIntyre, and George Cole also share the cast credits list. Filmmaker, actor, and stuntman H.B. Halicky wrote and directed the film. He was very involved. He stepped in to do the stunts no one else dared to do. Sadly, the hardcore daredevil was killed when the most dramatic stunt in the sequel film, Gone in 60 Seconds 2 (1989) went terribly wrong.

Plenty of other cars co-star, and they all have names, just like in Cars. The 1974 movie is about a band of thieves who must steal 48 cars within a strict deadline set by a ruthless South American drug lord. The famous Gone in 60 Seconds chase scene destroyed a record number of movie cars. Within 36 minutes, a total of 93 cars were destroyed. By the end of the film, 127 cars were demolished. The seminal chase scene is revered as one of the most memorable ever, created by actual filming, not by AI-powered CGI.

Thunder Road

This classic 1958 crime-thriller stars Robert Mitchum, a tough-as-nails Korean War veteran who served as a military policeman. When he returns home, he is forced to abandon his law and order career to run the family moonshine crime ring. Struggling with PTSD and his conscience, the character is at first adamant about preventing his younger brother from getting involved in the illegal moonshine business, and at the same time, battling city gangsters who are vying to take it over. Thunder Road is the quintessential moonshine bootleg film. Scenes depicting cars ripping down Tennessee dirt roads at top speed to deliver the goods plus epic car chases make Thunder Road the best moonshine movie ever made.

Mitchum was the executive producer and he wrote the original story. Fun fact: He co-wrote and recorded one of the songs on the soundtrack called “Wippoorwill.” It became a surprise hit.

The Fast and the Furious

The Fast and the Furious hit the big screen for the first time in 2001. One reason audiences loved it is Dominic Toretto (Diesel). The brazen character spits out badass lines in confident monotone: “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. Nothing else matters. For those 10 seconds or less, I’m free.” It’s the delivery that really nails it. One tough amigo. He lives in a world beyond law and order. Which adolescent gearhead is not impressed? Zero.

The Fast and the Furious delivers what its viewers want–hiar-raising stunts, rip-roaring reckless street races, and the thrill of danger. Dom’s street-racing acumen makes him a local hero. Things get messy when an undercover cop joins their ranks, especially because Dom and his buddy are crime suspects. The movie headlining Vin Diesel and Paul Walker raked in an astounding $200 million worldwide.

The Cars That Ate Paris

Deadpan comedy, The Cars That Ate Paris is a classic B-movie from 1974. The absurdist satire creates a world in which townsmen rig car accidents on unsuspecting travelers following an economic downturn that hit a fictional town called Paris, Australia. Selling scrap parts is now the town’s most lucrative business. To this end, the townsmen convert a local dirt road into a hellish trap that heads straight into a ravine. Awaiting lucrative parts that survived the sabotaged crash, parts are scavenged and resold or repurposed. It’s a dark comedy, but earns its place as one of the greatest car movies.

Rebel Without a Cause

Most agree that Rebel Without a Cause is representative of the era of Hollywood cinema that defined ideals of American masculinity. Yet, this movie about teenage angst set against the backstage of suburban household monotony was less ambitious. It was billed as “Entertainment of unforgettable emotional impact!” and “A story that daringly meets the challenge of today’s most vital controversy!”, without ever mentioning the controversy. It was a decent film as well as James Dean’s first lead role. It was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) was an unprecedented success. James Dean’s tragic crash a month before the film was released surely secured the movie’s box office command and placed it in the eternal vault of popular culture. In life and in death, everything he touched effortlessly turned to “cool”. To this point, Dean, playing Jim Stark, immortalized the 1949 Mercury Coupe in the halls of popularity, despite the fact it was considered a middle-class family sedan prior to filming.

The French Connection

Another unforgettable classic movie featuring car chases is The French Connection (1971). Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider are a NYPD detective team on the trail of a European international narcotic crime syndicate. It is based on a true story. The iconic NYC movie is legendary. At the Times UK, a reviewer observed, “It’s hard to imagine it now, but there are only two types of cop movie: pre and post-The French Connection. That’s how big it is.”

The car in the film that plays a leading role is the Lincoln Continental Mark III. Smuggled in from Marseille, it is packed with narcotics. This is the French connection. More stand-outs are Sal’s (Tony Lo Bianco) ‘71 Ford LTD and his ‘61 Comet Sedan. Memorably, a ‘66 Pontiac LeMans is used for the famous chase scene through the subway system.

Death Race 2000

Mr. Frankenstein is a national hero in the seriously messed up world of Death Race 2000 (1975). Costumed like Batman, save for the perky ears, any vestige of a moral world in this futuristic dystopia is held by him. Yet, he’s the most ruthless competitor of all in a game of civilian slaughter. He’s a winner. Past wins took a toll. He lost three limbs, and that’s not all. Undeterred, he revealed to his co-pilot “navigator”, “[I lost my] right eye in ninety-five, and my nose and my left eye in ninety-seven, and most of my cranium in ninety-eight. I’m held together with patches of plastic and steel plates.” The 2000 race finds him equipped with a newly installed mechanical right arm, engineered for lightning-fast precise shifting.

The cartoonish B-movie takes place during the fictional aftermath of the “world crash of ‘79.” It’s a parody of competitive, winner-takes-all American ideology that drives it to its logical conclusion.

We wouldn’t have an American story without fan clubs cheering the blood-sport car race from the sidelines pitted against the political protesters who rally against it. Shutting down the protesters, the President declares the coast-to-coast race the most popular sporting event in the history of mankind. The protesters call it a gratuitous display of inhumane violence. “The victims are like Christians being fed to the gladiators,” they say. It is not far off.

The transnational race, a race to the death–destination LA–is based on a point system. Running over and killing an elderly person scores 100 points. Toddlers are worth 70. Surprisingly, it squeaks out a happy ending.