Classic car movies for classic car people!
Car movies that the new generation of japanese car style drifting movies would probably hate. Classic cars, classic movies. Some trucker and racing movies might also find their way into the list. I put them in the order I think you need to see them, starting from the top. The list is not complete, I will add movies as I watch them. Feel free to comment about movies you think should be on the list, so I can watch them, or give my opinion why I don't want them on my list. Heart Like a Wheel, American Graffiti and Tucker I didn't watch for quite some time, so their # on the list might be changed later. Motorcycle movies were also on this list originally, but later got into a list of its own!
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- DirectorHal NeedhamStarsBurt ReynoldsSally FieldJerry ReedThe Bandit is hired on to run a tractor-trailer full of beer over state lines, in hot pursuit by a pesky sheriff."The boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana!"
Driving fast, driving far, transporting beer! The top three interests of any man, and they are all in this movie. Also great music by Jerry Reed. - DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.A 1974 Dodge Monaco sedan takes the Blues Brothers on a mission from God! Great music, with loads of living musical legends.
- DirectorRichard C. SarafianStarsBarry NewmanCleavon LittleCharlotte RamplingDuring the 1970s, car-delivery driver Kowalski delivers hot rods in record time, but always runs into trouble.'70 Dodge Challenger, Benzedrine and desert, what could possibly go wrong?
- DirectorGeorge ArmitageStarsGregg HenryPernell RobertsRobin MattsonA drag-racer enters a local championship race. However, he runs up against the town boss, a corrupt sheriff who has already made arrangements to ensure that his own son wins the race.This movie has got everything! Hot rods, gassers, street races, drag racing, fighting big shots and corrupt cops, great music, and a nice story.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsJames TaylorWarren OatesLaurie BirdWhile drag-racing through the American Southwest in a Chevrolet 150, a driver and his mechanic cross paths with an enigmatic hitchhiker and the tall-tale-spinning driver of a GTO.Two guys cruise cross country in their '55 Chevy gasser, to find opportunities to race. Pretty relaxed movie, really worth watching!
- DirectorRichard T. HeffronStarsMartin SheenVic MorrowMichelle PhillipsA deranged desert town sheriff has a murderous habit of forcing speeders to their deaths, until a young man with a souped-up hotrod arrives to possibly end it.A great movie from 1974, with Martin Sheen and Nick Nolte. Martin Sheen has a 1934 Ford V8 hot rod, the cop has a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere. The "California Kid" '34 Ford 3 window coupe was built by Pete Chapouris.
- DirectorLamont JohnsonStarsJeff BridgesValerie PerrineGeraldine FitzgeraldA young hellraiser quits his moonshine business to try to become the best NASCAR racer the south has ever seen.Junior is competing in stock car racing to win money to cover the costs of the lawyer, after the cops break down the family moonshine business. Jeff Bridges and Gary Busey as the two brothers, in a really good stock car racing movie.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsRichard PryorBeau BridgesPam GrierThe true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing driver to win an upper tier NASCAR race.A great Nascar movie, with Richard Pryor and Cleavon Little! Based on the story about Wendell Scott. It also features a cool custom Cadillac pick-up!
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodBee VangChristopher CarleyAfter a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.This movie maybe shouldn't be in this list at all! Forget car chases, hot rods, drag racing, etc. It's about a man (Clint Eastwood) that grew up in the times when cars were cars and men were men, and how he doesn't really fit in anymore. Oh, and he has a 1972 Gran Torino. Great movie, but probably the one with the least car action in this list.
- DirectorHallvard BræinStarsAnders BaasmoIda HusøySven NordinThe illegal sports car race "Street legal" goes 2000 kilometers through Norway from Oslo to North Cape, and Roy has been challenged to participate. At the same time, he has to look after his daughter.A great Norwegian movie! Roy is a car fanatic, running a speedshop and a yellow Boss 302 Mustang fastback drag racing car. For a bet, he and loads of people drives all the way to Nordkapp in whatever cars they have, Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaros, Porsches, Ferraris, rice-burners, etc, while the cops chase them.
- DirectorHal NeedhamStarsBurt ReynoldsNed BeattyJim NaborsThe title character, a popular NASCAR driver, clashes with the fried-chicken mogul that sponsors his racing team.Stroker Ace (Burt Reynolds) is a Nascar-driver. He's stuck with a horrible sponsor deal he's trying to get out of, and a blonde bombshell Sunday school teacher he's trying to get into. A bit cheesy, but good entertainment.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsWilliam SmithClaudia JenningsJohn SaxonAfter his sponsor replaces him with his arch rival, a race-car driver decides to steal the car and race it himself.The classic Sportmanship vs. Money, going down the 1/4 mile!
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsKris KristoffersonAli MacGrawErnest BorgnineTruckers form a mile-long "convoy" in support of a trucker's vendetta with an abusive sheriff - Based on the country song of the same title by C.W. McCall.Kris Kristofferson (trucker) vs. Ernest Borgnine (corrupt cop). A convoy of classic trucks, and a '71 Chevelle flying through a barn. Sometimes enough is enough, great movie!
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsPeter FondaSusan GeorgeAdam RoarkeDown-on-their-luck racers Larry and Deke steal from a supermarket manager to buy a car that will help them advance their racing chances. Their escape does not go as planned when Larry's one-night stand, Mary, tags along for the ride.Peter Fonda in a cat and mouse car chase with the cops, in a '66 Impala and '69 Charger R/T 440. Well worth watching.
- DirectorMatthew RobbinsStarsMark HamillAnnie PottsEugene RocheHigh school graduate Kenneth W. Dantley Junior and Vanessa, a hooker-in-training, try to track down his custom-made newly-stolen Corvette.A high school student (Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker) builds a custom C3 Corvette Stingray in the school garage. When it gets stolen, he has to do whatever it takes to get it back! Not a traditional car chase movie, more of a romantic action comedy revolving around this car. The movie seems like an infomercial for GM sometimes, and it includes a car chase between the Corvette and a black '71 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. All in all a nice and different car movie. An original mold of the Corvette is displayed at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
- DirectorWayne HollowayStarsJesse WilliamsRichard BlakeAshley HinshawThe untold story of how Southern California drag racers, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen combined with corporate giants to change the face of sports and ultimately became the most famous rivalry in racing history.Classic 70's funny car dragracing with Snake and Mongoo$e, in a pretty good movie!
- DirectorHal NeedhamStarsBurt ReynoldsJan-Michael VincentSally FieldAging Hollywood stuntman Sonny Hooper wants to prove that he's still got what it takes to be a great professional in this risky, under-recognized line of work.A 1978 movie with Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and a '78 Firebird Trans Am, sponsored by Coors... Not as good as Smokey and the Bandit, but what is? Hooper is a stunt man, working at a movie set while drinking beer and raising hell.
- DirectorRobert HarmonStarsJim CaviezelRhona MitraFrankie FaisonRennie Cray (Caviezel) embarks on a bloodthirsty rampage to avenge the death of his wife who was struck down by a serial killer - a man who hunts and kills women using his '72 El Dorado.Jim Caviezel (Reese from Person of Interest) uses a 1968 Barracuda to chase a freak in a 1972 Eldorado, while both of them are being chased by Frankie Faison (Commissioner Ervin H. Burrell from The Wire), a cop in a 1993 Crown Victoria. Great movie!
- DirectorJonathan KaplanStarsBonnie BedeliaBeau BridgesDiane DelanoShirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsJames DarrenPamela TiffinDoug McClureCasey Owens (James Darren), a young mechanic, has developed a design for a turbine car engine, paving the way for a jet-powered auto certain to set a new land speed record. Wealthy playboy Stanford Rogers (Peter Mann) hires Casey to build a car for him to attempt to set a new Land Speed Record. Chuck Manning (Doug McClure), an engineering student Casey met in a drag race, discovers potential flaws in the car's design. After an unsuccessful test run, Rogers abandons the turbine-powered. He decides to turn his attention to race a car in the Tristate Endurance Race. Casey and Chuck buy the wrecked Land Speed car and salvage the Turbine Engine. They fix the Turbine and install it in a car that they enter in the Tristate Endurance Race. Pamela Tiffin plays Eadie, Chuck's sister, who becomes Casey's love interest.A 1964 movie featuring the then-new Chrysler turbine car, in a race. Also featuring a race between a 1923 Dodge hot rod built by San Diego Prowlers member Joe Pirronello in the late 1950s and a 1929 Ford built by the Ayala Brothers at Gil's Auto Body Works in the early 50's.
- DirectorJay ChandrasekharStarsSeann William ScottJohnny KnoxvilleJessica SimpsonCousins Bo, Luke, and Daisy Duke, and their uncle Jesse, egg on the authorities of Hazzard County, Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane.Of course, both the General Lee ('69 Dodge Charger) and Daisy Dukes are originally from the series with the same name. Here you get these top two of confederate cultural icons served up in a movie with a bit of Willie Nelson, Jessica Simpson and Burt Reynolds.
- DirectorBrian Trenchard-SmithStarsJohn CusackThomas JaneZoe VentouraA former race car driver is abducted by a mysterious thief and forced to be the wheel-man for a crime that puts them both in the sights of the cops and the mob.Pretty cool Australian movie with John Cusack. It features a lot of car chase scenes, mainly with a Ford Falcon XA GT 351 and a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. A new movie with the classic getaway driver plot, with a bit of a twist.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJason LondonWiley WigginsMatthew McConaugheyThe adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.A newer version of American Graffiti basically, but taking place in the 70's. Great cars and great music!
- DirectorRon HowardStarsDaniel BrühlChris HemsworthOlivia WildeThe merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.A movie about Niki Lauda vs. James Hunt, interesting and exciting!
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRichard DreyfussRon HowardPaul Le MatA group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.