34 best car movies of our time

1. RUSH

Ron Howard directed this film based on the rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Watch it for the intense racing scenes and excellent performances from Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Lauda.

2. BABY DRIVER

Featuring the best car chase sequences in recent memory, Baby Driver is notable also for its fantastic soundtrack. And how about that red Subaru WRX in the film's opening? Director Edgar Wright can do no wrong.

3. DRIVE

Drive was included in many lists of the best film of 2011 and for good reason. Directed by Nicolas Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, the film featured gorgeous cinematography and excellent direction and performances. Also, in case you were wondering, the car Gosling drives in the film is a 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle.

4. THE ITALIAN JOB

The original came out in 1969, but the 2003 remake isn't bad. Directed by F. Gary Gray (who will go on to helm at least one of the films in The Fast and The Furious series), it stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton and an entire fleet of Mini Coopers.

5. TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY

Set in the world of NASCAR, the comedy film stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. It often appears as one of the best car movies ever made.

6. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

The film franchise is still going, with movie number 9 scheduled to be released in 2020, but the first one is still the benchmark. Starting out as a story about street car racers in Los Angeles, the films have evolved and become stories about international crime, spies and intrigue. Whatever the story, the series always involves a number of fast and beautiful cars.

7. THE TRANSPORTER

Jason Statham headlines the film series about the titular character who will "transport" anything, anywhere. In the original film, the main character Frank Martin drives a 1999 BMW 7 Series E38 and a Mercedes-benz W140.

8. COLLATERAL

While not strictly a car film, much of Collateral takes place in a taxicab driven by Max Durocher, played by Jamie Foxx. The film directed by Michael Mann features a strong performance by superstar Tom Cruise.

9. TRANSFORMERS

Anybody who grew up with the cartoon series Transformers must have rejoiced when they found out there was going to be a live action film series about the alien shape-shifting robots. Although the later films have varying degrees of success, the first one, directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia Labeouf, was a definite hit.

10. GONE IN 60 SECONDS

Starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie, Gone in 60 Seconds centers around a gang of car thieves tasked to steal 50 cars in 72 hours. Not the most entirely plausible plot, but we do get to see some pretty sweet rides, including some Shelby Mustang GT500S, Porsche 911 Carrera 996, a 1955 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider 750D, and many others.

11. FORD V FERRARI

Released just this past month, Ford v Ferrari centers around the dogged determination of Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles to build a racing car specifically to defeat the racing team of Italian brand Ferrari. Matt Damon and Christian Bale give convincing performances, but the cars also take center stage in this film.

12. REPO MAN

Widely considered to be one of the best films of 1984, Repo Man stars Emilio Estevez who teams up with a repossession agent played by Harry Dean Stanton to track a car with links to aliens. In case you were wondering the car was a 1964 Chevy Malibu.

13. LOGAN LUCKY

Director Steven Soderbergh came out of retirement to direct this ensemble piece led by Channing Tatum about a family of robbers planning to steal from the Charlotte Motor Speedway and the FBI agents who seek to spoil their plan. 14. CHRISTINE

Stephen King first wrote the book in 1983 about a sentient car and was quickly adopted into a movie the same year. Christine, which is the name of the car, is actually a vintage 1958 Plymouth Fury.

15. GOLDFINGER

The James Bond series may not exactly be car movies, but no one can argue that Bond's cars are a significant part of his mythos as his gadgets and perhaps the way he drinks his martinis. Goldfinger gets a special mention because it's the first one that introduced one of Bond's most iconic cars, the Aston Martin DB5, which has since gone on to appear in other Bond films.

16. BULLITT

There are few Hollywood legends cooler than Steve Mcqueen, and in this film, he gets to drive a 1968 Ford Mustang 390 fastback in one of of the most exciting and iconic car chase sequences in cinema history.

17. CARS

No list about the best car movies would be complete without mentioning Disney-pixar's Cars. Although the main character Lightning Mcqueen isn't modeled after a specific automobile, he most closely resembles and was inspired by the Chevrolet Corvette C6.

18. LE MANS

Le Mans stars Steve Mcqueen in the world of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the toughest car races in the world. It was filmed on location in the actual Le Mans circuit and features actual footage from the race.

19. RONIN

Ronin, starring Robert De Niro, features some of the best car chases in automotive film history. The film features some extraordinary cars, including a Peugeot 406, a Peugeot 605, a BMW 535i, an Audi S8, a Citroen XM, a Mercedes-benz SW116 and many others.

20. THE LOVE BUG

Lindsay Lohan starred in the 2005 remake, but the 1968 original is pretty charming in its own right. It features a VW Beetle, named, you guessed it, Herbie.

21. DAYS OF THUNDER

Back when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were still together, they were sharing top billing in movies like this one released in 1990. A notable car featured in the film is the Chevrolet Lumina, which Cruise drove.

22. DEATH RACE

Jason Statham stars in this film set in a dystopian future where a private prison sets up modern day gladiator games with prisoners as contestants. The car races featured 2006 Ford Mustang GT, 2007 Dodge Ram 3500, 1966 Buick Riviera, 1980 Porsche 911, 1989 Jaguar XJS, 2006 Chrysler 300C, 1972 Buick Riviera "Boat Tail," 1979 Pontiac Trans Am, and the 1989 BMW 735i.

23. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

Released in 1968, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is based on a novel by James Bond author Ian Fleming about a flying car. According to BBC, the featured car is powered by a Ford three-litre V6 engine and has a dashboard plate from a British World War I fighter plane.

24. JOY RIDE

In this 2001 film, brothers Lewis and Fuller Thomas (played by Paul Walker and Steve Zahn) and Lewis' girlfriend Venna Wilcox (Leelee Sobieski) are pursued by a psychotic trucker named Rusty Nail. The film features a 1971 Chrysler Newport, which Lewis buys so he could drive Wilcox home for the holidays.

25. DRIVING MISS DAISY

The Academy Award-winning film stars Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, and tells the story of the relationship between an elderly socialite and her chauffeur. The two cars prominently featured in the film include a 1946 Chrysler Windsor and a 1949 Hudson Commodore.

26. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

The Mad Max series is one of the best-known in film history, but the latest installment is perhaps the most acclaimed. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where water is a precious resource, the film stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

27. NEED FOR SPEED

Aaron Paul stars in the 2014 thriller based on the video game series. Although it didn't light up the box office or garner plaudits from critics, the film did feature some pretty amazing cars, including a 1958 Dodge M-37 B1, 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle, 1966 Ford F-100, 1966 Pontiac GTO, 1968 Chevrolet Camaro SS, 1969 BMW 2800 CS E9, and 1969 Ford Torino.

28. SPEED RACER

Speed Racer was originally a manga and was turned into a big-budget Hollywood film coproduced and directed by the Wachowskis (who were also behind The Matrix trilogy) in 2008. It may not have been the success as many predicted it would be, but there were certainly lots of racing sequences that have since achieved cult status to this day.

29. BAD BOYS

Bad Boys was an action film directed by Michael Bay in 1995, and it has since spawned a second sequel called Bad Boys 2, and a third film called Bad Boys for Life which will be released in 2020. Will Smith's character, Mike Lowrey, drives a sweet 964-generation Porsche 911 Turbo in the original.

30. THE FRENCH CONNECTION

Google the best car chase scene on film and you'll most likely get this 1971 film starring Gene Hackman and directed by William Friedkin. The car most prominently featured in the films is the 1971 Pontiac Le Mans

31. VANISHING POINT

Also released in 1971, Vanishing Point was a road film about a former race car driver-turned-car delivery driver. The Dodge Challenger was the car that the main character named Kowalski was driving.

32. TWO FOR THE ROAD

Starring Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn, Two for the Road tells the story of a married couple on a road trip reminiscing about their life together. Besides the white Mercedes-benz 230SL roadster the couple was driving, the film also features an MG TD, a Triumph Herald, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint coupé, VW Microbus, and a Ford Country Squire.

33. DEATH PROOF

Quentin Tarantino's 2007 is part of the double feature Grindhouse, alongside Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, and stars an ensemble cast that includes Kurt Russell and Rosario Dawson and many others. Russel's character Stuntman Mike's two "death proof" cars are a 1970 Chevy Nova and a 1969 Dodge Charger.

34. BACK TO THE FUTURE

No, it's not strictly a car film, but who can forget the iconic Delorean that served as Marty Mcfly's time machine?