Best car movies of all time

[impalaragpat]

I think that you guys know of many good car movies that some have never seen or heard of. Im 42 and the movies I think of are from the late 60s or early 70s. The California Kid and American Graffiti are some of the best. There was the Macon County movies which were OK but cheesy. Bullitt and LeMans were good too.
Now you old ..older than me.. . guys can probably name some of the "Bad Teen" Hotrod movies of the 50s. Heck maybe you starred in one. Let us know what movies you think are the best.
Pat

[bjburnout]

My No. 1 car movie..........
Two Lane Blacktop with James Taylor and Brian Wilson
55 Chevy with a fliptop frontend, bigblock and 2 fours.....ooooeeee
Apparently this car was resurrected as the 55 in Graffitti.

Does anyone remember Thunder Road with Robert Mitchum?

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Well Pat, I am a bit of an old movie buff as well:cheers .
I'd have to say that the best movie with cars as a large part of the subject, would have to be American Graffiti. It was the characters. You like them... all of them... even the supposed "bad guys" !
But the best car movie ?
Hands down...
An ABC made for TV movie from 1979. Greg Henry plays the main charactor, who drives into Lions California with his old black Hemi Belvedere. It's the grey primered Willys coupe ( with a stick ! )that really gets my attention !
The movie is called "Hot Rod".
Very difficult to locate on video. I was one of the very first people to get a copy on Beta format in 1987. I now have two copies on VHS as well.
While it still may be a "campy" TV movie... some of the shots of this car still give me goose bumps !

From the mid 60's ?
"Hot Rods to Hell".
The sound track for the car is stupid, but the red late 50's Corvette is killer:cheers

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Thunder Road ?
GREAT movie, BJ !
Two Lane Black Top ?
You bet... that 55 was the 2nd baddest thing next to the Willys in Hot Rod;) ....
BUT... unfortunately... the cast ( James Taylor and "friends" ), along with the anemic script... just destroy the enjoyment of the movie.:rolleyes:

[bjburnout]

Thunder Road........Robert Mitchum was a moonshiner that had his car (?) trunk converted to carry moonshine. Some great old shots of cars speeding down the highway and one crashing thru a police roadblock.

The best TV show, it's a tie.........early 50's Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford (10-4) or late 50's early 60's Route 66 with Martin Milner and George Maharis......... They played Buz and Tod, my wife still calls my son and I, Buz and Tod when we go cruzin' in the old Vette.

In September 66, in my 63 Vette Coupe (they didn't call them split window then) a buddy and I drove from St Louis to LA and back, just like the TV show.....great memories

[fourspeed409]

American Graffiti is one of my favorites. But in my opinion the greatest car movie ever was Smokey And The Bandit 1.
Oh ya and don't forget D.Q.s favorite "The Fast And The Furious" :D
Shane:cheers

[dq409]

That would be "Fast and furious II " !!! ICK !!

Aubrey is the also the OZ when it come to movie critique !!

I got to watch "Hot Rod" when I was at his home last year !!
Great Movie !!
And his preview of "Two Lane" is right on ! Only the cars or car (`55) was worth watching,,,,

Bullitt,,,,,is one of my favorites as the cars in the background can`t be matched in any other movie !
Period correct as in all those cars were on the road at the time of filming.....If you haven`t seen it lately,,,,do!
And pay special attention to the other cars on the street,,,,

Some of the "KINGS" (Elvis) movies also had some good car themes.

Best biker movie hands down is Easy Rider !!!!!! :cheers
Followed by "The Wild One" and who can forget,,,,,"Hell`s Angels on Wheels" !!,,,,dq

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Hee hee !... DQ... just me, with my "unable to shut up" opinion again:p

Yeah, I completely forgot.... I really like some of those Elvis movies:cheers

Easy Rider... I can hear it now..... As they're approaching that short bridge on their way to New Orleans....
MR HENDRIX..... "If 6 Was 9"

And if all the hippies
Cut off ALL their Hair ?
I don't care,
I don't care !

THAT AINT country music:cheers :cheers :cheers

[CDNpontiac409guy]

How about a trucking movie ?
It's an old one... but this IS a "must see" !!
1940
George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, ( yes, in THAT order ! ), Ida Lupino ( the VERY well played villianess ! ), Ann Sheridan, Allan Hale (Sr.).
"They Drive By Night"
About two brothers as owner-operator truck drivers in the 40's.
Good story... INCREDIBLE "natural dialoge"... I mean the best "real talk" conversations and humour that you'll ever hear in movies from that era, right up to today.

I just bought another copy in eBay. Just search the movie title:deal
Seriously guys, this is a good one:deal

[impalaragpat]

I almost forgot The Blues Brothers and the original Gone in 60 Seconds.
Those fast and the Furious movies suck.

[MRHP]

I would have to say my favorite is American Graffiti. I watch it at least once a year. I have only watched Two Lane Blacktop once. Good car bad acting in my opinion. :cool: Cool cars and cool movies.

[JC327]

It always appeared to me that "Two Lane Blacktop" was made up as they went. No adult could have written that script, at least not without the help of some "chemicals"

[09pwrd55]

Dont forget about the lively Set with James Darren driving a channeled a bone with a TRI POWERED W MOTOR
But Graffiti still gets top billing.

[bbqcruising]

Aubrey, Cool reference to hendrix. One of my all time favorites and I still play the album. Think I'll go listen to the Wind Cry's Mary.

[jim_ss409]

Ya but Too Lame Blacktop is still worth watching if only to hear the wine of that M-22. http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/4602/ Cool car, I really liked this movie when it first came out. I was about 18 years old and had a 56 Chevy 2 door sedan. Another movie that I don't think was mentioned was Vanishing Point.

[JIMS409]

RED LINE 7000 W/James Caan was pretty good. Then there was a TV series called (30 something) or something like that and it had featured a 2X4 409 Impala in the script a number of times.

Remember Phil...You were going to record it.:)

[oil4kids]

that was Dennis Wilson in 2 Lane Black Top not Brian Wilson

also

Steve Fitch of Wichita, Kansas bought the Graffiti '55 from Crawford. Later, Fitch also bought the yellow '32 Ford Coupe driven by Paul LeMat's character "John Milner" in a sealed bid sale from the studio after More American Graffiti was completed. He owned both cars when he and the two most famous cars from American Graffiti were profiled in an October 1983 Car Craft magazine article. Fitch did a meticulous, detailed restoration of the '55 to American Graffiti trim and is credited with preserving the Coupe in as-is condition from the filming.

When Fitch later put both cars up for sale, the '55 wound up in Maryland in the hands of the current owner, Wayne Newsom, and the '32 Coupe returned to the San Francisco area with Rick Figari. The '32 Coupe has continued to be carefully preserved by Figari and many "movie prop" features on the car are still visible - such as holes drilled in the frame and brackets welded on for the camera mounts. Figari is committed to preserving the Coupe because in his view, it will only be original once.


THE CAR
Shortly after the '55 was shipped to Maryland, it received an extensive frame-off modification as a show car and its appearance was radically changed from when it was used in American Graffiti. There remain, however, several visible details on the Graffiti '55 that point to the authenticity of the car, in addition to its well-documented history.

In both movies, and today, the car has radiused rear wheelwells.

In Two-Lane Blacktop, the car's trunk was lift-off fiberglass and held in place with "hood pins" on the upper corners and in the center of the lower edge below the trunk emblem. In American Graffiti, the pins can still be seen on the car. The trunk on the car is now hinged, but the original brackets used to mount the pins are still in place on the top corners and the spots where the holes in the trunk lid were filled are still visible if you look closely.

In both movies, you can see the tube front axle and chrome radius rods under the front of the car. In magazine articles, the car is shown with the tube axle, the the 4-link setup, and the coil-over suspension. The car still has the same axle, which was custom built by Richard Ruth, although the other components have been changed.

In Two-Lane Blacktop, there are several good shots of the big block 427 engine, the Weiand tunnel ram, and the headers. The Street Rodder and Car Craft articles also show the engine and headers. There were no shots of the engine compartment in American Graffiti, most likely because the film was set in 1962 and the only big block Chevrolet engine then available was the 409. The car still has the same L-88 427 engine, still equipped with the headers that were fabricated by Richard Ruth and are unique to the car, although the original Weiand tunnel ram and the hydraulic throttle linkage installed by Ruth have disappeared.

In Two Lane Blacktop the car had front bucket seats, a white headliner, fiberglass doors with sliding plexiglass windows, a roll bar, and no rear seat. In American Graffiti , the bucket seats were replaced with a bench seat, the fiberglass doors and plexiglass windows were replaced with stock steel doors and rollup windows, the roll bar was still in place, the headliner was still white, and the rear seat area was covered with a white "tonneau" cover from the top of the bench seat to the package tray. An old style, custom, three-spoke steering wheel is clearly visible, too. The car's current interior represents the biggest change from the car as seen in the two movies. The car now has a full red/gray leather interior, the steel doors are equipped with power windows, the roll bar is gone, a stock '55 steering wheel has replaced the custom wheel, and Bel Air trim and gauges have been added to the dash.

In the 1983 Car Craft magazine article, the '55 is pictured with the Kansas license plate "GRAF 55". The plate is still on the car.

In Two-Lane Blacktop there is a gas station scene where the attendant is seen filling the gas tank after the fiberglass trunk lid was removed. (According to a recent e-mail from his daughter, the gas station attendant is played by none other than the owner of the car, Richard Ruth! He has dark hair, and is wearing a Glendale Speed Center t-shirt in the scene.) The gas tank filler neck was accessed through a hole cut in the floor of the trunk on the driver's side close to the rear bumper. That hole is still there, but covered by a sheet metal plate that has been fastened to the floor of the trunk from underneath.
Although many changes have been made to the '55 since its days as a movie prop, Richard Ruth has examined detailed photos of the car and original parts and features that remain, and has verified that the car is one of the originals that he built for Two-Lane Blacktop and that went on to fame as Falfa's American Graffiti '55 Chevy.

Article ©1998 & 2000 Walt Bailey

[2obnxs]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned "Christine"? It doesn't get any more "car movie" than that.

As for a truckin' movie, how about "Maximum Overdrive"?

[oil4kids]

heres the 2 Lane 55

[oil4kids]

Heres Dennis Wilson, drummer of the beach boys sitting next to the 55 Chev in 2 Lane Blacktop

[wrench]

Drippy, corny, but funny.....

Mr Hobb's takes a Vacation.

Hot Rods, old family cars.......

:cool:

[impalaragpat]

Check out this sight http://www.hotrodmemories.com/

[Ed51]

My favorite is Vanishing Point,even if it is a Mopar.:D

[Bungy]

I'm with CPG on this one. ABC movie Hot Rod is the greatest car movie ever. I have only seen the movie once. That was on tv in 1979. I have been trying to locate a copy (or even anyone who has seen it) ever since. CPG would you be willing to make me a copy? I'd be more then happy to compensate you for your troubles. Like I said I've been trying to find this movie for 24 years!

[duroy]

Just checked it out. Boy does that bring back memories!:)
Does anyone remember California Kid with Martin Sheen?

[Jens]

I'd have to cast my vote fo American Grafitti. :D

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Hey Bungy... It took me almost that long too !

A Christmas present:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3369077914&category=41602

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3368438437&category=1161


One of them is over in an hour !

[Bungy]

CPG you're the best! Thanx a million. I missed the first one for $20 but the other is mine. :cheers

[droptop62]

Anybody mention Hollywood Knights??
had the old Popular Hot Rodding Magazine "Project X" 57 Chevy.
and a whole slew of other great hot rods.
Kinda of a corny comedy, but some great cars!!:cheers

[dq409]

Originally posted by Bungy
CPG you're the best! Thanx a million. I missed the first one for $20 but the other is mine. :cheers


O YEH !?!?!?,,,,, I might just have to snipe that one from you !! heeee heeee

[Bungy]

@#$% I knew I should have kept my mouth shut:cuss

[1958 impala]

ID HAVE TO GO WITH DRIVING MISS DAISY,NOT REALLY
AMERICAN GRAF.
HOLLYWOODKNIGHTS
PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED

[DALE SNYDER]

ANYBODY OUT THERE SEEN THE MOVIE "VANISHING POINT" ? ONE OF THE CARS USED INTHIS MOVIE (A CUDA iF MY MEMORY SERVES)
IS IN GARRETTS MUSCLE CAR MUSEUM IN PIGEON FORGE TENN.

[dq409]

Originally posted by Bungy
@#$% I knew I should have kept my mouth shut:cuss

JUST Yankin` yer chain,,Bungy !! heee heee



I would never snipe someone I knew that was bidding on an item !!
Especialy a member of this forum !!

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Hey Hey !!
We forgot about "Fast Company" !
Drag racing footage was shot in Edmonton at the old track on the north side of the city.

In 1987, on a hot Saturday afternoon, myself and about 15 other guys ( some from the 567 club ) met up to make the final runs down the broken down pavement ( it had been closed for a number of years ). Ran the old 61 Biscayne against a 427 powerd 56 Pontiac 2dr post ( Canadian model ). I remember trying to show off doing a brake stand before the race... rear tires spinning... and the front tires SKIDDING ! That car had awesome weight distribution !
Yes, I beat the 427;)

[Dan Hunt]

Hey Aubrey -Don't forget that part of Fast Company was filmed in Calgary.I was there with my 55 chevy.Both tracks are gone now but Calgary and Edmonton both have IHRA tracks(Edmonton has a national event)

[walkerheaders]

Evel Knievel 1971 is still my favorite. and these two movies of course.
last october 2002 we had a car show at the Wienberg theater in frederick md. the owner of the 55 driven by Harrison Ford brought the car for us to see. Bo Hopkins and Candy Clark showed up with it. mainly to talk with us and watch the movie with us. go to goldengears.org and click graffitti nights to see the pics.

curiously, one of the two lane cars lives and drives around here in Md. also. it is the car that all the inside shots were done with. the 55 still has the camera bracketry and such installed.
that car will be on display at the theater in april 2004. the info on that is also at goldengears.org just click weinberg theater cruise

[348NUT]

Sounds like we have some fellow members of the twolaneblacktop site. :) I remember watching a TV movie when I was a kid called "Corvette Summer" about a shop class that customized a junkyard vette. I've never seen or heard of it since but I liked it at the time. I'm with ya on too lame. If you could only here the car it'd be way better!:rolleyes:

[oil4kids]

AMC Dec 17 09:55pm
American Graffiti

Movies, 135 Mins.
***+ (Rated PG)

Small-town California teens cruise the streets on graduation night in 1962. Directed by George Lucas. Adult Situations.

Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Harrison Ford, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr., Beau Gentry, Kathleen Quinlan, Tim Crowley, Terry McGovern, Jan Wilson, Caprice Schmidt, Joe Spano, Susan Richardson, Jana Bellan.

[dq409]

Hey Bungy,,,,,Let Oz and me know how you like Hot Rod after you view it,,,dq

[SS425HP]

You forgot Suzanne Sommers in American Graffitti. She drove the white Thunderbird!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bungy]

DQ, I didn't win the ebay auction. Someone was willing to pay more for it then me. But I figure if there were two copies on ebay at the same time, then there's going to be more show up someday. Hey, I've been trying to get that movie for 24 years, I can wait some more. Bungy
P.S. I new you were just yankin' my chain. I was just looking for an excuse to use the cussing smiley.:)

[Rockfish39]

WW and the Dixie Dance Kings. A relatively obscure Burt Reynolds movie that was filmed in the '70s, but had one really fine Gold 1955 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 coupe running around in it...


and speaking of Burt Reynolds... Smokey and the Bandit was a fun kinda film, but it has my favorite car action sequence in it...

In the beginning of the film, When Reynolds and Jerry Reed are first heading out to get the beer, there is a classic burnout scene...

The traffic light turns from red to green and that Black T/A lays down a perfect burnout. Jerry Reed got to drive through all the smoke in that big-rig and his dog starts barking...CLASSIC !

Not easy to do a perfect straight line burnout in an "F" body apparantly, that sequence had to be shot six times...

Rockfish :cool:

[oil4kids]

not to mention More American Graffiti

same John Milner more race scenes

[ejw 71]

"Rebel Without a Cause", James Dean. The Merc had a minor role but in 1957 it said it all. Yep, I'm over 60.
"Bullet", Steve McQueen. The Mustang 390 was (at least/more than) half the movie. Article on car's build up was in Hot Rod magazine at the time. Ed

[348NUT]

All you guy's talk about car movies must have gotten to me. :) Saturday night I had a dream I was watching a movie about a guy with a flat black roadster with a 425/409! The closing scene showed the guy pull out in front of some locals and do a smokey burn-out and it ended with a closeup from the front of the unhooded roadster with the sound of the 09' under full power and the road speeding off behind him, bright Chevy orange paint, chrome valve covers, and dual fours glistening in the sun!

Now if I could just find a copy on EBay! :eek: :confused: :p NUT

[rwagon57]

My vote is Hollywood Knights. Besides Project X and several other very nice cars, it has a cameo by Tony Nancy, and stars Tony Danza, Michelle Pfieffer, and Fran Drescher in their debut roles.

If someone has a lead on this film on VHS or DVD, I am looking for a copy.

[Tom Kochtanek]

It's hard to believe none of you sage movie goers have suggested "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" as the best of all time :)

Cheers,
TomK

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Tom...
Not sure WHAT came over us:p

I'm a little embarassed to say....

YOU'RE RIGHT :cheers !
I love that movie:D
I mean really, when inventer, Caracticus Potts pushes his "creation" ( a resurrected old race car no less:cheers ) out of that shop/barn .... can you really not get goose bumps ?;)

Good call, Tom:cheers
Corny, but timeless !

[348NUT]

And the kids love it too! :) Fun for the whole family. :cheers

[rwagon57]

Richard,

Thanks for the lead on Hollywood Knights.

Danza drove Project X in the movie.

[ss409cid]

American Graffiti would be my choice, I guess because I pretty much lived it. But was "Christine" one Baaaad MOPAR or what?.....Larry

[dq409]

I just ordered Hollywood Knights , American Graf Collectors Edition and one other with three hot rod movies on it all on DVD`s from Amazon.com !! They have quite a few other car movies also,,,,dq