There are so many genres of movies, from romances to thrillers and everything in between. Some are made with women in mind, and others are made to appeal to men… like sports or war movies. But spending most of my life in Detroit, the Motor City, has made me a fan of one type of film that’s typically guys-only material: the car movie. If you’re not quite sure which films I mean, keep reading… here’s a list of 8 awesome car movies!
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This film was less a movie than a really long advertisement for cool GM cars. Bumblebee was an old, then a new Camaro, Ironhide was a tough GMC Topkick, and Jazz was a cool Pontiac Solstice. Some die-hard fans of the original toys and animated series felt betrayed that Bumblebee wasn’t a Volkswagen Beetle, but I thought making him a new Camaro was brilliant. And the second film featured even more GM vehicles, including the new Corvette and two of the three 2007 Chevy show-car triplets, the Beat, Trax, and Groove.
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Another classic Chevy car appears in a semi-starring role in this movie, too, and when I worked in the Archive at GM, I got so many requests for photos and videos of Burt Reynolds’s black 1970 Pontiac Trans Am. The movie itself is great, too, Trans Am or no Trans Am, about two friends hired to bring Coors beer to a dry county in Georgia.
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One of the highlights of this movie is a car chase involving a flock of tricked-out Mini Coopers. While most action heroes wouldn’t be caught dead in one of these, they’re perfect as the get-away cars in this heist movie. Aside from the super cool Mini Coopers scenes, this movie also stars uber-hottie Mark Wahlberg, so it’s definitely worth a watch!
Price: $10.99 at amazon.com
Is there any muscle car cooler than the 1967 Pontiac GTO? I don’t think so, especially when it’s driven by a James Bond-esque Vin Diesel super-spy. Actually, he plays an athlete recruited by the NSA to foil the plot of a Czech villain intent on deploying a biological weapon. The movie itself is more flash than story, but it’s still worthwhile, and the GTO lands it here in my list.
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This movie is pure guy fantasy, loaded with fast cars, hot women, and eye-popping street race sequences. A hot Paul Walker plays a cop who goes undercover to break up a ring of street racers who hustle stolen goods in their spare time. The cars are all sleek, modified imports, with one notable exception: Vin Diesel’s 1969 Changer.
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Here’s another movie featuring a 1969 Charger. This one is the Confederate-flag bedecked General Lee, beloved of a generation of boys who watched the 1979-1985 series for Daisy’s short shorts and the spectacularly ridiculous General Lee jumps. The movie remake is weak, at best, but still funny, and if you loved the series, you’ll like the film.
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James Bond always has the best gadgets, hottest women, and most fantastic cars, from his classic Aston Martin to his BMW convertible. Nearly all of his movies feature amazing car chases, among other things, so if you’re a Bond fan, try this Blu-Ray boxed set and fast forward to all of the car scenes.
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This movie won an Oscar for editing for its spectacular car chase scene, filmed on location in San Francisco and featuring more Detroit muscle: another Charger and (of course) Bullitt’s 390 GT Mustang. This is a cop thriller with loads of action and one of the best car chase scenes ever!
Those are my 8 favorite car movies, and man was it difficult to choose only 8! I wanted to include so many more, like Speed Racer and The Matrix Reloaded (those Cadillacs are amazing!), but these are my favorites. Which of these movies, and cars, do you like best? Or is there another car movie you like more?