List of auto racing films
This article does not cite any sources. (July 2020) |
NB: This list excludes films that feature illegally run street races unless legitimate races are integral to the storyline.
Title | Year | Genre | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Speed Kings | 1913 | Comedy | 8-minute silent film featuring Fatty Arbuckle. | |
Kid Auto Races at Venice | 1914 | Comedy | Silent film starring Charlie Chaplin as a spectator who keeps getting in the way. | |
The Roaring Road | 1919 | Romance | Car salesman "Toodles" Walden becomes a racer. | |
Excuse My Dust | 1920 | Comedy | Wife wants Toodles to give up racing in Roaring Road sequel. | |
Young Oldfield | 1924 | |||
Sporting Youth | 1924 | Comedy | A rich man's chauffeur (Reginald Denny) accidentally ends up in a race. | |
Kid Speed | 1924 | Comedy | A race organizer drops hints that his daughter's time will go to the winner. | |
Speed Madness | 1925 | |||
The Checkered Flag | 1926 | |||
The Speed Classic | 1928 | |||
Speedway | 1929 | Drama | Silent film about a father and son in Indianapolis. | |
Burning Up | 1930 | Drama | First talkie about auto racers. | |
Speed | 1930 | |||
The Racing Strain | 1932 | Drama | A driver who drinks tries to turn around his life. | |
The Crowd Roars | 1932 | Drama | Open wheel | Motor racing saga featuring James Cagney. |
High Speed | 1932 | Drama | An undercover cop races cars while he tries to catch crooks. | |
High Gear | 1933 | Drama | After a friend's death, an auto racer takes a job driving a taxi. | |
Roaring Roads | 1935 | Comedy | A rich boy craving excitement tries racing and encounters gangsters. | |
Death Drives Through | 1935 | Drama | British driver falls in love with woman whose father disapproves. | |
Speed | 1936 | Drama | Open Wheel | A carburetor's designer (James Stewart) tries Indy 500, seeks world speed record. |
Speed to Spare | 1936 | |||
Indianapolis Speedway | 1939 | Drama | Open wheel | Three-time Indy champ (Pat O'Brien) wants a young driver to go to college. |
Ten Laps to Go | 1938 | Drama | Midget | Discovering a race is fixed, a new driver joins it with just 10 laps left. |
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor | 1939 | A racing story starring Dennis O'Keefe. | ||
Danger on Wheels | 1940 | |||
Blonde Comet | 1941 | Romance | Open wheel | A woman (Virginia Vale) races versus men, then falls for one of them. |
Born to Speed | 1947 | |||
Buck Privates Come Home | 1947 | Comedy | Midget | Abbott and Costello aid a young midget-car racer. |
The Big Wheel | 1949 | Drama | Open wheel | Mickey Rooney as a brash young driver out to win the Indianapolis 500. |
To Please a Lady | 1950 | Drama | Open Wheel | Newspaper columnist gets reckless racer Mike Brannan (Clark Gable) banned. |
Jalopy | 1953 | Comedy | Going backwards, the Bowery Boys win the big race. | |
The Racers | 1953 | Drama | Open wheel | European circuit racing drama starring Kirk Douglas. |
Genevieve | 1953 | Musical | Vintage cars | A British comedy about an automobile rally. |
Roar of the Crowd | 1953 | Drama | Open wheel | Indy 500 contender vows to quit, becomes a sparkplugs salesman. |
Johnny Dark | 1954 | Drama | Distance race | Engineer Tony Curtis enters car in Canada-to-Mexico race. |
A Race for Life | 1954 | Drama | Midget cars | Car's owner wonders if driver (Richard Conte) has lost his nerve. |
The Widow | 1955 | Drama | A countess in Italy falls in love with a doomed racing driver. | |
Checkpoint | 1956 | Crime | Road racing | A criminal gets into a confrontation with British police at an auto race. |
The Devil's Hairpin | 1957 | Drama | Road racing | Undefeated champion (Cornel Wilde) is coaxed out of retirement. |
Thunder in Carolina | 1960 | Drama | Stock car | Rivals vie in Southern 500, starring Alan Hale, Jr. of Gilligan's Island fame. |
The Green Helmet | 1961 | Drama | Road racing | British film about racers competing in Italy, one of whom has lost his nerve. |
The Iron Maiden | 1962 | Comedy | Traction engines | Alan Hale, Jr. again, in a story about a steam-engine rally. |
The Lively Set | 1964 | Drama | A mechanic (James Darren) feels he's perfected a revolutionary turbine engine. | |
24 heures d'amant | 1964 | Drama | Sports car | Claude Lelouch-directed film set at Le Mans. |
Viva Las Vegas | 1964 | Musical | Sports car | Elvis Presley is out to win the big race and Ann-Margret. |
The Great Race | 1965 | Comedy | Vintage cars | Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis slapstick about long-distance car race. |
Grand Prix | 1966 | Drama | Open wheel | James Garner and Yves Montand in fictional story of drivers' lives and loves. |
Red Line 7000 | 1966 | Drama | Stock car | Howard Hawks-directed fiction, starring James Caan. |
Fireball 500 | 1966 | Comedy | Stock car | Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello vehicle. |
Spinout | 1966 | Musical | Open wheel | Elvis Presley is out to win the big race and Shelley Fabares. |
Thunder Alley | 1967 | Romance | Stunt driver (Fabian), boss's daughter (Annette Funicello) team up in 500-mile race. | |
Hell On Wheels | 1967 | Romance | Mechanic, engineer fall for same dame. Marty Robbins stars. | |
A Man and a Woman | 1967 | Drama | Open wheel | French film about a woman who falls in love with an auto racer. |
Track of Thunder | 1967 | Drama | Stock car | Two rival drivers end up involved with the same girl. |
The Love Bug | 1968 | Family | Demolition derby driver gets his hands on a magical Volkswagen. | |
Speedway | 1968 | Musical | Stock car | Elvis Presley is out to win the big race and Nancy Sinatra. |
The Wild Racers | 1968 | Drama | Fabian now races on the European circuit. | |
The Magnificent Tony Carrera | 1968 | Drama | A Spanish-German film about a successful racer who is also a thief. | |
Winning | 1969 | Drama | Indy car | Paul Newman and Robert Wagner as rival drivers. |
Monte Carlo or Bust! | 1969 | Comedy | Vintage cars | a.k.a. Those Daring Young Men in their Jaunty Jalopies |
The Racing Scene | 1969 | Documentary | A look at actor James Garner's involvement with auto racing. | |
Pit Stop | 1969 | Drama | Figure Eight | A promoter sponsors drivers in a "new" form of race car driving called The Figure Eight |
Le Mans | 1971 | Drama | Sports car | Steve McQueen as a competitor in 24 Hours of Le Mans. |
Weekend of a Champion | 1971 | Documentary | Formula One | Documentary directed by Roman Polanski chronicling Jackie Stewart's racing season. |
Once Upon a Wheel | 1971 | Documentary | Sports car | Paul Newman narrates an ABC television insider's look at auto racing. |
The Last American Hero | 1973 | Biographical | Stock car | Fictional biography of Junior Johnson, starring Jeff Bridges as "Junior Jackson." |
Ho! | 1974 | Drama | Jean-Paul Belmondo plays a racing driver turned bank robber. | |
Herbie Rides Again | 1974 | Comedy | Sequel to The Love Bug. | |
Flåklypa Grand Prix | 1975 | |||
Death Race 2000 | 1975 | Action | Science-fiction about dangerous car race, starring David Carradine. | |
Bobby Deerfield | 1977 | Drama | Formula One | Al Pacino as a famed driver who falls in love with a dying woman. |
Greased Lightning | 1977 | Biographical | Stock car | True story of stock-car trailblazer Wendell Scott, starring Richard Pryor. |
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo | 1977 | Comedy | The third entry in the Herbie series. | |
The Quick and the Dead | 1977 | Documentary | Open wheel | A behind-the-scenes look at Grand Prix racing, narrated by Stacy Keach. |
Fast Company | 1979 | Drama | Drag Racing | An up-and-coming drag racer and an aging star cope with a corrupt manager. |
Dirt | 1979 | Documentary | Off Road | From motorcycles to Swamp buggies, off-road racing competitions. |
Herbie Goes Bananas | 1980 | Comedy | The fourth entry in the Herbie series. | |
Six Pack | 1982 | Comedy | Stock car | Kenny Rogers stars and sings hit theme song. |
Safari 3000 | 1982 | Adventure | Endurance | A 3,000-mile race across Africa attracts a young American (David Carradine). |
Heart Like a Wheel | 1983 | Biographical | Drag racing | Based on the life of Shirley Muldowney, played by Bonnie Bedelia. |
Stroker Ace | 1983 | Comedy | Stock car | Burt Reynolds as a fictional NASCAR star. |
Born to Race | 1988 | Drama | Stock car | Fiction featuring Joseph Bottoms in lead role. |
La Carrera Panamericana | 1990 | Documentary | Historic sports car | Documentary starring Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Nick Mason and manager Steve O'Rourke. |
Checkered Flag | 1990 | Drama | Open wheel | Unsold TV pilot about friendship of a driver and mechanic. |
Dorf Goes Auto Racing | 1990 | Comedy | Stock car | Direct-to-video short film. Part of Tim Conway's Dorf series. |
Days of Thunder | 1990 | Drama | Stock car | Tom Cruise as a NASCAR newcomer, based loosely on Tim Richmond. |
Thunderbolt | 1995 | Action | Touring car | Hong Kong film with Jackie Chan as a race-car mechanic. |
Race the Sun | 1996 | Family | Solar car | Halle Berry as a teacher whose school competes in World Solar Challenge. |
La Passione | 1996 | Drama | Formula One | Italian film about Ferrari racing. |
The Love Bug | 1997 | Comedy | Made-for-TV remake of original 1968 film of the same title. | |
Super Speedway | 1997 | Documentary | Open wheel | Paul Newman narrates documentary on the building of a race car. |
Driven | 2000 | Action | Open wheel | Sylvester Stallone as a former Formula One star. |
éX-Driver The Movie | 2002 | Anime | ||
The Snake and the Stallion | 2002 | Documentary | Sports car | The racing history of the AC Cobra, and the rivalry between Carroll Shelby and Enzo Ferrari. |
Michel Vaillant | 2003 | Drama | racing film based on a French comic book. | |
Right on Track | 2003 | Family | Drag racing | Disney Channel story about a pair of drag-racing sisters. |
NASCAR: The IMAX Experience | 2004 | Documentary | Stock car | |
3: The Dale Earnhardt Story | 2004 | Documentary | Stock car | Made for TV. Chronicles life and career of Dale Earnhardt. |
Herbie: Fully Loaded | 2005 | Comedy | Stock car | The most recent entry in the Herbie series. |
Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry | 2005 | Animated | Stock car | Direct-to-video feature about Tom and Jerry entering a race to win a luxurious mansion. |
Cars | 2006 | Animated | Stock car | Family comedy with voices of Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy. |
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | 2006 | Comedy | Stock car | A cocky NASCAR star (Will Ferrell) must learn humility after setbacks in his career and home life. |
Dale | 2007 | Documentary | Stock car | Another look at racing legend Dale Earnhardt. |
Ta Ra Rum Pum | 2007 | Drama | Stock car | Indian film. |
Death Race | 2008 | Sci-fi | Jason Statham in a revised version of 1975 film. | |
Death Racers | 2008 | Sci-fi | Futuristic story of prisoners competing in race to the death. | |
Truth in 24 | 2008 | Documentary | Sports car | A team's preparation for 2008's 24 Hours of LeMans. |
Speed Racer | 2008 | Action | Futuristic | Live-action version of Japanese anime series, with Emile Hirsch as Speed. |
Love The Beast | 2009 | Documentary | Tarmac rally | Australian film directed by and featuring Eric Bana and his 1970s Ford car. |
Racing Dreams | 2009 | Documentary | Karting | Kids ages 11–13 aspire to someday become NASCAR drivers. |
Redline | 2009 | Action | Futuristic | Japanese film. |
Senna | 2010 | Documentary | Open wheel | The life and death of Formula One great Ayrton Senna. |
Tim Richmond: To the Limit | 2010 | Documentary | Stock car | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. A look at Tim Richmond, his lifestyle, and his death from AIDS. |
Born to Race | 2011 | Drag racing | ||
Red Dirt Rising | 2011 | Stock car | Based on the life of early driver Jimmie Lewallen. | |
Cars 2 | 2011 | Animated | Sports car | Sequel to 2006 family comedy hit. |
25 Hill | 2011 | Drama | Soap Box Derby | Boy who lost his father teams in Soap Box Derby with man who lost his son. |
Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts | 2012 | Documentary | Sports car | Sequel to 2008 film, documenting Audi's adventurous and cliffhanging 2011 race. |
Rush | 2013 | Drama | Formula One | True story depicting Hunt–Lauda rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula One season. |
1 | 2013 | Documentary | Formula One | Also known as 1: Life on the Limit, a documentary of the history of Formula One. |
Turbo | 2013 | Animated | Indy car | A snail becomes the fastest thing on the race track. |
Snake and Mongoose | 2013 | Drama | Drag racing | True story depicting rivalry between funny-car drivers Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme and Tom 'The Mongoose' McEwen. |
Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans | 2015 | Documentary | Sports car | On the actor's quest to make his 1971 auto-racing film Le Mans. |
Cars 3 | 2017 | Animated | Sports car | Sequel to Cars and Cars 2 |
Logan Lucky | 2017 | Comedy | Stock car | A group of people attempt a heist of the Charlotte Motor Speedway on a racing day. |
Pegasus | 2019 | Comedy | Rallying | Chinese comedy about a former rally driver on his comeback trail |
Blink of an Eye | 2019 | Documentary | NASCAR | An examination of the career of Michael Waltrip, climaxing in his victory in the 2001 Daytona 500—an event overshadowed by the final-lap accident that claimed the life of his car owner and friend, Dale Earnhardt. |
Ford v Ferrari | 2019 | Drama | Sports car | True story depicting Ford's road to take down Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race. |
Qualified | 2019 | Documentary | IndyCar | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Chronicles the struggle of Janet Guthrie to become the first female driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. |
See also[]
- List of sports films
- List of highest grossing sports films
References[]
Categories:
- Auto racing films
- Lists of sports films