Cars and movies: two things that go together better than peanut and jelly or cookies and creme. Cliche? Maybe. But it’s simply true. You would be hard-pressed to find a gearhead that wasn’t into classic car films, and while we all had our own way of discovering car culture, there’s no denying the impact that cinema has left on our hobby.
Most enthusiasts have become car culture obsessed simply through some of these films mentioned below, and the same can be said about today’s car guys with the Fast and the Furious franchise. But let’s keep it in the good old 20th century, shall we? More precisely, the late-60s to very early ’80s timeframe.
We picked our top ten chase scenes from classic cars films that we adore. We want you to keep in mind, however, that they’re ranked only by the year in which they were released. It was far too hard to rank these ten in an otherwise ascending order. Let us know in the comments section below if you agree with our choices!
1. Bullit (1968)
Basically every Mustang owner on the planet admires this movie, for not only the presence of the ’68 Mustang GT 390 fastback in the film, but for Steve McQueen’s classic cool and obvious driving skills. It set the stage for many car films that preceded it, including several on this list.
Released in 1968, Bullitt starred McQueen as an undercover detective working a homicide case, when he’s periodically stalked by a pair of villains in a black ’68 Charger R/T 440. While he makes the audience unaware that he’s actually onto them, it’s after their third appearance when McQueen’s character, Frank Bullitt, has had enough and decides to rid himself of his spies once and for all.
An awesome 11-minute chase scene ensues, with actual filming speeds reaching as much as 110mph on the streets of San Francisco. Various other musclecars can be spotted along the way (’68 Firebird, ’68 GTO, ’68 Chevelle SS, etc.) and a green Volkswagen Beetle that’s apparently cloned itself all over the city. The two fellows in the Charger, meet an abrupt and untimely demise, though.
2. Vanishing Point (1971)
Counter-culture was all the rage in the late-60s and early-70s, and the film, Vanishing Point, was no different. Starring Barry Newman as Kowalski, it was not so much a car chase film as it was an anti-establishment statement. Drugs, hippies, musclecars, crooked cops, a hot naked girl on a motorcycle… it was a perfect representation of the times.
Kowalski is a Medal of Honor Vietnam War veteran, former race car driver, former motorcycle racer and former police officer. After being dishonorably discharged from the force for insubordination against another police officer, and recently widowed, Kowalski now works as a car delivery driver, getting paid to deliver vehicles to various locations.
His latest assignment, includes delivering a “supercharged” ’70 Challenger R/T 440 4-speed from Denver, Colorado to San Francisco, California in under three days – which is actually very doable. But before leaving Denver, he stops in a local biker bar for “ups” and ultimately ends up betting a friend he could make the entire journey in just over 15 hours.
The high-speed chase that ensues through Colorado, Nevada and California is nothing short of epic, running on a combination of speed (both kinds), adrenaline and a big payoff for motivation. It doesn’t end well for Kowalski or his Challenger, but there was an underlying message during the entire film that’s very period correct.
3. French Connection (1971)
The French Connection is a little different than the rest of the films on this list, as it stars Gene Hackman as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, an undercover NYPD police officer pursuing a French baddie (Alain Charnier) played by Fernando Rey on a city train, rather than in another car.
Rey’s character is attempting to smuggle $32M worth of illegal narcotics into the country inside a Lincoln Continental Mark III, being shipped form his home country of France. With Hackman’s character on his tail, Rey gets impatient, flees by city train, with “Popeye” in hot pursuit in a ’71 Pontiac Le Mans sedan that he commandeered from a passing citizen.
While not an actual musclecar by an stretch, the pedestrian Le Mans is put through its paces with Hackman at the wheel, blowing its horn profusely at pedestrians and other cars, signaling his obvious rush to capture the escaping criminal. Like most movies of the era and genre, it ends in a huge crash.
4. The Seven Ups (1973)
The often-overlooked but wildly entertaining chase scene in The Seven Ups is one of film notoriety. Starring Roy Sheider, who also had a role in the aforementioned French Connection, ensues in a chase scene after two villains in a ’73 Pontiac Grand Ville make their escape after shooting and killing two NYPD police officers.
One of the villains, who is driving the Grand Ville, is Bill Hickman. Not only did he have a small role in the film, but he was also the stunt coordinator, who in case you didn’t recognize him, was also the same guy behind the wheel of the ’68 Charger in Bullitt!
Sheider, in a lowly base model ’73 Ventura, keeps pace with the huge Pontiac by driving wildly aggressive and strategic, although the X-body in question does sound alarmingly like it’s equipped with a solid-lifter powerplant. If the scene looks strangely familiar, that’s because Hickman also coordinator for The French Connection and Bullitt – pretty cool!
5. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)
Much like other films of this era, including Easy Rider and the aforementioned Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry was a counter-culture movie featuring Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke and Vic Morrow (who also makes an appearance elsewhere on this list).
Roarke and Fonda are a pair of NASCAR hopefuls, Fonda’s character, the driver, Roarke’s character, the mechanic, who hold a woman hostage for the ransom money they need to kickstart their racing venture. Then Susan George’s character strolls into the picture and everything goes awry.
Initially leading police on a chase with a heavily modified, sleeper ’65 Chevy Biscayne sedan as the getaway car, the plan was to swap vehicles, and make their final escape in a hopped-up ’69 Charger. Of course the cops are quick to catch on, with Morrow’s character relentless at stopping the outlaw trio, whatever it takes. It all ends in a horrible crash, with the NASCAR dream dying with the would-be hopefuls.
6. McQ (1974)
When most think of John “The Duke” Wayne, most envision an actor of Western films. While it may be true that a large portion of Wayne’s films were set in the 1800s, he did manage to make a handful of films set in then-present day America. One of those instances was the crime/drama film, McQ.
Wayne played Detective Lieutenant Lon “McQ” McHugh of the Seattle Police Department, who gets involved in a high-speed police chase against Manny Santiago in a delivery van who shot to police officers. His steed of choice? A Brewster Green ’73 Trans Am that he uses to pursue Santiago on the streets of Seattle.
Santiago ultimately escapes after a look-alike van gets in the same line of sight of the very same stretch of highway, confusing McQ, and leaving him chasing the wrong man. After the Trans Am gets crushed by a pair of trucks later in the film, McQ gets his man after a car chase on the beach involving a trio of sedans. Although maybe not as cool as the Trans Am, but still relatively entertaining.
7. The California Kid (1974)
The California Kid was a made for TV movie starring a young Martin Sheen as Michael McCord and Vic Morrow as Sheriff Roy Childress – a vengeful cop looking to stop speeders of his town any way possible. The film opens with Morrow’s character pushing a pair of two sailors off of a cliff for failure to stop after they were speeding to get back on base in time.
As it turns out, one of those gentlemen was McCord’s younger brother, played by Sheen’s real-life younger brother, Joe Estevez. Almost immediately after getting into town looking for answers, Michael gets harassed by Childress for driving 38 mph in a 35 mph speed zone, giving him a ticket and making him pay the fine immediately at the court house (talk about a speed trap town!).
Not long after realizing the sheriff’s role in his brother’s murder, McCord meets Childress on top of the same mountain that claimed his brother’s life, in a drag race/chase that ultimately claims the sheriff’s life.
8. Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v_eerDEARc
Twenty-six years before Nicolas Cage took on the role, a relatively unknown actor and stuntman by the name of H.B Halicki written, directed, produced and starred in a low-budget action/chase film called, Gone in 60 Seconds. Choosing a ’71 Mustang (dressed and described as a ‘final year’ ’73) for the final car of forty-eight that he needs to fulfill an order, the longest [uninterrupted] car chase scene in the history of cinema was shot on film – for a total of 34-minutes.
It would spawn a sequel several years later using a one-off custom kit car, but unfortunately, Halicki was killed during filming and the movie was never completed. You can find scenes from the movie all over YouTube if you look.
Fast-forward to the year 2000, and Nic Cage would be called upon for the remake, this time, using a customized ’67 Shelby GT500 as part of the order for fifty cars. While the fan base for either film is split in terms of which was the better movie, we’ll always appreciate the CGI-less, low-budget original to the modern-day, politically correct blockbuster of the remake. But that’s just us.
9. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Two years after the Vietnam War had ended and America was starting to recover, a little film aimed at audiences in the South looking for fun and laughs had hit the big screen. Starring Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, Sally Field and Jerry Reed, the cast of Smokey and the Bandit race across five states (and back) over the course of 28 hours all for the name of 400 cases of then-illegal Coors beer!
The ’77 Special Edition Trans Am that Burt drove in the film would not only become a classic in itself (pristine examples now fetch as much as $60k) but would boost the sales of the car by 600% over the previous year. The Firebird’s sales success would last through 1979 and even extend over to its sister car, the Camaro, to some degree.
Although Smokey and the Bandit was quite a success in itself, as it was the second highest-grossing film of 1977, right behind Star Wars. As Burt himself once stated, it’s the, “perfect rainy Sunday afternoon movie.” We couldn’t agree with him more.
10. The Blues Brothers (1980)
This movie was filled with irony, humor, action, great soul music and plenty of cameos. Dan Akroyd and director, John Landis (of National Lampoon’s Animal House fame), created a script for an action/comedy/musical and turned it into a cult classic that even today’s audiences can enjoy.
Starring Akroyd and the late John Belushi as Jake and Elwood Blues, the Blues Brothers had driven through a mall, cussed out a nun, ripped off a Southern bar owner and brought their old band back together, by convincing them they were on a mission from God. And they did it all while behind the wheel of the Bluesmobile, aka, a retired ’74 Dodge Monaco cop car with a “440 cubic inch ‘plant, cop motor, cop tires, cops shocks…”
In addition, the Blues Brothers snubbed police officers, speed limits, religion, neo-Nazis, a vigilante “mystery woman,” angry county/western singing cowboys and pretty much everyone and everything with an agenda. It was the perfect film for anyone tired of the then status quo and featured plenty of cameos from some of R&B’s finest artists, including Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin and John Lee Hooker. A classic in every sense of the word.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
