Steve McQueen did much of his own driving in the classic car chase that forms the hub of this thriller about murder and corruption. McQueen drives a Ford Mustang GT Fastback and the two hitmen a Dodge Charger - the car later immortalised in the Dukes of Hazzard. The car chase is widely regarded as the first real feature chase, although it looks a bit tame now, but it's surrounded by a well written thriller with a score by Lalo Schiffrin, writer of the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

A must for American car fans, this ensemble comedy-drama follows a group of teenagers through one night at the end of summer, before they go to college. It was the first major hit for George Lucas, with a young Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss, but for many the stars are the cars - many of them customised. There's a bright yellow 1932 Ford B coupe-based hotrod and a sky blue and chrome 1958 Chevy Impala. Harrison Ford's baddy drives a mean black 1955 Chevy Sport Coupe and poor Richard Dreyfuss is landed with a 2CV!

The original film of course, not the ludicrous remake with Jason Statham. Famed for the Mini Coopers' sprawling car chase through (and under!) Milan, there's also a heart-breaking scene at the beginning where a Lamborghini Miura is destroyed, although in reality it was one that had already been badly damaged in a road accident. It still hurt though.

We wanted to include at least one family film and like many animated films in recent years, 'Cars' is great fun for the kids while at the same time having more subtle jokes that parents can enjoy. While not considered as good as 'Toy Story' or 'The Incredibles' the characterisation of the various cars was praised.

Another ensemble film, this film was based on a real-life coast-to-coast race that had been held in the USA in the Seventies. It's all-star cast wasn't enough for it to escape the critics and Farret Fawcett, who'd become famous via the 'Charlie's Angels' TV series, even picked up a worst actress award. But we love it for it's classic Sixties and Seventies cars and the cheesy-ness, particularly Roger Moore sending up his James Bond.

Another Steve McQueen film 'Le Mans' is an action film built around real footage from the 1970 race. This and the 1966 'Grand Prix' film were both attempts to popularise European-style road-racing in the USA but 'Le Man's was not as successful. It's almost a documentary, with little dialogue, and the Ferrari 512s and Porsche 917s are the real feature attractions.

The first film in this series elevated Vin Diesel to action hero status but as far as cars go it was notable for being the first major Hollywood film to heavily feature Japanese performance cars, which at the time were way ahead of American cars in terms of handling and performance. Although the hero does, of course, have a Dodge Charger in his garage.

The star of Steven King's 'Christine, filmed by horror maestro John Carpenter, is of course the gorgeous (and appropriately named) 1958 Plymouth Fury. As the story unfolds the car's malevolent powers are revealed and the body count rises!

Yet another Charger, a 1970 R/T440 Magnum model, is driven by Barry Newman, who would later become famous as TV's 'Petrocelli', from Denver to San Francisco over one weekend, with the inevitable police chases and other incidents. The film is only spoilt for UK viewers by the sequence where the Charger out-handles an E-type - clearly ridiculous.

Although well-regarded critically on it's release, this road movie was not a commercial success. It stars singer James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, the Beach Boys drummer as drifters who live by betting other drivers to beat their 1955 Chevy drag car. They end up having a coast-to-coast race with Warren Oates in a Plymouth GTO where the winner keep the loser's car. It's other main point of interest is that it documents much of the iconic Route 66 before it was superseded by modern interstates.