Hot rods and the big screen go together like beers and a BBQ. Here are eight of our faves:

American Graffitti (1973)

Some of the coolest cars to ever appear on celluloid, and inspired thousands of ’32 Ford builds across the world. Watch out for a young Harrison Ford behind the wheel of a nasty ’55 Chev.

More American Graffitti (1979)

More laughs, more music, and most importantly, more car action.

The Hollywood Knights (1980)

Think American Graffiti meets Porkys and you are there. Stars a blown ’57 Chev, Tony Danza, Michelle Pfeiffer and Fran Drescher! Not for kiddies. Best bits: A race between a Cobra, a T-bucket and the ’57 Chev.

Dragstrip Girl (1957)

Rite-of-passage story about an 18-year-old girl encountering boys, hot rods and drag strips. B-grade with a capital B.

Hot Rod (1979)

Pertinent in this day and age of the conflict between sponsorship, financially struggling racers, and getting hoons to race in relatively safe environments.

Hot Rod Girl (1956)

A concerned cop organises supervised drag racing after illegal street drags get out of control.

The Wild Ride (1960)

This hot-rods-and-juvenile-delinquents flick stars Jack Nicholson.

Hot Rod Gang (1958)

As the burgeoning hot rod culture continued to rise in the late 50s, Hot Rod Gang’s tagline spruiked “crazy kids… living to a hot rod beat!” With a passable plot involving upper-class youth John Abernathy III (John Ashley) living a double life as a reckless street racer, this flick really shines for its documentation of the real-deal hot rodding to which today’s scene owes so much.