Red Line 7000 (1965) - ripper car movies

The raw and heady excitement of mid-1960s NASCAR racing is well documented in Red Line 7000, a late-period flick from legendary director Howard Hawks with an unusual but often disjointed mix of action and romance.

First published in the December 2025 issue of Street Machine

Mike (James Caan), a fierce and focused young NASCAR racer, is partnered with international star Dan (James Ward) and veteran driver Jim (Anthony Rogers). When Jim pushes too hard and is killed in a high-speed crash, it is left to Mike, team boss Pat (Norman Alden) and their mechanic Kato (George Takei – Mr Sulu from Star Trek) to break the news of his death to his newly arrived fiancée, Holly (Gail Hire).

This triggers a series of events that sees a number of worlds collide. The team’s replacement driver, Ned (John Robert Crawford), hooks up with the smitten Julie (Laura Devon), who is bossman Pat’s sister. Holly decides to stick around and soon catches the attention of Dan, who has just dumped Gabrielle (Marianna Hill), his visiting French girlfriend. Gabrielle, in turn, proceeds to focus her attentions on Mike. Phew!

This convoluted melodrama stands in brutally stark contrast to the awesome on-track NASCAR footage. The raw engine sounds of the stock cars allegedly bouncing their Sun Super Tachs at 7000rpm are outstanding and worth cranking up the volume for.

As the film progresses, allegiances are solidified, dramas are sorted, and it all gets magically sifted into a happy ending where everyone gets what they want, and the excitement of the race footage is again front and centre.

VERDICT: 3/5

Even making generous allowances for the era in which Red Line 7000 was made, some of the performances in the film aren’t so much bad as just plain weird. Fortunately, the fantastic sequences of real-life NASCAR racing from 60 years ago are the super-strength glue that just about holds the shaky plot and delivery together. The liberal use of period speed equipment and brands adds extra realism, and the attention to detail should appease even the most pedantic gearheads.