Recommended movies

You must see these movies - clicking on the links will take you to Amazon where you can purchase them directly.

• Two Lane Blacktop

James Taylor is the driver, Dennis Wilson (Beach Boys) the mechanic. Together they drive across the badlands living from the money earned from street racing their primer '55 Chevy. Warren Oates plays the dumb GTO driver that challenges them to racing across country for pinkies...

• Vanishing Point

A whole-film car chase! Barry Newman doesn't stop popping the uppers as he flies across the desert in his brand new Dodge Challenger. I wish I'd seen this muscle car era, but I was only 7 when this film was released.

• The Driver

Good guy/Bad guy. And of course the cop's the baddie. Ryan O'Neil plays the hero getaway driver who has some great chases. Very 70's, and all the better for it.

• Bullitt

The original and still one of the best car chases ever shot. Classic Steve McQueen as a cop. Not much of a plot, but the chase between his Mustang and the baddies black Charger more than makes up for it. I can still hear that Mustang shift gears if I close my eyes... (p.s. count the hubcaps that come off the charger)

• Le Mans

Of course, I'm a sucker for Le Mans since I owned a GT40. They even cut the top of a real GT40 to turn it into a camera car to film this! Sacrilege.

• Ronin

Robert De Niro and Jean Reno star in this modern-day thriller - a bunch of mercenaries are hired by the IRA to steal a briefcase. But that's irrelevant to us, because it also contains two incredible true-to-life car chases. From offroad through narrow city streets to the wrong way down the freeway! Awesome.

• American Graffiti

Where were you in'62? I wish I was there. The classic cruising movie that has to be cherished - Wolfman Jack, The Pharoahs with the chopped merc, and Harrison Ford racing his black '55. My favorite movie.

Recommended books

• How about the one I started writing years ago - "From Concept to Reality - Using GRP and other composites"? Maybe I'll finish it one day...

Copyright © 1999-2008 James Shaw. All rights reserved.
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