5 Car-Related Movies Winning Big at the Academy Awards

Sure, the Oscars don't always align with the majority's preferences. For example, let's remember 2004 when Crash won Best Motion Picture over Brokeback Mountain. The Academy itself acknowledged that the latter was Best Film material.

Even so, they are considered to be the most prestigious and important form of recognition for artistic and technical merit in the film industry and still have a big influence on which movies are worth watching.

So, we decided to check out the most critically acclaimed and Oscar-winning car films.

#5 Bullitt – 1 Oscar

Bullitt is universally acknowledged as the movie with the first modern car chase. The scene, which includes a 1968 Ford Mustang is eleven minutes long and it ranks the highest on the list of car chase scenes in film history.

Starring Steve McQueen, one of the greatest and most popular Hollywood stars, also known as "King of Cool," the 1968 film follows policeman Bullitt. He was assigned to protect a witness that got killed by the mob, so Bullitt decided to take matters into his own hands.

Also featuring a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T, a few custom Fords, a 1968 Lincoln Continental, or a Porsche 356 C Cabriolet, the movie won an Oscar for Best Film Editing. It was also nominated for Best Sound.

#4 Ford v Ferrari – 2 Oscars

The 2019 Ford v Ferrari is one of the latest car-related films to win at the Academy Awards.

In North America, the Christian Bale and Matt Damon-led movie was marketed as Ford v Ferrari, but it was internationally known as Le Mans 66, and it explores the way famous car designer Carroll Shelby teamed up with racing driver Ken Miles to build the most revolutionary race car for Ford in his fight against Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

With James Mangold at the helm, Ford v Ferrari won two Academy Awards: Best Achievement in Film Editing, and Best Achievement in Sound Editing. It was also nominated for Best Motion Picture and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing.

#3 Driving Miss Daisy – 4 Oscars

This might be a controversial pick, but besides Jessica Tandy (Miss Daisy) and Morgan Freeman (Hoke Colburn), Driving Miss Daisy has a vehicle in a central role: a 1949 Hudson Commodore 8 4-door sedan.

The movie centers around two people of different backgrounds, as an old Jewish woman (Tardy) has an African-American driver (Freeman), and, while it might come off as offensive at times in present times, it moved the Academy in 1990, giving it a total of four Oscars.

It won Best Picture, Best Actress in Leading Role, Best Writing, and Best Makeup. It was also nominated for Best Actor in Leading Role, Best Actor in Supporting Role, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing.

The four-door sedan from the movie was finished in maroon and came with a tan interior. In 2014 was offered at an auction, selling for $66,000.

#2 The French Connection

Moving back to a neo-noir crime action thriller, we get the 1971 The French Connection.

As expected from a movie involving cars and cops, there are car chases and crashes, featuring a 1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III, a 1968 Ford Custom 500, a 1971 Ford LTD, a 1971 Pontiac LeMans, and more.

The French Connection got a total of five Academy Awards in 1972. Besides Best Picture, it also won Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It also received nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.

#1 Mad Max: Fury Road - 2015 – 6 Oscars

Spreading over four movies at the time of press, the post-apocalyptic 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road, has a lot of awesome, ready-to-kill custom cars.

All the cars are based on real cars with Survival Mode on. Those include the War Rig, the Interceptor, the Gigahorse, or the Plymouth Rock.

The movie took over the Academy Awards with six wins in 2016, taking home the statuette for Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Achievement in Sound Editing, and Best Achievement in Production Design.

It was also nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Cinematography, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects.

Honorable mention: the James Bond series – 6 Oscars

Since we’re not talking about only one film, it would’ve been unfair to place it in our top 5, However, the popular spy movie has been recognized at the Oscars a few times, earning a total of six Oscars.

Famous for its resourceful Aston Martin DB5, the James Bond series involved a lot of chases, crashes, and powerful cars.

In 1965, it won Best Sound Effects for Goldfinger, followed by Best Special Visual Effects in 1966 for Thunderball. The next four Oscars arrived several decades later, winning three of them for Best Original Song (for the 2013’s Skyfall, 2016’s Spectre, and 2022’s No Time to Die), and Best Sound for No Time to Die.