You might have binged on Monster Garage back in the day or watched every episode of Pimp My Ride. Perhaps your Top Gear DVDs have worn out. You love Wheeler Dealers and Counting Cars when they pop up on free-to-air TV, so what next for the dedicated car-show viewer?
Plenty. The rise of streaming services and proliferation of new content has only seen the number of quality car-programs with a four-wheeled focus grow. Here are seven to add to your watchlist.
1. Formula 1: Drive to Survive
This collaboration between Netflix and the Formula 1 World Championship gives a behind-the-scenes account of the people who make the world’s top open-wheel racing series tick. Each season of the show plays out over a full F1 season, offering an intriguing glimpse into what the drivers, teams and team bosses go through during the course of their most extraordinary day jobs.
Available on Netflix
2. Car Masters: Rust to Riches
Watch as Californian car-resto company Gotham Garage pins down sub-$1,000 junkers and turns them into gleaming six-figure jewels. While the restore-and-flip premise is familiar, the quality of Gotham’s work and scale of the transformations are seriously impressive. Host Mark Towle and his ragtag crew of mechanics are a fun bunch to hang out with, too.
Available on Netflix
3. The Grand Tour
If you loved Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May in the old Top Gear, you’ll love this. Motoring TV’s most famous trio haven’t reinvented the wheel – car reviews, celebrity interviews, races and grand challenges remain their raison d’etre – but The Grand Tour’s variety, scope, stellar production values and humour mean it’s never boring.
Available on Amazon Prime Australia
4. Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Road Trip
In this made-for-TV doco-series, British TV chef, celebrity and car lover Paul Hollywood takes an epic road trip across Europe as part of a wider quest to learn what the car means to this part of the world. As well as offering plenty of opportunities to peek at iconic European classics, roads and scenery, this three-part series will broaden your grasp of French, German and Italian motoring history.
Available on Netflix
5. Hyperdrive
If low-intensity automotive appreciation isn’t your cup of tea, try this adrenalin-charged show on for size. The premise is simple – amateur racers from across the world compete for the title of ‘Hyperdrive Champion’ in their own custom cars. The twist comes from the tracks, which are essentially obstacle courses with dangers aplenty to trip up competitors.
Available on Netflix
6. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld grabs a car, picks up a buddy and they go for a coffee and chat. While you don’t get a deep dive into the cars – a range of subjects tend to be dissected, often hilariously – they are always gorgeous, rare or otherwise notable and their connections to the guest can be deeply personal or just amusing.
Available on Netflix
7. Rust Valley Restorers
Another car-resto show but with a charm all its own, this Canadian reality series centres on Mike Hall, who has accumulated more than 400 classic cars over his lifetime and is now trying to bring them all back to life. With the help of the talented crew at his car-resto shop, Rust Bros, he might just turn that mountain of rust into rivers of gold.
Available on Netflix