Looking for the best car TV shows you can watch in 2021?
With streaming services, now there are more options than ever for car enthusiasts who are looking to get into a brand new show. Whether you're interested in getting behind the scenes of Formula 1, you love classic cars, want to see some ridiculous motoring challenges or you're passionate about car restoration, there's plenty on offer for every kind of motoring mad viewer these days.
Here's a list of some of the best car TV shows that you can stream in 2021!
Top Gear
You can't list the best car shows without mentioning Top Gear at least once. The show was rebooted by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman for the BBC back in 2002 and has been one of the go-to motoring shows ever since.
The show features a variety of segments, from car reviews, power laps of the Top Gear test track, challenges for the presenters, the legendary "star in a reasonably priced car" celebrity racing challenge, and plenty of other madcap stunts.
Following the departure of Clarkson and fellow presenters James May and Richard Hammond in 2015, Top Gear returned from a hiatus with a brand new set of presenters.
Currently, the show is fronted by Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris and the new Question of Sport host, Paddy McGuinness alongside the legendary anonymous racing driver, The Stig.
- Number of seasons: 30
- Number of episodes: 223 (as of April 2021)
- Average episode length: minutes
- Where to watch: BBC iPlayer (series 10 onwards - UK), MotorTrend on Prime Video (US). Select seasons are also available to stream on Amazon Prime in the US, too.
The Grand Tour
The Grand Tour reunited motoring show legends Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May for even more motoring mayhem back in 2016.
The Amazon Prime exclusive initially followed a similar format to Top Gear for the first three seasons, with car reviews, celebrity guest appearances, timed racing laps, and plenty of motoring challenges.
More recently, the series has switched things up a bit with The Grand Tour Presents, a series of specials. Each one has tasked Jeremy, James, and Richard with accomplishing monumental globe-trotting challenges.
So far, they have taken boat trips across Cambodia and Vietnam and driven luxury sports cars across the world’s toughest road in Madagascar. Their most recent episode, The Grand Tour Presents: Lochdown saw the lads driving classic American cars along the Scottish coast whilst confined to the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. There's more The Grand Tour on the way, too, as filming took place in Wales and England earlier this year. There's no arguing this is one of the best car TV shows around.
- Number of seasons: 4
- Number of episodes: 41
- Average episode length: 60-90 minutes
- Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Jay Leno's Garage
Jay Leno's Garage started out life as an Emmy award-winning web-based series for NBC.com but became a weekly prime-time show for CNBC in 2015. The show sees Jay Leno (legendary comedian and former host of The Tonight Show) exploring his obsession with all things automotive.
In the show, Jay Leno has test-driven some of the strangest vehicles ever produced, conducted extensive restoration projects, tested out everything from vintage to sport to supercars, shared his knowledge of the car collector's market, and been visited by a growing number of celebrity guests along the way.
There's also plenty of extra content available to watch on Jay Leno's YouTube Channel, too!
- Number of seasons: 5
- Number of episodes: 68
- Average episode length: 60 minutes
- Where to watch: on CNBC with a TV service like Sling TV, on Peacock (in US), live on Dave (UK)
Fastest Car
If you're interested in the pure thrill of driving or have a passion for street racing, you should check out Fastest Car on Netflix if you haven't already.
In every single episode of Fastest Car, three modified "sleeper" cars—unassuming cars you wouldn't expect to see on the starting line—are pitted against one of the world's most sought-after supercars.
Want to know whether a 2005 Dodge Ram can go toe-to-toe with a 2016 Lamborghini Aventador in a straightforward drag race? Watch Fastest Car to find out.
- Number of seasons: 2
- Number of episodes: 15
- Average episode length: 40-52 minutes
- Where to watch: Netflix
Rust Valley Restorers
Originally a Canadian documentary series for History, Rust Valley Restorers is now distributed internationally on Netflix. The show follows a team of three men who are dedicated to fixing up classic cars at their restoration compound in "Rust Valley", aka Tappen in British Columbia.
Rust Bros. Restorations is run by Mike Hall, Connor Charman-Hall (Mike's son) and Avery Shoaf. Mike has amassed a huge collection of classic cars across forty years, and the series sees Mike, Avery, Connor and the rest of the Rust Bros. team putting their expertise to work as they restore, trade and sell on old cars.
- Number of seasons: 3
- Number of episodes: 20
- Average episode length: 38-43 minutes
- Where to watch: Netflix
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
If you like cars, there's a solid chance you're also into Formula 1. If you are and you haven't been watching Formula 1: Drive to Survive, you're about to learn even more about your favorite sport.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive is a documentary series developed in a collaboration between Formula 1 and Netflix. Similar to Amazon's All or Nothing sports docuseries, Drive to Survive gives viewers a peek behind the scenes of the FIA Formula One World Championship, starting with the 2018 Championship in 2019.
The most recent season was released in March 2021 and documented the impact that COVID-19 had on the 2020 racing calendar, as well as how it affected individual racing teams. Viewers also get to know the drivers and their teams more personally, so it's not just for petrolheads and is definitely one of the best car shows around.
- Number of seasons: 3 (a fourth is in development)
- Number of episodes: 30
- Average episode length: 27-40 minutes
- Where to watch: Netflix
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Like Jay Leno's Garage, Comedian in Cars Getting Coffee started out as an American web series on Crackle but was later bought by Netflix. Hosted by beloved comedian Jerry Seinfeld, this talk show sees Jerry picking up a fellow comedian in a different car every single episode and taking them out for a coffee and a chat.
Over the years, the show has had guest appearances from Tina Fey, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Dave Chappelle, Sarah Silverman, Kate McKinnon, Ricky Gervais and even then-President Barack Obama.
The show might not place quite as much emphasis on the cars as some of the other shows on this list, but it still features plenty of unique and classic cars that you might not see anywhere else; it's also really funny!
- Number of seasons: 11
- Number of episodes: 89
- Average episode length: 12-23 minutes
- Where to watch: Netflix
