Best car TV shows: the shows you need to stream right now

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond (L-R) in a town for The Grand Tour

(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Trying to track down the best car TV shows? Let us help.

As more and more streaming services have popped up, there are now more options than ever for motoring enthusiasts who are looking for a new series.

Whether you're interested in catching up with the drivers and teams that make Formula 1 as thrilling as it is, you love classic cars, you're after ridiculous motoring challenges or you're all about restoration, there's plenty of great shows on our screens to suit every appetite.

Here's a list of some of the best car TV shows that you can stream right now...

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. In November 2023, the BBC revealed that they had 'decided to rest the UK show', after Flintoff was involved in an accident whilst shooting the 34th season in 2022.

Number of seasons: 33
Number of episodes: 240
Average episode length: 60 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 Prime Video 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 a series of specials in the spirit of the globetrotting Top Gear specials, which typically see our hosts taking on challenges around the world.

The trio has now finished shooting season 5, which will be The Grand Tour's last. The Grand Tour: Sand Job is the show's penultimate adventure, and saw Clarkson, Hammond and May heading to Mauritania to follow in the footsteps of the Paris-Dakar rally in cheap, modified sports cars.

Number of seasons: 5
Number of episodes: 45
Average episode length: 60-90 minutes
Where to watch: Prime Video

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 he's been joined by plenty of top stars from the world of entertainment.

Although the show's come to an end, Leno has continued to produce new content on his YouTube Channel.

Number of seasons: 7
Number of episodes: 88
Average episode length: 60 minutes
Where to watch: Peacock (US), 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

Rust Valley Restorers 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: 4
Number of episodes: 42
Average episode length: 38-43 minutes
Where to watch: Netflix, MotorTrend

Formula 1: Drive to Survive

If you're an F1 fan, you've almost certainly heard of Drive to Survive.

Similar to Amazon's All or Nothing sports docuseries, Formula 1: Drive to Survive gives viewers a peek behind the scenes of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The show has had one new season since 2019, with each series giving viewers fresh insight into the high-octane sport.

The show has been credited with attracting new viewers to the sport (particularly from the US). It brings viewers inside every team and offers unprecedented access to drivers, their crew and managers.

Number of seasons: 6
Number of episodes: 50
Average episode length: 27-51 minutes
Where to watch: Netflix

The best Netflix series

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 later migrated to 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 former 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: 84
Average episode length: 6-23 minutes
Where to watch: Netflix

Wheeler Dealers

Wheeler Dealers is a long-running British series following car enthusiast and car dealer extraordinaire, Mike Brewer.

Over the years, Brewer's been joined by several mechanics (Edd China, Ant Anstead, and, since series 17, former F1 mechanic, Marc Priestley) each episode sees Brewer tracking down an iconic car from history and restoring it, all on a budget.

Once the car's in hand, Brewer and his mechanic set to work bringing their find back to life, all to sell the newly-restored vehicle on to a new owner (and make a nice profit in the process!).