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- With motorsport and car enthusiast meetups currently on pause, automotive enthusiasts are finding it hard to take solace in their favorite hobby.
- Thankfully, there are a number of great documentaries available to stream at home to help pass the time with compelling stories, stunning visuals, and accounts of historic events.
- Whether you love motorsport, engineering, or just fast cars, we've rounded up five of the best automotive documentaries to satisfy your need for speed.
Fans of all things automotive vary in the depth of their obsession. Some simply want to watch pretty cars drive fast while others want every aspect of their favorite racing team's pit strategy. Thankfully, there are plenty of great documentaries out there to satisfy just about every level of automotive passion.
Documentaries are a great way of delving into specific areas of motorsport and car culture. They're packed with stories behind historic events, the inner workings of an automaker's operation, and the people who became legends in their field. Often times, they're about normal people that just happen to love cars.
If you're stuck at home and need a way to scratch that particular automotive itch, or if you simply want to see beautiful cars roar across your screen, here are the top five automotive documentaries currently streaming.
Truth in 24
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a legendary endurance race that's spawned some of motorsport's greatest legends. It's an event as prestigious as it is grueling, pushing cars, drivers, and their teams to the limits — and often beyond them.
Truth in 24 follows Audi's endurance racing team as it prepares to compete in the 2008 running of the famous race. There are fantastic interviews with drivers like Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, who convey the mental and physical challenges of running the 8.4-mile loop for hours on end. It's exhilarating listening to the team's head of engine development, Ulrich Baretzky, passionately walk the audience through the details of the then-cutting-edge turbodiesel power plant of the R10 TDI race car.
Make no mistake, the narrative is very much Audi-leaning, designed to make the drivers and the rest of the team the heroes. Even with that in mind, it very much succeeds.
Though many of the rules and teams have changed since the documentary's release, it's still a great primer for those interested in learning the ins-and-outs of the legendary undertaking that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, its history, and the culture that surrounds it.
Where to watch: Stream, "Truth in 24" on iTunes.
Williams
Race car drivers so often get the spotlight due to the fact they're the most prominent and exciting component of an entire racing team. Williams is a refreshing refocus onto one of a team's founders, their personal struggles, and accomplishments.
If you're a fan of Formula 1, you're sure to be familiar with Sir Frank Williams and the Williams F1 team. Williams is a fascinating look at a life wrought with as much adversity as it is success. Uniquely, this film is as much an intimate exploration of William's relationship with his family as much as it is a chronicling of his professional achievements, strengthening the emotional impact of both paralleling stories.
Williams is a must-watch for any Formula 1 fan and a documentary non-fans can appreciate as well.
Where to watch: Stream, "Williams" on Amazon, Netflix, and Google Play.
APEX: The Story of the Hypercar
We're in an era where a supercar is no longer the pinnacle of automotive achievement. Welcome to the age of the Hypercar, and if you don't know what that is, APEX: The Story of the Hypercar is on deck to enlighten you. Directed by J.F. Musial, the documentary delves into the minds of the people behind physics-bending cars most notable of which is Christian von Koenigsegg and his creations, the Koenigsegg One:1 and Regera.
There's also plenty of commentary from professional talents in the automotive industry, from writers, to presenters, to race car drivers. As informative as it is, the film would still be compelling even if it was muted, thanks to its stellar cinematography.
It presents some of the most beautiful, exclusive cars ever built, designed to push the limits of everything a car is capable of. A great watch for anyone with a love of exotics.
Where to watch: Stream, "APEX: The Story of the Hypercar" on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Netflix.
Love the Beast
Not all documentaries are about million-dollar hypercars and professional racing events — some are about $1,100 fixer-uppers, too.
Love the Beast is a wonderful documentary about the relationship a car lover has with his ride, the literal and metaphorical journeys he's taken with it, and his efforts to turn it into a race car; the fact that said owner is prolific Hollywood actor Eric Bana is a minor point.
Self-directed and produced by Bana, Love the Beast is an extremely relatable story about his history with a 1974 Ford XB Falcon (which he bought when he was fifteen), and his mission to enter it in the Targa Tasmania rally event. While being a famous celebrity certainly benefits the doc, facilitating appearances by Jeremy Clarkson and Jay Leno, for example, it's a story that resonates with viewers because everyone likely has a similar tale of their own.
Where to watch: Stream, "Love the Beast" on iTunes and Amazon.
Senna
Arguably, our vision of the romantic aspects of motor racing culminates in the legend that is Ayrton Senna. Celebrated as one of the greatest drivers of all time, Senna's life and tragic death are documented in this powerful documentary by Asif Kapadia.
The documentary forgoes the traditional documentary format of interviews and voiceover commentary, instead weaving archival footage together that propels the narrative of both Senna's personal and professional life forward.
The film illustrates Senna's larger-than-life character that led to clashes with many of his peers but that same personality manifested in a strong sense of sportsmanship. Indeed, Senna was highly critical of the state of safety standards in F1 at the time, pushing for many revisions to protect his fellow drivers. Sadly, his fatal accident was the impetus to implement stricter standards. A must-see documentary which hits the feels hard, even knowing how it ends.
Where to watch: Stream, "Senna" on iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix.
Alex Kalogiannis Freelance writer, Insider Reviews Alex is a freelance writer who covers car culture and the automotive industry. He was previously the editor of Digital Trends' car section. When not on the road, he can be found at home with his two cats, Grayskull and Odo, perplexing them with his odd primate behavior. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here. Read more Read lessYou can purchase syndication rights to this story here.
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