Like the title says, I'm looking for a movie I saw on TV some years ago. It wasn't that good or anything, but I'm so curious to find out which it was! It probably was never released in cinemas, it's one of those minor productions, but oh well, let's try anyway,

It was about the daughter of a champion racer of the past. My memories are fuzzy, but I remember that she decides to compete in races with a sort of sentient car (it was not Herbie or the Love Bug franchise). She also has a relationship with her rival, but he turns out to be a jerk. In the end she competes against her father and she wins. Do you know this movie? Thanks in advance!

My current top 3:
Fullmetal Alchemist
Pandora Hearts
3-gatsu no Lion

The (sort of?) sentient car listing of Tvtropes gave a a bunch of nothing and you eliminated the 2 obvious ones.

The best ones i have so far are Heart Like a Wheel (1983) and Fast Girl (2008) but your memory must have been pretty fuzzy if it was one of those.
Give us more defining search criteria and we may find it.

I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

I'll try to add some content, but the more I add the less sure I get. I searched on TV Tropes as well to no avail.

The car was sentient, meaning that it could communicate in a basic way, like turning the lights on and off, and stuff like that. I remember that the father was a retired racer, and he only accepts to challenge her in a final event in which only the female lead, her father and the rival take part. The rival tries to win dirty, but in the end something goes off for him and he's forced to retire before the end of the race. A trick with smoke was involved. Oh, and I THINK there was a sidekick who was in love with the girl, and they get together in the end thanks to the car giving her a budge. That's as far as I can go for a movie that didn't really catch my attention at the time.

EDIT: Well, I'm starting to think I'm just mixing Herbie and another movie up, there are too many similarities for it not to be Herbie

My current top 3:
Fullmetal Alchemist
Pandora Hearts
3-gatsu no Lion