There’s An Unexpected Car In Cake’s ‘I Will Survive’ Video From 1996 And You Need To Be Made Aware

As you know, I’m all about getting you the most up-to-date, breaking car news as it happens. That’s why I need to inform you, as soon as possible, about a somewhat unexpected car that showed up in a music video from three decades ago. The car isn’t exactly an impossibility, as such, but it’s definitely improbable, and it also shows up in one of the very few – possibly the only – music video that features a Cushman Haulster as its hero vehicle.

This video came up by chance, or perhaps by algorithm, via the YouTube-generated mix of music I was playing in a background window while I worked. The song is Cake’s cover of Gloria Gaynor’s dramatic disco anthem I Will Survive, and is done in a sort of deadpan way that makes it unexpectedly funny. The choice of having the video themed around a traffic cop tooling around in a Cushman giving tickets is also unexpected and somewhat wry.

Have you seen the video? Here it is:

It seems that this was Gloria Gaynor’s least favorite cover of her song because it uses profanity. That’s a shame; I love profantity!

The video was shot in San Francisco, and since it follows a traffic cop giving tickets, there’s plenty of cars featured. Cars like this old ’72 Plymouth Duster:

I feel like Dusters were perpetually in about this condition. Like they came from the factory with a hood that wouldn’t close and a bashed-in grille. Maybe all of those were part of the option package that also got you an AM radio.

There’s a swanky 1990 Porsche 911, too, made more dashing with the vivid green neon sign reflected on its hood and windshield.

But the car I really want to talk about is this one:

See that? A Citroën 2CV! It’s a pretty unexpected car for San Francisco in the 1990s, but as far as American cities go, SF if probably one of the ones you’re most likely to find a 2CV in, so it’s not like, jaw-dropping, just unexpected.

It seems to be in  really great shape, too, with that striking red roof and what looks like very good paint. Someone really likes their 2CV, and it does look great in that alleyway, which has a color scheme that sort of mirrors the car.

I think it’s a ’66, based on the grille, though it’s hard to see many details. The bumper is interesting, and looks to be one of these safari-type bull-bar/tubular bumpers, with the inner mesh removed. These were fairly popular aftermarket 2CV bumpers back in the day, and I bet were welcome in a traffic-dense city like San Francisco.

The 2CV is the most interesting car in this video, but I think the hero has to be that little Cushman!

These workhorse three-wheelers crawl all over cities and work sites and are usually ignored, but they’re worth taking a moment to think about. Really, they’re America’s Piaggio Ape, a do-anything three-wheeled truck/utility vehicle.

These are still used in traffic enforcement and utility jobs all over the place; if you live near a college campus, there’s probably a hidden fleet of these in some underground garage near you. They come in gas and electric versions, even diesel ones, and they seem to be outfitted to do almost anything that involves moving people or stuff around some area at slowish speeds.

This video also likely is the music video to show the most Cushmans – Cushmen? – in one shot:

It’s glorious, in its own humble way.