“What Cars Do You Associate With Specific Types Of Music?” was yesterday’s Ask via The Bishop, and I’ll admit I was worried the results would be 90% “F-body = metal, trucks = country,” but of course, I was wrong. “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public,” said H. L. Mencken, approximately, but I think the inverse is true for Autopians – we’ll never go broke overestimating our esteemed readers (also helpful in contributing to our not-brokeness: you becoming a Member. Now’s a good time!)
Let’s enjoy just a few of your cars-and-music combos, starting with MTV-era tunes that are absolutely cemented to cars:
Patrick Jaberg
Whitesnake “Here I Go Again” and Jaguar XJ (and the lady on the hood ????
Yeah, that absolutely tracks. I can’t look at an XJ and not see Tawny Kitaen writhing around on a pair of them (as I wonder what damage she might be doing to the hoods).
LTDScott
It’s been a while since I’ve seen one, but anytime I saw an ’80s Crown Vic with dog dish hubcaps my brain would automatically start playing Beastie Boys’ Sabotage.
JDE
Sammy will forever drive a gated manual Ferrari for me, one he promptly drives past 55 mph.
What I really love about this video – besides every frame – is the guest appearance from Claudio Zampolli.
Mechjaz
There’s an older gentleman around town that has massive bass coming out of his second gen Prius. I don’t even know what it is, it could possibly be Bassnectar or Skrillex but I don’t think those have enough low end oomph for this guy.
Well, obviously that guy rules.
Urban Runabout
When Dad bought Mom her first Volvo 240, he bought her a couple ABBA tapes.
That’s what I think of when I see a 240.
Pink Corvette? B52’s “Summer of Love”
1980’s Porsche 911SC Targa? Julie Brown “Cause I’m a Blonde”
Cadillac Coupe deVille? Sinatra “My Way”
Cadillac Sedan deVille? Ray Charles “Hit The Road Jack”
Cadillac Eldorado? Jim Croce “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”
Lincoln Continental? Henry Mancini “Peter Gunn Theme Song”
Plymouth Volare? Dean Martin “Volare”
The specificity of the three Cadillacs is delightful, and I see it. Those are definitely the songs.
Banana Stand Money
The Vector W8 is definitely the theme song to Airwolf
Heck yeah, 100% Imagine driving a W8 while wearing one of those Airwolf flight suits and badass helmets as the stereo bumps that theme.
TV shows and movies also made some indelible car connections:
Jesus Chrysler drives a Dodge
I cannot see a ferrari testarossa without that Jan Hammer Miami Vice playing in my mind’s ear.
SimpleFix
It’s impossible to look at a black Ferrari Daytona and not hear Phil Collins…even though it was not a real one
MaximillianMeen
There were fake Phil Collinses?
Martin Wikosky
Whenever I see any Alfa Romeo Spider I always think of Simon and Garfunkel, even though it was only the original Duetto in The Graduate.
LOL MaxMeen! Martin, I literally saw a Spider last week and got Mrs. Robinson stuck in my head, coo-coo ca-choo.
I also connect Cabrios of any vintage with Pink Moon. And also Mighty Joe Young:
StillNotATony
El Camino = Lynyrd Skynyrd
You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.
Have you hit up today’s Ask yet? It’s
What Car Does Your Partner Want To Buy That You Dread Getting?
Top graphic images: Toyota; Rolling Stone; DepositPhotos.com
I feel like any mid-70s large American muscle car with significant body rust needs the whole Born to Run album and/or John Cougar Mellencamp.
IROC-Z is only allowed to play Bob Seger.
I filled a USB stick with Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac specifically for driving my 560SL.
Voyage Voyage by Desireless and a Citroen XM
enjoy
Pink Cadillac:Freeway of Love- Aretha Franklin
Brilliant!
One of these days… Tawny Kitaen will be dragging me into the back seat. Or so my brain continues to hope.
I sure hope not, cause she’s dead. Great horror short premise though!
VW had some great ads in the late 90s. Blew my mind to hear The Orb on commercial TV.
I did think of one other yesterday, but didn’t post it because I already did the Trueno/Levin thing:
A rusty, crusty old car that still somehow runs (if barely) deserves “Dawggy Mountain Breakdown” by bluegrass performer David Grisman. You know why.
Back in the day, I liked to buck stereotypes by loading up my El Camino with Lilith Fair-type tapes I’d stolen from my mom. Windows down, Natalie Merchant bumping…good times.
I owned my Audi GT Coupe at a pretty lonely time in my life. I was living/working in Charlotte NC in my mid 20s, 700 miles away from my friends and everything I grew up with. I didn’t fit into the banker culture of Charlotte, and the only people I knew were either family or co-workers.
Spent a lot of nights driving around blasting Rammstein off a portable CD player hooked up via a cassette adapter, often unintentionally lost in South Carolina. I knew I was in trouble when the streets started having numbers instead of names.
Whenever I see a mid-80s Audi I get Sehnsucht or Du Hast stuck in my head.
Missed the OP. Olds Delta 98 – “I’m in the comfy confines of an Oldsmobile…” The Delfonics.
I can’t see a Coupe DeVille and not hear Layla by Derek and the Dominos.
Movies shape our lives…
I associate The Delfonics more with Max’s Cadillac Seville, though. Maybe because that car was in the movie more.
Both to be true, but get real – Sam Jackson just calmly prepping for a hit… Plus I bet the Delta 98 was a better car than the Seville.
Doctor Bernice… “She’s got a long, black car, but it ain’t a Cadillac, it’s a Delta 88 spray painted black With fake leather seats from Juarez”