Notable appearances in popular culture:
“I’ve been driving in my car, it’s not quite a Jaguar.” (Madness, Driving in My Car)
It is hard to imagine a world without cars. The motor industry is one of the biggest in the world and a huge social importance has been attributed to the owning an automobile of your own. So much so that some people spend years saving for their dream car.
It’s no surprise driving has a central position in popular culture. Indeed, if love and romance is the most popular subject for pop songs, then cars certainly come a close second. Musicians across all genres have been singing their praises for decades. Some of the most memorable include Tracy Chapman, Fast Car, The Beatles, Drive My Car; Billy Ocean, Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car; The Cars, Drive; Rose Royce, Car Wash and Gary Numan’s Cars. Television has also been dominated by car shows over recent years with Top Gear, Pimp My Ride and The Grand Tour leading the pack.
In film there are a host of action films that features exciting car races, banking on the audience’s love for cars. From the ‘Fast and Furious franchise’ to ‘Need for Speed’, car chases make for some of the greatest action scenes in film history. Furthermore, iconic characters such as James Bond, or those played by James Dean were always shown driving powerful cars that have become cultural icons. And who could forget the classic Mini Cooper scenes that made The Italian Job so great?
