Ah, Red Barchetta. It's at the top of my list because it is literally a racing song about a post ICE dystopia where a car that has an engine that has been outlawed for years that was saved by his uncle just for him to experience a simpler time, and the only reason he gets away is because the authorities can't cross a bridge that the car fits over. If you don't listen to the lyrics it's just a great beat to drive fast to in your ICE engine car.
In addition to C.D.B. Uneasy rider, I'm throwing in Uneasy rider '88, a song that got no radio play for probably good reason at the time it was written.
Thanks all. Many of these I forgot about... one more: Rev On The Red Line by Foreigner.
I see no one mentioned Bitching Camaro by the Dead Milkman. Classic 80's punk.
It has to be Queen for for me. The music video has a bunch of vintage race footage too.
'Hot Rod Lincoln' by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (1971) and
'I Can't Drive 55' by Sammy Hagar (1984) are a couple of my favorites.
"Open Road Song" by Eve 6
EDIT: I guess it's a song about driving more than a car per se...
Local hero Tom Heinl wrote this gem
But the first R&R song about a car?
Hot rod Lincoln is a great song.
How about Public enemy, You’re gonna get yours
Drive by Alan Jackson.
Always loved the song. For some reason ever since my Grandpa passed away, I get a bunch of dust in my eyes every time I hear it.
Jerry Was a Racecar Driver - Primus
Every single time I pull up to the starting line at an autocross I'm playing that song in my head. It's like a mental "get in the zone" thing for me.
Rapid Roy that Stock Car Boy - Jim Croce
Thunder Road by Robert Mitchum. The movie had a great 49 Ford hot rod in it.
Paul Gilbert - Muscle Car
Or, if you want to hear the lyrics
Radar Love , driving down the Autobahn in my VW camper......
There can only be one.
Bitchin Camaro by the Dead Milkman.
Pretty sure that Hot Rod Lincoln and Rapid Roy are the two best so far.
A friend and I use to race on the famous Bay Area road known from American Graffiti (I forget the name of the rd). He in his 69 AMC 390 4spd Javelin and me in my '65 389 4spd GTO. Dead of the night, side by side, blaring Hot Rod Lincoln, etc. Those were the days.
Hot Rod Lincoln
Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
My pappy said, "Son, you gonna drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln"
Have you heard the story of the hot rod race
Where the Fords and the Lincolns were settin' the pace
That story's true I'm here to say
'Cause I was a drivin' that Model A
It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up
That Model A body makes it look like a pup
It's got eight cylinders and uses them all
It's got overdrive, just won't stall
With a four barrel carb and a dual exhaust
With 4:11 gears you can really get lost
Got safety tubes, but I ain't scared
The brakes are good, the tires fair
Pulled outta San Pedro late one night
The moon and the stars were shinin' bright
We was drivin' up Grapevine Hill
Passin' cars like they was standin' still
All of a sudden, in the wink of an eye
A Cadillac sedan passed us by
I said boys that's the mark for me
By then the taillight was all you could see
Now the fellas ribbed me for bein' behind
So I thought I'd make the Lincoln unwind
Took my foot off the gas and man alive
I shoved it on down into overdrive
Wound it up to hundred and ten
My speedometer said that I'd hit top end
Had my foot glued like lead to the floor
That's all there is, and there ain't no more
Now the boys all thought that I'd lost my sense
Them telephone poles looked like a picket fence
They said, "Slow down, I see spots"
The lines on the road just looked like dots
Took a corner, sideswiped a truck
Crossed my fingers just for luck
My fenders was clickin' the guardrail posts
The guy beside me was white as a ghost
Smoke was comin' from outta the back
When I started to gain on that Cadillac
Knew I could catch him; I thought I could pass
Don't ya know by then we'd be low on gas
We had flames comin' from out of the side
You could feel the tension, man what a ride
I said, "Look out boys, I got a license to fly"
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by
Now all of a sudden a she starts to knockin'
Down in the depths she started to rockin'
I looked in the mirror and a red light was blinkin'
The cops was after my hot rod Lincoln
They arrested me and they put me in jail
And they called my pappy to throw my bail
And he said, "Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln"
Songwriters: Charles Ryan, W Stevenson
Highway Star - Deep Purple
Trans Am (Highway Wonderland) - Sammy Hagar
Pan Am Highway Blues - ZZ Top
Mercury Blues - Steve Miller Band
Chevrolet (Cover) - Derek Trucks Band
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