7 Classic Muscle Car Songs To Perfectly Define The Golden Era
As a muscle car enthusiast, you’ve probably found yourself ranting about cars while your friends zoned out. This happened to me after I explained that I learned Barracuda by Heart was about the fish, not a Plymouth Barracuda. I followed this up with a joke about how it’s fine, because Mustang Sally is actually a horse. That joke didn’t land, it was totally missed and that’s how we got here. It’s what inspired my list of classic songs about muscle cars for an audience who will appreciate it!
7
Queen – I’m In Love With My Car
1965 Triumph TR4 HP: 105 Torque: 132 LB-FT
Queen released I’m In Love with My Car on November 12, 1975, to describe the passionate love that some people feel for their favorite rides. Reportedly, a band roadie named Jonathan Harris loved his 1965 Triumph TR4 sports car more than his actual partner. I get it, car people are full of passion.
His 1965 Triumph TR4 soared with 105 hp and 132 lb-ft of torque. It could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 10.4 seconds and complete a quarter mile in around 17.5 seconds with a top speed of 109 mph. It’s a British two-door Roadster that was designed by Italy’s Giovanni Michelotti. It has a Surrey top or a rigid hardtop section with a removable panel that inspired modern Targa tops.
The song suggests that cars can’t talk back, which I disagree with. I’ve heard cars pop, grind, squeal, and groan. But it also covers the peace of mind that you get when you’re cruising along without someone jabbering on in the passenger seat. Also, I can identify with the striking joy that fills your soul when your radials squeal.
6
Rush – Red Barchetta
1948 Ferrari 166 MM ′′Barchetta′′ HP: 140 Torque: 117 LB-FT
Another great rock song is Red Barchetta by Rush, which debuted in 1981 and combines the love of a Sunday cruise with a sci-fi take. This song is set in a futuristic world where “Motor Law” made private gas-powered cars outlawed in favor of safer, homogenized options. It’s sort of like how emissions standards rose and increasing gas prices killed the golden era of muscle cars and kickstarted the malaise era.
In the song, a 1948 Ferrari 166M Barchetta is hidden by the narrator’s uncle at a farm. The term Barchetta is Italian for ‘little boat,’ which refers to an open-top roadster. He takes it out every Sunday for a drive and ends up in a police chase, where he narrowly escapes! But it’s also quite relatable, with the freedom one experiences while cruising around back-country roads with the smell of fresh air. If muscle cars were outlawed, I bet plenty of us would hide our builds and continue to love them.
The Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta features 140 hp and 117 lb-ft of torque. It can reach 60 mph in roughly 8.3 seconds with a 16.3-second quarter-mile time and a top speed of 137 mph. The MM refers to Millie Miglia, a famous endurance race in Italy. With a rebellious spirit, it helped establish Ferrari as an international automotive icon.
5
Prince – Little Red Corvette
1964 Mercury Cyclone HP: 210 Torque: 300 LB-FT
Even though the Little Red Corvette wasn’t released until 1983, it was based on a much older car. Reportedly, Prince fell asleep in a 1964 Mercury Cyclone that belonged to his backup singer, Lisa Coleman. The 1964 Cyclone accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in about 7.9 seconds and runs a quarter mile in around 16.2 seconds with a top speed of 109 mph.
The car is hefty and a bit slow, so Prince changed the model to a Corvette to better match the fast-paced lyrics of the song, and it had a better ring to it. This makes sense, as many Corvette models do need to be tamed and can be run into the ground. For some, they may literally move too fast.
Ford owned the Mercury brand and was probably upset that Chevrolet ended up benefiting from the song. It cemented the red Corvette as an icon of freedom, speed, and romance. General Motors and Chevrolet frequently reference the song and honored Prince with classic red Corvette imagery after Prince passed.
4
Bruce Springsteen – Pink Cadillac
1955 Cadillac Eldorado HP: 270 Torque: 345 LB-FT
Bruce Springsteen released Pink Cadillac in 1984, but the song is actually a drawback to Elvis Presely, who drove a pink Cadillac and sang about one in “Baby Let’s Play House” in 1955. Elvis first bought a Cadillac in 1954 and had it painted pink, but it was destroyed in a fire on the side of the road. Then he bought a new 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 that was painted blue with a black roof and had it painted pink with a custom shade of “Elvis Rose”.
The 1955 Cadillac Eldorado is a luxury convertible with distinctive shark tail fins. It doesn’t exactly bring the heat with a 12.3-second 0 to 60 mph time and an 18.8-second quarter-mile time with a top speed of 113 mph. But that’s fine; it’s still one sexy car that became a symbol of rock-and-roll excess that is often referenced in pop culture and songs.
In true rock fashion, the car in Bruce Springsteen’s song represents sex, passion, and wild temptation. He jokes that Eve tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden with a pink Cadillac instead of an apple. As an automotive journalist, I must admit that the sports cars I review, like the Toyota Supra, do generate a lot of attention.
3
Wilson Pickett – Mustang Sally
1964 Ford Mustang 289 K-Code HP: 271 Torque: 312 LB-FT
Learn how to hit the brakes, Sally, you need to slow down! The song represents the freedom and independence that cars provide as a man buys a woman named Sally a brand new Ford Mustang, only to end up being ignored by her as she cruises around town. She refuses to let him ride along with her. Overall, it’s also a metaphor for how quickly things were changing in the 1960s.
The song was originally written by Mack Rice. Legend has it that his producer spoke about getting him a Lincoln Continental, but he said he wanted a Mustang instead. It was the new hot car of the decade. Also, the song was originally called “Mustang Mama” until Aretha Franklin suggested changing it to “Mustang Sally,” as some of the lyrics borrowed from an old children’s song game called “Little Sally Walker”.
Mack Rice released the song in 1965, but it didn’t take off until 1966 when it was released by Wilson Pickett, who helped turn it into an iconic soul anthem. I like to think that the song is about the 1964 Ford Mustang 289 K-Code with 289 hp and 312 of torque. It was the most powerful variant, with a 0 to 60 mph time of around 7.5 seconds and a 14.0-second quarter-mile time with a top speed of 120 mph. I can relate, as I often went too fast in my 1999 35th Anniversary Mustang.
2
Robert Mitchum – The Ballad of Thunder Road
1957 Ford Fairlane 500 312 F-Code HP: 300 Torque: 340 LB-FT
This one is a bonus because you can reminisce about the movie and the song. The Ballad of Thunder Road is a 1958 country-folk song written for the cult-classic bootlegging film, Thunder Road. It tells the story of Lusca Doolin, an Appalachian mountain moonshiner who illegally ran whiskey around Tennessee and North Carolina while outrunning federal revenuers.
The final pursuit in the movie takes place on a stretch of highway between Harlan, Kentucky, and Knoxville, Tennessee, known as “Thunder Road”. Key lyrics include: “Thunder has his engine and white lightning was his load.” I have a feeling that the famous moonshiner, Popcorn Sutton of North Carolina, loved the film and song. It’s also fitting, as NASCAR started from prohibition-era moonshiners who modified ordinary cars to outrun the police before founder Bill France Sr. helped organize it into a sport.
The car driven in the movie is a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500, which could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in roughly 7.2 seconds and complete a quarter mile in about 14.8 seconds, with a top speed of around 131 mph. This was the second car driven in the film. The first one is a heavily modified 1950 Ford Custom two-door sedan.
1
Beach Boys – 409
1962 Chevy Impala HP: 409 Torque: 420 LB-FT
Giddy-up to 409, a famous song by the Beach Boys that debuted in 1962 as the B-side to “Surfin’ Safari”. The song was by Gary Usher, an avid car enthusiast who dreamed of owning a 409 Chevrolet so much that it inspired Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The track opens with the sound of a real car accelerating outside of Brian Wilson’s house.
While the 409 cubic-inch big-block V8 engine was available in multiple cars like the Bel Air and Biscayne, the song most likely refers to the Chevy Impala SS, which was the most iconic platform for the car and muscle car culture at the time. The Impala SS 409 races to 60 mph in about 6.3 seconds with a 14.9-second quarter-mile time and a top speed of 125 mph.
The song is about teenagers saving all of their pennies and dimes to build the ultimate street racing models and how good it feels to drive on the track. The love ballad gushes over the 409 being the fastest car around with a four-speed transmission, a dual quad carburetor, and positraction limited-slip differential.
Source: Super Cars, Fastest Laps, Hemmings
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