The greatest cars in song

Prince has sprinkled his songs with many references to automobiles, including "My daddy's Thunderbird ..." in the song "Alphabet Street," but his 1983 breakthrough blockbuster hit "Little Red Corvette" is the song that best defines the enigmatic artist's genre-bending musical genius. From soulful crooning to rocklike guitar flourishes, from pop-music storytelling to funky breaks, the song is as unique and enduringly appealing as America's classic sports car.

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The Beach Boys weren't even surfers. Nor were they hard-core hot rodders. But they did know how to tap into the youthful zeitgeist of their time and channel it into hit songs. "Little Deuce Coupe" — its title refers to a customized, three-window 1932 Ford Coupe favored by the original rodders — is one of the band's most finely crafted car songs. It helped drive a car craze that continues to this day.

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Ford was selling so many Mustangs by the time this song by soul shouter Wilson Pickett was released in 1965 that the automaker probably didn't need the marketing push — although it didn't hurt. The tune also became a prototype for a certain type of pop song in which typically an unappreciative female subject is pursued by the singer. But all Mustang Sally wanted to do is ride. Can you blame her?

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Like an automobile model that keeps evolving, this enduring car song went through several updates since it was first recorded by Charlie Ryan in 1955. "Hot Rod Lincoln" was rerecorded in 1960 by obscure singer Johnny Bond, but it took Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen to hotwire the tune in the modern rock era and turn it into a Top 10 hit in 1972.

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Perhaps no single vehicle has been celebrated in song as much as General Motors' Cadillac. For years, America's luxury car has represented the good life and signified the height of automotive style. (We're looking at you, tail fins.) Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" is arguably the top of the line in Caddy songs and has all the right parts: a driving guitar riff, suggestive lyrics and veneration of an automotive icon.

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Considered the first rock 'n' roll song by many music historians, this 1951 hit was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn., and coincided with the release of the Oldsmobile model of the same name. Although credited to Jackie Brenston, this archetypal rock song — with its distorted guitar sound and raw, suggestive vocals — was actually the work of the 19-year-old, up-and-coming musician Ike Turner.

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Rap rivals — and maybe even surpasses — other forms of music such as rock, R&B and blues in making the car a central character. If rap is largely built on boasting, part of that requisite self-glorification is to refer to the cars you own. In the track "Maybach Music," current rap kingpin Rick Ross doesn't so much praise this now-defunct brand as he does the lifestyle it represents.

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The classic era of the muscle car was just getting in gear when Ronny & the Daytonas recorded this tribute to the first mass-produced version of what would become a full-fledged vehicle category. By including lyrics such as "three deuces," which referred to the unique triple-carburetor design of the GTO, the group helped listeners feel like they were part of the club and set the standard for an entire era of great car songs.

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Unlike most songs on our list, this early 1970s classic isn't about a particular make and model, but rather a car subculture that took root in the backyard of the Los Angeles band War. It celebrates lowriders — large, low-slung American coupes and sedans that primarily Latino enthusiasts turn into signature works of art with outrageous paint jobs, over-the-top interior upholstery and hydraulic systems that cause the car to "hop."

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This song from Rush's "Moving Pictures" album is pure future fantasy: The narrator's uncle keeps a classic car hidden in the country because of a restrictive "motor law," but takes it out for surreptitious Sunday drives. During one, he's pursued by "alloy air cars" but loses them. While the tale is made up, the car isn't. The Barchetta was a style of roadster that came out of Italy in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Blues and cars have a long combined history, and for early artists, nothing symbolized success more than owning a big luxury car. This simple blues song epitomizes the genre's unpretentious appeal — just a repeating riff and simple lyrics about how the singer and his love interest are "crazy about a Mercury." Since the debut of "Mercury Blues" by bluesman K.C. Douglas in 1949, the song has been covered by Steve Miller, Alan Jackson and several others.

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This quirky a cappella song by Janis Joplin, in which she prays that a German luxury car will be delivered to her driveway, was recorded in one take and released on the singer's 1971 album "Pearl." It introduced a young rock audience to a brand that previously was associated with country clubs, and gave them something to aspire to as they moved up the economic ladder a decade later in the 1980s.

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In typical Tom Waits fashion, this song about a beat-up car kicked off the singer-songwriter's debut album and was his first single in 1973. The Eagles popularized it when the group included it on their 1974 album "On the Border." The tale of allegiance to an old car, and the escape it provides, appeals to almost anyone who has ever owned a cool jalopy.

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Another song from the muscle-car era of the early 1960s, "Hey Little Cobra" by The Rip Chords hitched itself to the glory that racing legend Carroll Shelby was creating with his development of the AC Shelby Cobra. The little car that could dominated racing in the United States and in Europe and became an affordable track favorite for weekend warriors.

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The song "409" isn't about a car but its engine, specifically, the potent 409-cubic-inch powerplant produced by Chevrolet in the early 1960s. But it's also synonymous with the 1963 Chevrolet Impala Sports Coupe that was a special package option GM created for drag racers. Some enthusiasts would argue that the best part of the Beach Boys' song is the growl of the engine that starts the tune.

Doug Newcomb has been writing about automotive-related topics since 1988. His work has appeared in Consumers Digest, Road & Track, Rolling Stone, Men's Journal and many other publications. His book, Car Audio for Dummies, is available from Wiley Publishing.