# The 20 Best Songs About Cars

> Hot-rod surf songs, soul strutting and synth-pop paranoia, all about four wheels. Some are about the car, some only pretend to be.

*By YPB Team · Published October 2, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-best-songs-about-cars*

---

## Current results (1 vote)

1. **Fast Car** — score 1000/1000
   Tracy Chapman's 1988 song about escaping a dead-end town, a hit again in 2023.
2. **Cars** — score 756/1000
   Gary Numan's 1979 synth-pop hit about feeling safe inside a car.
3. **409** — score 665/1000
   The Beach Boys' 1962 hot-rod song about the Chevrolet 409 engine.
4. **Low Rider** — score 665/1000
   War's 1975 funk anthem for the Chicano lowrider scene.
5. **Highway Star** — score 665/1000
   Deep Purple's 1972 speed anthem from Machine Head.
6. **Maybellene** — score 664/1000
   Chuck Berry's 1955 debut single, a V8 Ford chasing a Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
7. **Drive My Car** — score 596/1000
   The opening track of the Beatles' Rubber Soul (1965).
8. **Hot Rod Lincoln** — score 517/1000
   Commander Cody's 1972 hit about a souped-up Lincoln racing a Cadillac.
9. **Radar Love** — score 517/1000
   Golden Earring's 1973 driving-all-night rock classic.
10. **Rocket 88** — score 517/1000
   Jackie Brenston's 1951 song about the Oldsmobile Rocket 88, often called the first rock and roll record.
11. **Racing in the Street** — score 423/1000
   Bruce Springsteen's 1978 ballad about a '69 Chevy and street racing.
12. **Mercedes Benz** — score 423/1000
   Janis Joplin's a cappella 1970 prayer for a Mercedes, recorded days before her death.
13. **No Particular Place to Go** — score 423/1000
   Chuck Berry's 1964 story of a drive that goes nowhere.
14. **Little Deuce Coupe** — score 310/1000
   The Beach Boys' 1963 ode to a hopped-up 1932 Ford.
15. **Pink Cadillac** — score 310/1000
   Bruce Springsteen's 1984 B-side that became a Top 5 hit for Natalie Cole in 1988.
16. **Mustang Sally** — score 310/1000
   Wilson Pickett's 1966 soul hit about a woman who won't slow her Mustang down.
17. **GTO** — score 310/1000
   Ronny & the Daytonas' 1964 Top 5 hit about the Pontiac GTO.
18. **Freeway of Love** — score 310/1000
   Aretha Franklin's 1985 hit about riding in a pink Cadillac.
19. **Brand New Cadillac** — score 0/1000
   Vince Taylor's 1959 rockabilly B-side, covered by the Clash on London Calling.
20. **Little Red Corvette** — score 0/1000
   Prince's 1983 breakthrough single, a car metaphor that crossed him over to pop radio.

Tags: music, cars