For its distinct style and look, this "Silver Sapphire" was chosen by Capitol Records in 1963 for the cover of The Beach Boys' album "Little Deuce Coupe". (Photo courtesy James Haefner)

Rodding & Rocking

Ford Museum Tells The Story Of Music And Motion Picked Up Speed After WWII

Cars and music have been closely tied for a century ‹ in 1905 the country's most popular song was "My Merry Oldsmobile." But after World War II three developments ‹ hot rodding, the creation of teenagers and rock 'n roll music ‹ forever changed the relationship between cars and music.

Hot rodding, or modifying cars to improve their looks and performance, is almost as old as the car itself. In the 1910s an entire industry grew up supplying speed and appearance accessories for Model T Fords. But something new happened after World War II. Many returning GIs had acquired mechanical skills maintaining Jeeps, bombers or destroyers. After returning to civilian life they used these skills to modify their cars in creative ways. New magazines like Hot Rod (1948), Hop Up (1951), and Rod and Custom (1953) enabled hot rodders to share information and inspiration. For teenagers, hot rods and custom cars symbolized freedom; but for parents they symbolized danger.

It may seem odd to speak of "creating" teenagers, since every human generation has its population of adolescents ages 13 through 19. But "teenagers," meaning an adolescent subculture with common tastes in clothes, music, speech, hairstyles and behavior, plus the leisure time and spending money to indulge those tastes, are a product of postwar economic prosperity. Like all adolescents, postwar teenagers pushed limits, resisted discipline and sought the freedom they identified with adulthood.

Rock 'n roll, itself an unlikely fusion of black blues and white country music, facilitated the fusion of teenage and hot rod cultures. Rock 'n roll, with its driving rhythms and twanging newfangled electric guitars, was not parents' music; it was teenagers' music. As with hot rods, rock 'n roll symbolized freedom for teenagers and danger for parents.

Rock 'n roll's connection with cars came early. The tune that many people call the first rock 'n roll song is "Rocket 88," about an Oldsmobile and its powerful, heavily advertised "Rocket" V-8 engine. The fact that the lyrics were also sly double entendres about the singer's prowess with the ladies only made the song more attractive to teenagers. There is a direct line from "Rocket 88" to songs such as Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac."

But rock stars did more than write and sing about cars. They also customized cars, hot rodded cars and made cars part of their acts. Cars were both symbols of success and personal statements. The new exhibit Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars brings all these strands together.

The exhibit includes cars that have appeared on album covers, cars from music videos and cars customized by rock stars. Other vehicles and guitars in the show are associated with everybody from Ted Nugent, to Elton John, to U2. It is an eclectic collection that represents the eclectic mix of music that rock has become, and the colorful, sometimes outrageous lifestyles that rock represents. ***

Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars features cars and guitars from the collections of the Petersen Automotive Museum, Hard Rock cafe, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc., Experience Music Project and several other private lenders.

Henry Ford Museum is open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and $10 for youth.

Bob Casey is curator of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum.