Admittedly, cars and romance aren’t the most obvious of bedfellows, but the subjects have arguably been entwined a good few times in the past, either through circumstance or popular culture (quite often the latter). So, without further dithering and keeping you from your better halves this February 14th, here are some cars one might associate with romance, tenuously or otherwise.
FEB 01st 2019
Valentines on wheels – the 5 most romantic cars around
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James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5
Quite the clichéd selection, you might be thinking. It is admittedly quite corny, but what car and driver duo has on a similar scale shaped the way man involves his four-wheeled pride and joy in his approach to women? The car’s role surely shaped and cemented Aston Martin’s image as one of the coolest car companies on Earth, purely through its association with, arguably, pop culture’s favourite ladies’ man.
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The Volkswagen Microbus
Odd choice? Nope. The iconic old bus is widely remembered as wheels of choice for the ‘60s and ‘70s hippie movement, whose motto literally touted ‘peace and love’. Not to mention that this is a vehicle culturally associated with the first generation in modern times to really rebel. How many corny stories of couples running away in a bus and falling in love have we been fed over the years? This thing is a symbol of romantic rebellion and has thus earned its place on this list.
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Generic American family cars from the ‘60s, ‘70s and '80s
The subject of rebelling American youth brings us neatly on to this rather unspecific selection. It’s not so much the exact cars themselves, but the activity for which they were utterly essential. We refer of course to the traditional American drive-in cinema. Without Mom’s station wagon (wood-panelled of course) how could you take your girl out to catch the latest screening of “Grease”, and where would you sit? How many life-long marriages have been born out of a film date in an Oil-Crisis dross-mobile?
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Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GTI
Back to Europe, thankfully. It was all getting a bit cringeworthy. Is the GTI (not just the Mk1?) not Britain’s great showing-off car? Back in the day, if you couldn’t get the girl you fancied to go out with you by means of a handbrake turn in your GTI, then either your handbrake turn wasn’t good enough, or you were probably too ugly for the expert automotive acrobatics to be a sufficient distraction. The Mk1 GTI was probably instrumental in filling its fair share of British maternity wards throughout the ’80s.
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The Robertson’s Ford GT GTE
Now to end on something a little more “Goodwood”. Meet the Robertsons: Husband and wife Le Mans-racing duo, and owners of this lovely Ford GT GTE. They, along with this cracking machine were in attendance at FOS last year, filling the ranks of racing Ford GTs from the ages. Their story transcends the Ford GT story we all know so well, in that their Le Mans podium finish back in 2011 coincided with their seventh wedding anniversary, indeed being at the helm for the final laps became a literal anniversary present! For us, it doesn’t get much more romantic than that.
Commiserations to the ‘60s Alfa Spider, Austin Powers’ various… Jaguars and the original Mini. Let us know your suggestions!
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