Drive It Like You Stole It and Feel the MOPAR Magic with Our Soundtrack

Comin’ in Clutch – A modern playlist evoking gangsters, stock car racers, and classic car lovers. Swaggering, rebellious independence works for both rock ‘n roll and fast cars.

We wrote about music and muscle cars and their shared rough and tumble, rebellious spirit.

We’ve come to the conclusion this is a lot like the attitudes people have about racing any kind of car, not just the ones loaded with muscle. Turns out, this swaggering, rebellious attitude started decades before Muscle Cars came on the market. It started way back with the bootleg moonshine drivers.

The Roaring 20s were known for a lot of things. Outrageous parties, good music, fast cars, outlaws smuggling hooch, the lot of it. Needless to say, the romance and swagger went hand in hand. We like to think our playlist does a pretty good job of the same.

Catch me if you can…

Every driving aficionado has at least some degree of a need for speed within them. Feeling the power of an engine rumbling through ones feet on the floor is an irreplaceable magic.

We’ve sought to preserve this driving magic with a playlist for all to enjoy. Inspired by our friends at Graveyard Carz and their undying passion for all things MOPAR, it’s a soundtrack meant for being on the road, and behind the wheel.

Classic rock meets new voices, and old legends give way to up-and-comers. Full of rebellion, and just enough swagger to make it work. This is Comin’ in Clutch with J&S Transportation.

Updated once a week with 10 new songs added, we plan on embracing our inner bootlegger this week, and maybe even getting our hands on some moonshine.

• Bootleg – Creedence Clearwater Revival ~ Technically, they were outlaws — the men driving bootleg whiskey across the country way back when… Creedence Clearwater Revival takes us back with their meandering guitar licks.
• Gun In My Hand – Dorothy ~ LA-based band Dorothy brings an old school rock sound bordering on country with this song, but that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous. Or rather, a musical force to be reckoned with.
• Hold on Me – Hamish Anderson ~ Hamish Anderson is back this week. Hold on Me is bluesy and dirty with lyrics that are just as enjoyable as the signature guitar riff that’s the driving force of this song.
• Beat The Devil’s Tattoo – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ~ If you didn’t know, the devil has ink. Let the haunting blues sound of this song take you to the quiet backwood nights of driving in the dark like a bootlegger.
• Trouble In Mind – Larkin Poe ~ Feeling like getting into some mischief? Larkin Poe shows the guys aren’t the only ones who can master the rough and tumble guitar sound.
• Believer – Imagine Dragons ~ This one’s a contemporary take on the classic sound you know and love. Think old-fashioned gangster meets modern muscle car and goes for a drive…
• Bright Lights – Gary Clark Jr. ~ If there were ever any doubts about his guitar-playing prowess before… they’re going to be gone in about 40 seconds of listening to this song. Gary Clark Jr. ladies and gents, back at it again with those gut-wrenching blues.
• I Know What I Am – Band Of Skulls ~ We like to celebrate the things that make us who we are. In this case; fast cars, good music, and good people to share it with.
• Born For Greatness – Papa Roach ~ For those who like bands along the lines of Motley Crue, Papa Roach brings the hard rock sound into the next era.
• You Rascal You – Hanni El Khatib ~ This might be a great song for a drag race, we’re just saying. Hanni El Khatib actually covered this song, with the most famous version by Louis Armstrong.

Flashback to the 1930s:

Classic cars are the nostalgic hobby of a bygone era, and concept cars give a peek into the future. Bootlegger stock cars were generally intended to look like American family sedans, but don’t let the paint on the hood deceive you.

They’re a powerful breed of racing animals unto themselves. And the men who drove them, well, they became legends of the racing world.

Stock cars and NASCAR trace their roots back to Prohibition, when the bootleggers, coming mostly from the Appalachian Mountains, needed small, fast cars with ample storage to avoid the police. The adrenaline rush of driving fast through winding mountain roads was more than a little contagious.

Bootleg drivers put more time, love, and care into modifying their cars than any race car driver. For them, speed and a good suspension meant the difference between going home at the end of the night or going to jail.

Daytona Beach, FL, may be the place to be when it came to making records for speed, but Charlotte, NC, is filled with bootlegger stock car history.

North Carolina was the first state to ban alcohol, even before the nationwide Prohibition went into effect. This is what’s responsible for the long history of bootlegging in the area, and consequently, bootleggers racing in their spare time.

After spending so much time bragging about the top speeds of their modified stock cars, and making a habit of racing them on the weekends, stock car racing became its own phenomenon. Stock car racing and MOPAR go way back. Sponsoring cars and drivers, providing parts, MOPAR did it all.

This love for racing and fast cars became a culture unto itself, especially in the Southern parts of the United States. NASCAR, owned by an American family, started in Daytona Beach, FL. Drivers there flocked to a simple stretch of beach and blacktop for timed trials in hopes of making, and breaking, records.

Thanks for listening, and as always, tell us your thoughts and suggestions using #MOPARMuscle on Facebook and Twitter.