Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks | Read eBooks online

The Automobile in Literature

Zoom Zoom

Cars in literature can symbolize affluence, puckish determination, and mystery. Try to imagine James Bond stepping from a prosaic Honda Civic instead of a sleek, speedy, gadget-loaded Aston Martin. The mind boggles. Motorheads around the world can find vehicular inspiration in literature. From self-driving cars to alien life forms, the automobile projects a solid presence and often features as its own persona in popular literature and film.

Ian Fleming based his vehicular and book of the same title, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, on the aero-engineered racing cars built by Count Louis Zborowski in the early 1920s. Made famous in 1968 in a movie of the same name, the car starred alongside Dick van Dyke.

Fleming’s most famous fictional character, Commander James Bond--code number 007--also drove a series of sexy cars equipped with fabulous gadgets by Q, the agency’s inventive quartermaster. Played by Barry Nelson (1954), Bob Holness (1956), Bob Simons (1962), Sean Connery (1962-1967), David Niven (1967), George Lazenby (1969), Roger Moore (1972 - 1985), Timothy Dalton (1986 - 1994), Pierce Brosnan (1994 - 2004), and Daniel Craig (2005 - present), James Bond cannot be separated from his roster of classy, upscale automobiles: Aston Martin DB Mark III, BMS 520i, and the Bentley Mark VI.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald featured a 1928 Rolls Royce Tourer, a make and model renowned for its representation of decadent wealth.

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington prominently features early automobiles in its tale of old money versus the nouveau riche. The vehicle in this book symbolizes industrial progress.

Children’s literary author R. L. Stine who wrote the Goosebumps series created The Haunted Car in 1999. The story centers upon a vehicle possessed by its former owner who perished in an accident from a joyride.

A 1926 Austin Clifton twelve four stars as the title character of Val Biro’s Gumdrop series. The first book, Gumdrop - Adventures of a Vintage Car, was published in 1966, with the 37th and final book in the series published in 2001.

Simon Templar, the title character known as The Saint in a series of books written by Scottish author Leslie Charteris and published between 1928 and 1963, featured the popular criminal’s favorite automobile, a Hirondel. This fictional luxury car was described as an 8-cylinder, red and cream colored vehicle that cost ₤5,000. Charteris uses the same car in his mystery novel Daredevil, first published in 1929.

Much of the cult classic On the Road by Jack Kerouac takes place within the car, a 1949 Hudson Commodore, a 1947 Cadillac Limousine, and a 1937 Ford Sedan.

In 1968, Disney Film Studios released the first of the The Love Bug movies about a 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. Although surrounded by human costars, the automobile exhibited a distinctly puckish personality and could drive itself at whim.

Horror author Stephen King’s infamous haunted car and title character, Christine, terrified readers and moviegoers with a 1958 Plymouth Fury. The novel was released in 1983 and, with blistering speed, so was the movie.

In 1998, Charles Dickinson published The Widows’ Adventures, a story of two women on a road trip. The driver is blind.

The biggest franchise of them all—toys, comic books, and movies—featured the Transformers. In 1984, Marvel Comics published the first generation of comic book based on children’s toys manufactured by Hasbro. In 2003, Dreamwave Productions released the first of the Transformer animated movie series, turning toys into fully realized alien life forms that could shift into vehicles.

In 2006, Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures released the animated film Cars. Set in a world populated by anthropomorphic automobiles features the voices of contemporary film stars and race car drivers, such as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mario Andretti, and automotive enthusiast, comedian, and late night talk show host Jay Leno. A sequel was released in 2011, with a spin-off movie about aircraft in 2013. A third in the series is due out this year.

Automobiles have featured in popular entertainment for a century and continue to command our attention.

By Karen M. Smith