Car Porn

Do you like… my car?

A sequence, scene, or even an entire work that overtly showcases a Cool Car - often, several cool cars.

Not every scene involving a Cool Car will be Car Porn. To qualify, the car or cars must be as much of the focus as any of the characters. If stationary, someone will invariably pop the hood, not to work on the engine, but so that others can admire it. Expect a lavish, Description Porn-esque spouting of specs, facts and figures as well. When the car is in motion, it will almost certainly be involved in a race, chase, or some other scenario that will showcase its performance. Expect shots to emphasize speed and danger, with in-car closeups of shifting and pedal work. Bonus points if the racing takes place at an iconic or historic real life racetrack. Cars will often be more waxed than a Brazilian, with gleaming chrome polished to a sparkle, and the camera will lovingly stroke their curves as if they were female flesh.

Due to a combination of Most Writers Are Male and Pandering to the Base, this trope will often coincide with more traditional forms of Fanservice. An attractive Wrench Wench may be among those working on the cars. Scenes outside of a garage may involve Hood Ornament Hotties, while at an official race, Pit Girls may be present. However, fanservice is in no way required for this trope, and despite the name, it will rarely - if ever - involve sex in or on a car. And in no way does it involve Rule 34 - that would be Cargo Ship.

Often a form of Product Placement, particularly if a car company is bankrolling the work. Also related to Technology Porn, especially when newer cars are featured or the inner workings of various parts are shown.

For similar treatment of other inanimate objects, compare Gun Porn, Food Porn, Costume Porn, Scenery Porn, etc.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Initial D is quite detailed in its portrayal of characters' cars and drifting techniques. Cars are generally referred to by chassis codes, and the merits of different models are debated. Each episode featured at least one downhill drift competition.
• Initial D's sequel, MF Ghost continues along the same lines, but besides of JDM cars, there are also plenty of foreign cars making an appearance.

Comic Books

• Robin (1993): There's an entire arc dedicated to a group of car thieves who target expensive sports cars, during which Tim attends a car show, the cars of Gotham's elite are shown at a country club and a benefit gala and there are numerous chase scenes.

Films — Animation

• Cars: Yes, the cars are animated, not to mention anthropomorphic. Car buffs were still impressed by the level of detail shown in modelling the characters on real cars. Paul Newman's Doc Hudson character, for example, was modeled on a Hudson Hornet, complete with its characteristic engine sounds.

Films — Live-Action

• This is the general basis for the The Fast and the Furious series. As the protagonists (and most of the antagonists, as well) are all car enthusiasts, much time is spent discussing, working on, and of course, racing cars. Cars also serve to help define the characters - Dom has a penchant for muscle cars, while Brian prefers Japanese imports, particularly GTRs.
• Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) features several rare or exotic cars that are on the list for targeting by the auto theft ring. These cars are even given female names as code names referring to the specified model (such as "Eleanor", referring to a 1967 Mustang GT 500, a model which seemed to always give the protagonist trouble when stealing it).
• Le Mans is noted for having essentially no plot beyond the titular event, and features a number of exotic race cars. Most of the action sequences were filmed during the real 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• Grand Prix is this for 1950s-era Formula One, with actors in period-accurate cars and tracks such as Monaco featured.
• From an early scene in The Blues Brothers:
  Jake: What the hell is this?
  Elwood: This was a bargain. I picked it up at the Mt. Prospect City Police auction last spring. It's an old Mt. Prospect Police car. They were practically giving them away!
  Jake: [sarcastically] Well, thank you, pal. The day I get out of prison and my own brother picks me up in a police car.
  Elwood: You don't like it?
  Jake: No, I don't like it.
  Elwood proceeds to jump the Chicago River with the car.
  Jake: Car's got a lot of pick up.
  Elwood: It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say? Is it the new Bluesmobile or what?
  Jake: Fix the cigarette lighter.
• Days of Thunder was quite lavish in its depiction of stock cars, with shots of drafting, shifting, and "rubbing" intermingled throughout the race sequences. Tracks such as Daytona also figure prominently.
• One oner in The Bling Ring shows a Porsche convertible folding its top before taking off. Bonus points for the whole car taking up the frame.
• Gran Turismo gives much love to the race cars it features.
• Combined with Technology Porn in Michael Bay's Transformers Film Series. Justified in that the main robotic characters turn into cars, among other vehicles, so much of the focus is naturally on them.
• Rush, being a movie about Formula 1, features a lot of detailed close-ups of car engines, gearshifting, pistons pumping, cars in the pit, cars zooming down the track, cars on a backdrop of Scenery Porn... it's lampshaded right at the start, where Lord Hesketh tells James Hunt's latest one-night stand that men love cars more than women.
• The "star" of The Love Bug may just be a simple, unimpressive Volkswagen, but the first and third movie (Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo) especially provides glamorous shots of old sports cars from well known and obscure manufacturers from Ferrari and Lancia to Apollo and De Tomaso. Of course, all of them end up getting upstaged by the little car himself, Herbie.
• Mixed with honest-to-god fetishes and Ho Yay in Kenneth Anger's short film Kustom Kar Kommandos.

Magazines

• Magazines such as Motor Trend, Car And Driver, and Road And Track feature articles reviewing cars, unveiling new prototypes, or comparing competitive cars from different manufacturers as their mainstays. Closeups of the vehicles feature prominently, as do performance figures.

Music

• John McCutcheon's song "The Red Corvette" (based on an urban legend described at Snopes) devotes some lavish description to the eponymous car. The song revolves around a really Cool Car being sold for dirt cheap, and the Car Porn underscores how baffling it is that the seller would do such a thing, before the last verse reveals the reason.
• "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Johnny Bond described a souped-up Lincoln Model A in great detail, and its performance in a race.
  • There were many 1960s songs that were car porn: "409", "Spring Little Cobra", "Little Honda", "Dead Man's Curve", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Little G-T-O", and dozens of others

Car-Centric Television Shows

• Every single episode of Top Gear focuses on cars - reviews of cars, testing of cars, and particularly competitions (usually wacky ones) involving cars.
  • This applies equally well to Top Gear (US) and similar programs in other countries.
  • Jeremy Clarkson has been known to describe images of cars that he and his fellow hosts find particularly good looking as "strong pornography."
• And now that The Grand Tour is up and running, it looks like Clarkson and company haven't changed a winning formula one bit. Of note in the first series is a segment where all Clarkson can do is complain about a great-looking car while reviewing it, so instead he just shuts up and shows it off to the cameras instead.
• Pimp My Ride and similar shows like Overhaulin' focus on the restoration and customization of cars. Each episode typically focuses on a single vehicle, with lavish attention to the work being done. Details such as the brand names and specs of replacement parts are always provided.
• The Japanese automotive series Best Motoring is one of the greatest exampes ever seen on TV. In the 1990s, during the heyday of JDM sports cars, it featured the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Honda NSX, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, along with some less powerful cars like the Nissan Silvia, and Civic and Integra Type R. Also making appearances were the Ferrari F40 and F50, Lamborghini Diablo, Porsche 959, Porsche 911 GT2 (type 993, one of the last air-cooled versions), RUF CTR "Yellowbird", McLaren F1, Nissan R390 GT1, Jaguar XJR-15, Venturi 400GT, Ford GT, and Porsche Carrera GT. In addition, JGTC, Group A, and Super Taikyu race trims of JDM cars have made appearances in Champions Battles, as has the various GT-R models tuned by Mine's and Bee Racing.
• Vegas Rat Rods. The creation process is shown in great detail, and the inevitable creations are shown off. Serious porn if you have a Mad Max fetish.
• As of 2019, many US cable carriers feature Motor Trend channel, 24 hours of nonstop celebration of the auto. Classics, customs, American, British, Japanese, German, Italian... if it has four (or two, or three, or six or more) wheels and an engine (there was even a segment devoted to an electric car) — whatever your particular preference, it's portrayed in loving detail.

Other Television

• Combined with an Infodump in the pilot of Adam-12:
  Malloy: You know what this is?
  Reed: (smiling) Yes sir, it's a police car.
  Malloy: This black-and-white patrol car has an overhead valve V8 engine. It develops 325 horsepower at 4800 RPM's. It accelerates from 0 to 60 in seven seconds; it has a top speed of 120 miles an hour. It's equipped with a multi-channeled DFE radio and an electronic siren capable of admitting three variables: wail, yelp, and alert. It also serves as an outside radio speaker and public address system. The automobile has two shotgun racks - one attached to the bottom portion of the front seat, one in the vehicle trunk. Attached to the middle of the dash, illuminated by a single bulb, is a hot sheet desk, fastened to which you will always make sure is the latest one off the teletype before you ever roll.
  Reed: Yes, sir.
  Malloy: It's your life insurance...and mine. You take care of it, and it'll take care of you.
  Reed: Yes, sir. You want me to drive?
  Malloy: (death glare)
• General Lee on The Dukes of Hazzard is not just a Cool Car featuring prominently in every episode, but a main characters.
• Though the human cast did much of the sleuthing, the Knight Industries Two Thousand, a/k/a KITT, was the showpiece of the Knight Rider series. KITT could converse with its driver, drive itself, analyze almost anything, shoot missiles, and other New Powers as the Plot Demands. This left David Hasselhoff to slug the villains, as opposed to KITT squishing them like bugs.
• Batman (1966) has many scenes of Batman & Robin leaping into the Batmobile and going through a checklist.
  Robin: Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed.
  Batman: Roger. Ready to move out.
  closeup on the Batmobile's rocket engine exhaust pipe spewing fire as it races off
• One episode of Leverage involves trapping a mark with a passion for vintage cars. At a vintage car show. :drool:

Video Games

• The Gran Turismo series features hundreds of actual cars in each game, all with their performance and handling characteristics accurately depicted. Virtually limitless options are available for tuning each car as well. Once the player has tuned their car to their liking, they can race on a variety of courses, many of which are accurately modeled real world tracks.
• Like Gran Turismo above, the Forza series offers the player the chance to select any of hundreds of real cars, tweak its performance to their liking, and race it on either a real world track of their choosing or in a gorgeous open world environment.
• Truthfully, any racing game can count as they all spend inordinate amounts of time showing off their vehicles. Special mention to the Need for Speed series which used to do whole rundowns of the cars and the makers to the point that it sometimes seemed like a showcase for expensive cars.
  • Sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto V also allow a great deal of vehicle customisation.

Web Original

• Roadkill is more like car Gorn. The cars that come out the workshop are undead horrors and long periods of footage show cutting up, welding and improvising. Burnouts are common, as are all manner of racing, and the showing of problems that are often encountered, in the form of sticking the camera into broken parts or holding them up in front of the camera. More porn, perhaps, on the page, since their antics do feature in Hot Rod Magazine and the magazine of the programme itself.

Western Animation

• Not all the cars on Wacky Races qualifies, but Peter Perfect's Turbo Terrific and Dick Dastardly's Mean Machine come pretty close. The Mean Machine makes an ungodly grind and groan as it goes, looking like it was born in Hell.

Real Life

• A car show. Any car show. Large, city-sponsored events will typically have manufacturers' entire lineups on display, complete with spokespeople eager to talk you into buying. Depending on the event, concept cars may also feature prominently.
  • The king of these is the North American International Auto Show, held every January in Detroit. Even non-American automakers make the annual pilgrimage to Cobo Hall to display their newest concepts and production vehicles in the Vatican of the global auto industry. Other major shows are held in Frankfurt, Geneva, Paris, and Tokyo.
  • Events put on by car clubs usually won't have manufacturers or dealers present, but the people who bring their cars to them will be even more eager to show them off.
• Every form of motorsport - from Formula One, to NASCAR, to lesser-known events - operates under this trope. The whole point of racing events is to watch high performance cars get pushed to the limit; certain events may let spectators get up close and personal looks at the cars as well.

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