Bruce Springsteen’s First Car

The above picture was taken at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH.

Bruce Springsteen bought his first car for $2000. It was a ’57 Chevy convertible. He was driving this car when he recorded Born to Run. This is the car where you roll down the windows and let the wind blow back your hair. This is the car that makes dreams come true.

Why do people love cars so much? It’s a way of getting from A to B. But that’s not all. If A is your routine and B is the unknown and full of potential and adventure then the car will propel you to the future. The car is a vehicle to transport you from the reality of the now into the reality of future. The car will take you to what you anticipate to be at the end of the highway. The car is the moving frame of reference between two stationary points in space and time.

Lets face it, Bruce Springsteen loves cars (For homework maybe we can count all the cars he mentions from Greetings to the WOAD). But American culture worships cars. Cars fit in perfectly with American mythology. This is the mythology that is defined by stories of independent people who strike out on their own to build a world for themselves. The car is the raft the Huck Finn floats down the Mississppi on. The Car is the Manifest Destiny. The Car is the Oregon Trail. The Car takes you to the first Thanksgiving. The Car is the immigrant coming across the Atlantic to escape starvation and the miserable routine of the centuries.

The Car is the vehicle that brings you to you to your dreams.