13. The Beach Boys – 409
The Beach Boys deserve more than one mention as one of the prime examples of the rock music-car connection. However, with this track, they went a step further. Songs about cars and driving were nothing new, but a song about an engine is a something different.
In 1963, The Beach Boys released the song, 409, which was about Chevrolet’s hot new V8 with up to 409 HP from the Impala SS. The engine was the hottest offering on the early muscle car scene, so it deserved eternal recognition through this hit song.