Brake Repair and How it Could Have Changed Pop Culture

It is super fun to get behind the wheel and drive a super fast car. Nothing says living the American dream like driving. Our popular culture is ripe with associations with the great experience of operating a motor vehicle. We have awesome bands with names like "The Cars" and "The Drive by Truckers." Our song lyrics are full of references to being "behind the wheel of a large automobile," and how we just "can't drive 55." We love movies about, "Driving Miss Daisy," being "Gone in 60 Seconds," and the aptly titled, "Drive." The thing we do not hear about often is the need for occasional brake repair to keep these vehicles rolling and how even some of our popular culture could have benefitted from the services of a skilled mechanic.

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off there is a pivotal scene in which the beautiful 1962 Ferrari GT California belonging to the titular character's best friend's father rolls away as it slips off the jack while they roll back the odometer. This could have potentially been avoided had the vehicle had appropriate brake repair. Perhaps then it would not have ended totaled in a ravine. This is no small loss considering there were only 100 of these vehicles made and they often sell today for excess of ten million dollars.

Another instance in popular culture that could have been totally different had there been appropriate brake repair is the iconic song, "Last Kiss." In the song, the singer borrows his father's automobile to take his lady friend out one rainy night. Speeding along a road he comes to another stalled out vehicle. Notably he sings at the moment of what would become the fatal accident that, "I couldn't stop so I swerved to the right." If his father had been properly maintaining the condition of the car this problem would not have arisen and the teen singer's love would still be alive.

One instance of our entertainment that shows how important and successful good brake repair can be is the animated film, Cars. In this humorous film where all of the transportation is anthropomorphic, the main character, Lightning McQueen, is able to make his way from last place to first. His high quality maintenance allowed him to stop and use his finely tuned operation to be a good sportsman and win not the race, but the trust and respect of the crowd and the world.

While these are all fantasy examples it is indicative of how important and what a difference good brake repair can make even in the imagined world.