Which Car Posters Adorned Your Walls When You Were a Kid?
And if you have photos, we want to see them.
Next to posters of Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, and Skid Row on the walls of my college dorm room, a print of a vintage Ford Thunderbird held a place of honor. Set on what appears to be a ferry at sunset, the whitewall tires stood out next to polished fenders and fueled my dreams of owning one someday. Now I have Clive Cussler’s automotive coffee table book next to me and a Chevrolet racing model in a plexiglass case on the corner of my desk, but I can’t forget that poster.
Thinking about it made me wonder: which car posters did you affix to your walls when you were growing up?
Kids reaching their teen years in the 1980s might have chosen a powerful Lamborghini Countach or a DeLorean from the Back to the Future movies. A decade later, Toyota’s redesigned Mark 4 Supra was a prime poster child. The Ford GT90 would have been a frequent sight, as would a Ferrari Testarossa (in red, of course). The "bedroom wall poster factor" is a real thing, and it influences the buying market for each generation.
Car museums and quirky shops like Barris Kustom Industries showroom have (or used to have) vintage posters on display, and I'll always be partial to the ones from the Art Deco era. I have a ton of prints from car shows and events from the past several years that would make great prints. Now that I'm an adult, I'm less likely to tack bare posters to my walls with that sticky blue stuff that leaves stains on the walls. Frames and mattes are more appropriate now, but nothing beats that feeling of freedom to put a poster of a 1955 Bel Air anywhere you want. If it's crooked, who cares? If the corners are curling, so what?
My 11-year-old son unfurled a print from the 2019 Concours event we attended at Park Place Dallas on the back of his door. It makes me smile every time I see it; it's a good start for my young enthusiast.
Share in the comment section which cars adorned your walls. Bonus points if you have photos of you next to them with retro hairstyles (and if I ever find mine, I'll add them too).
Got a tip? Send the writer a note: kristin.shaw@thedrive.com
