zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
Hot Girls Drive Cigarette Cars, But What The Hell Does That Mean?
Hot Girls Drive Cigarette Cars, But What The Hell Does That Mean?-August 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:51

A blue Chevy Lumina parked on what looks like a pier on a lake.

(We are saying goodbye to 2023 by re-visiting our favorite posts from the last year. To see why we loved these stories, check out what we said about them .)

helped make the otherwise-forgotten cars of the ‘80s and ‘90s cool, and brought a wider appreciation for the unloved machines that ferried our grandparents through the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. Quirky cars like classic Volvos and have always been popular with some enthusiasts, but the current TikTok trend celebrating “cigarette cars” tickles my sadistic side as I see young folks celebrating automotive outcasts.

Cigarette cars are old, run-down, and often rusty cars that folks love despite their glaring faults and looming demise. Cigarette cars exist on a spectrum, and there are no tangible qualities that are required for a vehicle to qualify as a cigarette car.

Most commonly, cigarette cars are run-down ‘80s,‘90s, and 2000s American cars that have lived hard lives and have the scars to show it. I’m talking S and virtually any Oldsmobile, Mercury, or Plymouth. Cars that you can envision a middle-aged woman in Kentucky whipping around with one hand on the wheel, and the other hand flicking her lipstick-stained Virginia Slim Ultra Lite Menthol out the window between wrinkled-lip drags and medically alarming smokers hacks.

As a 27-year-old who straddles the Millenial and Gen Z border, I’m proud to have come across this TikTok trend before there’s even an Urban Dictionary page devoted to defining this nonsensical term.

There are no strict requirements for a car to qualify as a cigarette car, it’s more of a vibe that a car embodies, and yes the embodies the cigarette car vibe. A rusty Ford F-150 can be a cigarette car, a clapped out Lexus LS with peeling paint and a smashed headlight can be a cigarette car, any vehicle that’s looking worse for wear but still chugging on down the road is eligible for the venerable title of cigarette car.

This is a totally nonsensical trend, but I am glad that a movement exists to draw folks closer to their piles of wheeled junk. One of the best parts of owning a car is the platonic relationship that develops when you give your car a name and a personality– it becomes a part of your family, flaws and all.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
closed its São Bernardo Plant in November 2023, marking the end of its first overseas production facility. The closure caps off a period of continuous car production in São Paolo, , lasting over 60 years. The plant was home to a Komatsu 700-ton press that predates itself. And now...
Aug 2, 2025
Subaru Had It Right All Along
Subaru Had It Right All Along
When first came to the United States, it sold small funky cars that were decidedly un-American. As the company grew its own identity and became more established in the U.S., it became the first automaker to offer an all-wheel-drive passenger car in 1975. Subaru was also an early-adopter of...
Aug 2, 2025
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I love tiny, of . I have a that is roughly half the size of a normal cat, and she’s perfect. I own a 2013 , which is like the miniature version of a normal-sized vehicle (at least here in Texas) — but beyond that, I also own a Hot...
Aug 2, 2025
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
At long last, we are about to get behind the wheel of for the first time. Sure, , and sure, , and sure , but hey — what can you do? Anyway, before we get behind the wheel of this three-row electric beast, we want to know what you...
Aug 2, 2025
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I have two automotive loves: The first is the Miata, the second is off-road racing. For a while I raced air-cooled Volkswagens in the deserts of California and Nevada and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a class 11 stock bug in the Baja 1000 a few years...
Aug 2, 2025
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
MotorWeek’s is some of the on the internet. The long-running automotive news magazine has a treasure trove of tests after being on the air for over 40 years. Where else can you find detailed instrumented testing of long-forgotten cars like the or a ? MotorWeek’s recent Retro Review upload is...
Aug 2, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved