Paradise by the Dashboard Light of a Toyota

Toyota is Channeling Meat Loaf

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” album on vinyl, CD, and Apple iTunes over the years. During the late 70’s rocking on Meat Loaf, I can think of no other album at the time that held so many great songs within one album. Songs like:

• Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
• Heaven Can Wait
• Bat Out of Hell
• For Crying Out Loud
• All Revved Up with No Place to Go
• You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth
• Paradise by the Dashboard Light

All great songs for the garage while mourning a blown engine or in a funk because that engine rebuild is testing your limits and your wallet.

Car Culture Music

Car Culture is what makes America great and different from many other countries. And along with the cars there was rock and roll that was so good it didn’t always matter if that car was running or not. Playing tunes on the radio while slouched down on a well-upholstered bench seat at night was cheap and satisfying entertainment, and a form of escape from the angst of a teenager’s world. There was beer too, but that’s off topic.

Another related part of American car culture was the rite of passage every male took the day he turned 16, skipped school, and took his driver’s license exam. It was all in the name and drive of biology whether we understood it or not.

My understanding is that today’s youths do not do this. Rather, mom and dad remain indentured chauffeurs to their children until college arrives. I blame the invention of the Internet for that.

Perhaps as parents we could introduce our children to “American Graffiti” on family movie night, but I suspect it will only lead to yet another look of pity from their eyes and not the gleam we had in ours when we were their age.

Getting to the Point

The point of all of this reverie is a recent Steven Welch YouTube channel episode where Steven explains what exactly the mood button is and does in models of Toyota that may have escaped notice the day it was bought by its owner.

Follow along with the host in this short but useful video that will explain what got my mind on the theme of this article and wondering if I still have that album cover with artwork we were sure our parents would not find disappointing in a milquetoast way. And, I suspect upon further reflection, was what prompted me to buy that Honda CB-750 SuperSport motorcycle when I was in the military in the late 70s.

Toyota mood button. What it does

Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

COMING UP NEXT: Reliable New Cars and SUVs Under $30,000 Recommended by Consumer Reports

Image Source: Pexels