5 Of The Coolest Cars In 1980s Music Videos

If the 1980s were known for two things, it was slick cars and big hair — two elements that feature prominently in a multitude of the era's greatest music videos. Whether a video was telling a story of adventurers out on the highway, partygoers off to their next shindig, or just good old-fashioned drag racing, many of them were accompanied by a classic car.

Some of the cars used in these classic music videos have become legends in their own right, earning just as much remembrance and respect as the videos themselves. When someone asks you, "Hey do you remember that awesome music video?," you're obligated to say, "The one with the awesome car? Of course I remember!" Considering the vast array of excellent rides featured in equally superb music videos throughout the '80s, it's a little difficult to pin down the objectively coolest ones, but there are a few that immediately spring to mind, whether you were around for the era in question or just love your classic music.

ZZ Top was truly that band that made massive beards cool, with classic tracks like "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" winning the hearts and minds of the MTV generation. A major contributor to the band's enduring image, however, was its fondness for supremely cool cars, made clear to all onlookers with the fiery red car printed proudly on the cover of their eighth studio album, "Eliminator."

That car would make its first appearance in the album's first track, "Gimme All Your Lovin," the video of which showed a trio of women behind the wheel blazing down the dusty highway, the yellow and black Zs from the band's name proudly shining on the side. This car was actually the property of ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons, who customized it from a stock 1933 Ford Coupe.

This wasn't just a show car; the Eliminator Coupe was a full-on hot rod, and the band took it for a spin across Sunset Boulevard after filming wrapped for "Gimme All Your Lovin." The original car was on display at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame until 2020, when Gibbons reclaimed ownership of it. The vehicle now maintains a place of honor in his personal collection.

There's something about Ferrari vehicles that just make you want to slam down on the gas pedal and see how high you can crank it up. That might be why Ferraris appear in action moves so often. Of course, doing something like this on a public highway is generally frowned upon for the obvious reason, a lesson that the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar, learned the hard way in the '80s.

His classic track, "I Can't Drive 55," was inspired by an incident in which he got a speeding ticket for doing 62 mph in a 55 zone. The music video for this track exaggerates things a smidge, with Hagar speeding away from the authorities in a deep black 1982 Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer 512i.

This ferocious Ferrari is one of Hagar's favorite vehicles, maintaining a place of honor in his personal garage alongside other classic vehicles. In 2016, he showed the car off to television personality Jay Leno on the latter's automotive show, "Jay Leno's Garage." As Hagar tells it, this Ferrari is indirectly responsible for his first meeting with would-be bandmate Eddie Van Halen; it was being tuned up at a local garage when Van Halen pulled in with a Lamborghini, was impressed by the car, and asked who owned it. The mechanic told him it was Hagar's, and as this was right after David Lee Roth had quit his band, he gave him Hagar's number and said to get him to fill in.

The Love Shack is a little ol' place where we can get together, but to actually get there, you need a proper set of wheels. That place is in the middle of nowhere, so you're not walking to it. Luckily, the members of the B-52's knew how to travel in style in the "Love Shack" music video, cruising the backroads in a 1965 Chrysler 300 Convertible.

The lyrics of the song go, "I've got me a car, it's as big as a whale," and "I've got me a Chrysler, it seats about twenty." That's perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but the 300 was still pretty hefty. The 300 could comfortably seat around four passengers, plus the driver, and the large, flat trunk also doubled as a sturdy platform for the rear passengers to sit on and flail their arms around to the beat.

Some fans have speculated that the car that's "as big as a whale" being alluded to in the song is actually a different Chrysler; Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik believes the vehicle in question is the 1954 Chrysler Crown Imperial, a massive production vehicle with enough seating to comfortably haul around 15 people. Maybe the B-52's could've brought that car to the Love Shack, but they needed to save some cash for jukebox money.

"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake has quite possibly one of the most iconic car-related music videos ever produced. But unlike some of the other cars we've covered here, the pair of black-and-white 1986 Jaguar XJs featured in this video don't actually drive around that much, nor is there any particular storyline associated with them. They just sit there and look pretty, all while the late Tawny Kitaen dances and poses atop them. When you've got cars that cool, though, a storyline isn't really that important. Just show the ride and the cool poses you can do on top of it, and the fans come flocking.

The two Jaguar XJs are the property of Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale, who has kept them in a climate-controlled garage ever since their appearance in "Here I Go Again." The only time either of these cars ever left their protective home was in 2019 when the white Jaguar XJ made an appearance for the music video o "Shut Up & Kiss Me." The video depicts Coverdale showing up in the car for a gig at a club, while fans outside the venue take pictures of themselves posing on and around the car like Kitaen did.

The 1980s weren't just about classic rock and pop; they were also the heyday of some of the greatest heavy metal groups in music history, one of the most iconic being Judas Priest. After the group hit its stride with its 1980 album "British Steel," it followed up with "Point of Entry" in 1981, a somewhat divisive album made more to appease the studio than anything else. Despite this, the album had some quality tracks, including "Heading Out To The Highway," a classic tune extolling the values of old-fashioned high-speed driving.

The music video for this track featured the group performing against a desert road backdrop, interspersed with footage of a drag race between a 1956 Ford Thunderbird and an all-time classic GM vehicle in the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. Unfortunately, the music video ends before we get to see which wins the race, though considering how stylish both cars are, we'd be satisfied with either outcome.