Although 2021 went marginally better than 2020 for some people, it was still a bit of a shitshow at times. Inflation, civil strife, a brutal pandemic, and massive supply chain issues were just some of the things that messed with our emotions during the course of these 365 days. Luckily, the steady flow of memes never ceased and helped us laugh away some of the pain and anxiety by providing much-needed comic relief.
In the automotive culture we all fancy ourselves a part of, there were some real bangers along the way for us to briefly wipe away the tears and have a hearty chuckle about. They also took our minds off of the possibility that shit might go back to extra-terrible in 2022.
Whether these were straight-up new memes concocted as authentic originals or automotive versions of popular meme formats, there was gold to feast one’s eyes upon. In no particular order, here are a few I found to be Genuinely Good.
‘The Fast and the Furious’ Silent Movie Meme
Kudos to Instagram user bizzle_wrx, who came up with this joint. The idea behind it is a reimagining of ‘The Fast and the Furious’ as a silent movie, complete with dialogue cards, black and white film, and of-the-era lingo and haberdashery. I’m legit surprised that this hasn’t garnered more attention on social media, because it’s brilliant. I also love the choice of scenes and moments.
Nissan Altima Tik Tok
This one has actually permeated beyond Tik Tok, as it seems like all formats of social media are cashing in on the cultural phenomenon that all Nissan Altima drivers are terrible. That’s actually not entirely fair or true, but it is one of those things that makes you stop and think, “man, I have encountered a lot of shitty Altima drivers in my day.”
This meme not only highlights that fact, it also makes fun of the Altima for being a generally shitty car. It’s not an entirely shitty car (maybe I’m being too nice), but its miserable CVT transmission ought to be lambasted by society until every single one is in the junkyard. Seriously, Nissan, just make the Altima an EV already so that humankind never has to experience such a terrible gearbox (er, pulley box?) ever again.
I recommend searching beyond what my colleague Kevin Williams highlights in the above-linked blog, there’s some real gold that’s been shared on Tik Tok and beyond, since.
Trackmindedperformance on Instagram
This account has been a great follow throughout the past couple of months. Trackmindedperformance keeps it real with some hard-to-swallow pills at times, like this incredibly accurate joke about people who refuse to do track days and instead try and flex really hard on the street. Or funny comparison-type posts. They also have done some solid car culture versions of popular memes, like veiny forehead dude. Finally, they did a solid rendition of We Have X At Home/The X At Home meme. Definitely give this account a follow.
Grassroots Motorsports on Instagram
This is the publication that yours truly has been subscribed to the longest. Sometime in the past year, the company delegated the task of coming up with interaction-rich Instagram content to a new employee, and whoever it is has been doing a kick-ass job.
Some of it includes funny references to activity on their forum, which might be among the most active motorsports forums this side of Rennlist. The account also does some great takes on popular memes, such as the Dude With Butterfly. Or this SpongeBob reference. My favorite so far was the explanation of flags on track (you better believe I bought the shirt), which I actually wrote about in a far less hilarious fashion.
RUSponsored on Instagram
This one isn’t for the faint of heart. Essentially, it highlights ultra-cringey sponsorship requests. I’m not going to dive into the sociological and psychological aspects of this, but I recommend you scope it out and see what poor performance industry companies have to deal with day in, day out. Seriously, I feel their pain.
You see, my previous job was in motorsports retail, which entailed helping out with the company’s social media. Luckily, we never got messages that were too cringey, but there were definitely some odd ones. One time, for example, a consumer messaged with a demand that they should receive a sponsorship because a friend was “sponsored” by the company (meaning they got a tiny discount). Yet, that person had nothing of benefit to provide. Anyway, I’m kind of bummed I always took the high road and was polite with official company correspondence.
That’s why I have a hearty gloat over the bizarre shit that’s met with excellent humor, which is highlighted on this genius account. It’s sort of cathartic. So, take a moment to give these a once-over. Who knows, maybe it’ll cure whatever’s raining on your emotional parade. I certainly need to thoroughly peruse such content on the regular.
What to read next:
- Watch Peter Nelson participate in Land Rover’s Trophy Competition driving all-new Defenders in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
- Why drift fans are mourning Japan’s Ebisu Minami drift circuit.
- It’s a major deal that iRacing put a factory-supported Mercedes F1 car into its simulator, and Chris Rosales tested it out.
- If you weren’t able to check out Autopia 2099, we attended the EV car show and took a bunch of photos.
- Find out why downgrading from coilovers back to conventional suspension can be the right move for the right situation.
