In 2007, Rhianna released the song Umbrella to little fanfare [Ed note: Umbrella entered the Australian singles chart at number one and stayed there for six weeks, so I gotta believe Lewin’s being sarcastic. Or maybe I need to get my sarcasmometer recalibrated]. Six years later, something magical happened. An Australian artist known as 1Buck80 covered that track and turned it into a celebration of automotive excellence. I am of course talking about the Aussie classic that is Drifting In My Capella.Â
If you dig Rhianna, or you just want a look at Sydney car culture at its peak, this one’s for you.
Spacer
This track has got everything the 2010s had to offer—copious autotune, hot JDM imports, and that beautiful piss-soaked sepia tone on the sunset scenes. Filmed in 2013, the production quality was way up there. All this in an era when most YouTube parodies were shot on webcams dunked in chicken grease.
What I love most about this video is its authenticity. 1Buck80 is a Lebanese-Australian, and the whole video is infused with touchstones from his community. I’ve never quite understood the meaning of “uleh” in context but my friends from Lebanon used it on the regular. Things really were more hectic back then.
The song features a confident delivery of the lyrics, which include profanity-peppered proclamations that range from the absurd (“when I do a burnout it goes forever“) to the obvious (“even goes harder in wet weather“). It also invokes promises of enduring brotherhood (“said I’ll always be your friend“) and demonstrations of prowess (“uleh I’ma go sideways round the bend.“)
The film clip really manages to capture the magic of a traditional Aussie carpark meet. Back in the golden days, you’d get the full range of JDM weapons rolling in. There’d be a bunch of Silvias, and twenty Skylines at a minimum. Almost all of them would be GTS-Ts. Stirred into the bunch would be a number of Commodores and new turbo Falcons, along with at least one non-turbo Supra with a P-Plate on the back. Invariably someone would start revving like mad or doing donuts, and the cops would show up to start shoving people around.
The hero car is also worth mentioning. The Mazda Capella, also known as the RX-2, holds a niche but important place in Aussie car culture. Once upon a time, they were cheap and easy to come by, and they had the glorious combination of a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive. People started modifying them, pairing big turbos with big wheels and tons of chrome, and they became a staple of burnout competitions. They’re now treated like automotive jewelry. Whenever I spot a juiced-out Capella, I always know I’m home.
I hold this song dear for the same reason George Lucas made American Graffiti. It’s a reminder of my youth and where I came from. I was never deeply ingrained in these sort of meets—I had enough trouble with the cops without attending underground burnout comps—but this is what cars were about where I grew up. It was nice to see it so deftly wrapped up into a stunning four-minute music video. I still give it a spin once or twice a year or so.
[Pete poppin’ in again. This story was originally an Autopian Asks, but I thought it was too fun not to share in regular-story mode. There’s no reason not to have Lewin ask the Q though, so here you go! ] Now I’m throwing this over to you, it is Autopian Asks, after all! What is your favorite piece of car culture, and what does it mean to you?
