Red Barchetta (6:08)

“Red Barchetta” is a song by rock band Rush from their album Moving Pictures.

Synopsis
The song describes a post-petroleum future in which the “primitive” gasoline-burning sports cars are prohibited by “the Motor Law.” The narrator’s uncle has kept one of these illicit vehicles (the titular red Barchetta) in pristine condition for some “fifty-odd years” and keeps it hidden at his secret country home (previously a farm before the aforementioned Motor Law). During one of his weekly drives, the narrator encounters an “alloy air car” that begins to chase him along the roads. A second such vehicle soon joins the pursuit, which continues until the narrator drives his Barchetta across a one-lane bridge that is too narrow for the air cars. The song ends with the narrator returning safely to his uncle’s farm.

Background
The song was inspired by the futuristic short story “A Nice Morning Drive,” written by Richard Foster and published in the November, 1973 issue of Road and Track magazine. The story describes a similar future in which increasingly-stringent safety regulations have forced cars to evolve into massive “Modern Safety Vehicles” (MSVs), capable of withstanding a 50-mile-per-hour impact without injury to the driver. Consequently, drivers of MSVs have become less safety-conscious and more aggressive, and “bouncing” (intentionally ramming) the older, smaller cars is a common sport among some.

Rush lyricist Neil Peart made several attempts to contact Foster while working on the album, but Road and Track did not have an up-to-date address, and Rush were forced to settle for a brief “Inspired by” note in the lyric sheet mentioning the story.