What's more authentically American than boys suping up their rides and preening about town deafening all within earshot (reducing taxes, you say..)? The Speed Network series Hot Import Nights is the weekly sex-and-horsepower profile of the subculture, and as anyone who saw any of the Fast and the Furious movies in the Bay Area knows, selling these components to gear-heads is brisk business.
The NY-based NoiseOFF website has compiled a fascinating case against the manufacturers of car audio equipment, much of it drawn directly from product advertising, in which companies use slogans like "Turn it down? I don't think so." and "Be Loud. Be Obnoxious." to market their wares, mostly to young men with a misguided longing for attention and "respect" (I speak from experience here).
For insight into the twisted psychology of boom car ownership, and the perverse ways it is exploited by the car audio industry, get a load of this long-form ad from Pioneer (also featured on NoiseOFF), entitled "Disturb." Think that guy on the block cares that he's rattling windows and setting off car alarms? Hardly. More likely it's his reason for living.
