This is absolutely part of the American cultural bedrock. The gap-year road-trip, the teenager's first car, every single fast and furious movie... A really good

This is absolutely part of the American cultural bedrock. The gap-year road-trip, the teenager's first car, every single fast and furious movie... A really good recent example of this sort of meme is the movie Baby Driver. American culture equates driving with freedom, youth, and good times. Getting a car is a rite of passage in a lot of US communities.