| Let us not forget two traditions that have graced multiple generations of drivers, namely the Ritual of Shotgun, and the Chinese Fire Drill.
Another (regional) car rite that I have yet to see gain the popularity it deserves is known as "The Phantom". The Phantom must be performed on a fairly straight and deserted back road on a cloudy or foggy night. A small, darkly-colored vehicle is preferable. When the drivers spots another car in the distance approaching in the opposite lane, The Phantom begins.
While the oncoming vehicle is still a good half-a-mile away, the driver kills the headlights, parking lights, and dome lights. The passengers roll down their windows and practiced their most tortured expression of pain and warm up their vocal chords. This vehicular 'silent mode' is maintained until the exact moment when the two vehicles come within easy hailing distance.
At the instant of proximity, the driver flips on only the dome light and simultaneously lays on the horn. The passengers scream in mortified terror with their horrified faces displayed prominently to the target vehicle. A moment later, the driver extinguishes
the dome light, and continues to drive in silent mode until well out of sight of the target vehicle.
Space permitting, your passengers may opt for mooning and flashing the target vehicle.
The Phantom can also be performed with your car pulled over to the shoulder under a large and dark bridge. A few Rose-Hulman students discovered the rewards of this variant while torturing poor little Woodsies in the cowtown of Terre Haute, Indiana.
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