car

To most of us on the outside, a car is a vehicle with a motor and four wheels. But in prison slang, your car is your crew, especially when it comes to drugs, protection, and money-making.

In prison slang, the expression car refers to a small band of prisoners who stick together, often for protection, companionship, running drugs, or making money.

The slang car dates to at least the 1990s. A group of convicts who are on good terms with one another are thought of as being in the car together. Being in the car can also refer to being in on a car‘s particular operation. If one of the prisoners has a falling out with the others, they are out of the car.

The prison car, then, is a bit like an informal gang of prisoners who spend time together and pool their resources, including drugs and money.

This car imagery has spawned lots of other related expressions. For example, by at least the 1990s, a prisoner who bought drugs for the others in the group was referred to as driving the car. Someone who used the drugs without paying for them was referred to as hitchhiking.

By 2015, prisoners referred to members of their group as a car. Your car is often based on your race, geography, or affiliated gang (e.g. a black car or an Aryan Nation car). Cars can also exert their power to domineer over other prisoners.

Calling a group of people you’re affiliated with a car is mostly associated with prison life and culture.

Time for some RF gated community/pen/ prison slang : in my 3C – rolling in my Campbell county car , who I associate with and / or am allies with , occasionally Claiborne county, Scott county and other rural types roll with the 3C.this concludes today’s slang term of the day

— Robert ferguson (@Robferg24) April 24, 2019

On the outside, someone’s car is more commonly referred to as a gang or crew.

4 to a car @HunterMaston @JohnAKAFlash @DustinRuss_19 #PrisonSlang #KillerWorkOut #gymstatus #Crew

— TannerMaston ™️ (@TMast1331) July 8, 2013

More examples of car:

“That guy’s in the New York car. If you fuck with him, you’ll have to deal with all of them.”
—Seth Ferranti, Vice, October 2015

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.