The Lemon Car meme rose to fame in early January 2019, fulfilling a prophecy made by a Reddit user in July 2018 who claimed the image would be the first great meme of the new year. The image originally comes from a stock photo of a lemon with wheels and a car-like shape, often associated with a 'lemon' car (a vehicle with several defects). It represents a peak in surrealist and post-ironic internet humor, where the lack of context and inherent silliness drive the comedy. Users often pair the image with nonsensical captions or use it as a 'forced' meme that actually succeeded due to the sheer power of the initial internet prediction.