Jack Kerouac's On the Road

"On the Road is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published in 1957. This largely autobiographical work, written as a stream of consciousness and based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America, is often considered the defining work of the postwar Beat Generation that was so affected by jazz, poetry, and drug experiences. As the inspiration came from real life, hundreds of references in On the Road have real-world counterparts."

The plot of On the Road follows a road trip of two friends, Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty. Eric Kripke has acknowledged that Supernatural's Sam and Dean are named after the pair source.

Furthermore, Dean Winchester has many characteristics of On the Road's Dean Moriarty (Moriarty himself is based on Jack Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady). A fast-talking womanizer and con-man with classic good looks and tons of charm, Moriarty is the catalyst for the adventures in On the Road. Like Sam and Dean, the characters of On the Road criss-cross the country on a restless search for something neither Sal nor Dean can define - the goal seems to be on the move, and in motion.

Direct References

In 5.22 Swan Song Chuck Shurley mentions, that the Impala's first owner was named "Sal Moriarty."