Recall in relation to cars leads to certain embarrassment (9)
I believe the answer is:
reminisce
'recall' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'relation to cars leads to certain embarrassment' is the wordplay.
'relation' becomes 're' (re is a kind of relation).
'to cars' becomes 'minis' (Mini Coopers).
'leads to' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'certain embarrassment' is 'ce'.
're'+'minis'+'ce'='REMINISCE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for reminisce that I've seen before include "reflect" , "Say what one remembers" , "Recollect past events" , "Recall past events" , "Talk of past events" .)