Hubcap Hovercraft



This is a sci-fi trope in which a wheeled vehicle of some kind is capable of flying or hovering by simply rotating the wheels 90 degrees, usually up and into the vehicle in question. The hubcaps then become thrust-capable engines, catapulting the vehicle upwards.

Comic Books

 * SHIELD hovercars, in many depictions.

Fan Works

 * The protagonist of Drunkard's Walk has a Flying Motorcycle. As the author mentioned on his forums: "The wheels are on cantilevers and when Doug wants maximum power they swing up (one to the left, the other to the right) and expose thrusters/emitters/whatever you want to call them."

Film

 * The DeLorean from Back to The Future. Turns out that by 2015, all cars can undergo a "hover conversion" like this.
 * Mater in UFM: Unidentified Flying Mater.
 * The cars in Blade Runner seem to operate in this manner.

Literature

 * Although it doesn't use this for flying, Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang may be the Trope Codifier. To wit: the Pott family is picnicking on a beach, and the tide comes in. Mr. Pott turns a knob, causing Chitty's wheels to turn down and out in this manner. The car glides along the water exactly like a hovercraft.

Video Games

 * S.O.P.H.I.A. the 3rd and all of her variants from the Blaster Master series.
 * Many of the ground-based Transformers from Transformers: War for Cybertron.
 * The versatile hoverpod powerup in Vigilante 8 Second Offense that levitates sportscars, motorbikes, R Vs and garbage trucks alike.

Western Animation

 * The short-lived Pole Position cartoon of The Eighties featured a pair of talking hovercars.