Chronically Crashed Car: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{trope}}
This is a car that keeps getting destroyed, mostly in comedic situations. Because [[Status Quo Is God]], and so the joke can continue, it always gets replaced or repaired, often by an exact duplicate to make filming easier.
This is a car that keeps getting destroyed, mostly in comedic situations. Because [[Status Quo Is God]], and so the joke can continue, it always gets replaced or repaired, often by an exact duplicate to make filming easier.


Compare [[The Chew Toy]] and [[They Killed Kenny]], similar concepts that apply to characters rather than their cars. If the owner opts for the "repair" version of this trope, it may lead to the car becoming [[The Alleged Car]]. For added [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarity]], try combining it with [[The Precious Precious Car]] or [[Watch the Paint Job]].
Compare [[The Chew Toy]] and [[They Killed Kenny]], similar concepts that apply to characters rather than their cars. If the owner opts for the "repair" version of this trope, it may lead to the car becoming [[The Alleged Car]]. For added [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarity]], try combining it with [[The Precious Precious Car]] or [[Watch the Paint Job]].
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{{examples|Examples: }}


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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
== Anime and Manga ==
* The Vice-Principal's beloved Toyota Cresta in ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka]]''. Onizuka keeps on destroying it by accident.
* The Vice-Principal's beloved Toyota Cresta in ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka]]''. Onizuka keeps on destroying it by accident.

== Film -- Animated ==
* ''[[Beavis and Butthead]] Do America: The Movie'' features Tom Anderson's Camper, which suffers--in order--a broken fridge, a TV ruined by spilled cola, total destruction by flood from the Hoover Dam release, being torn apart by ATF agents, destruction in a 300 car pile-up, and being defiled by Beavis having [[A Date with Rosie Palms]] (as Cornholio).


== [[Comic Books]] ==
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[The Punisher]]'s Battle Van.
* [[The Punisher]]'s Battle Van.

== Film -- Animated ==
* ''[[Beavis and Butthead]] Do America: The Movie'' features Tom Anderson's Camper, which suffers—in order—a broken fridge, a TV ruined by spilled cola, total destruction by flood from the Hoover Dam release, being torn apart by ATF agents, destruction in a 300 car pile-up, and being defiled by Beavis having [[A Date with Rosie Palms]] (as Cornholio).


== Film -- Live Action ==
== Film -- Live Action ==
* Trish's car from ''[[Jeepers Creepers]]'' may be considered this.
* Trish's car from ''[[Jeepers Creepers]]'' may be considered this.
* The Dude's poor car in ''[[The Big Lebowski]]''. It gets shot, crashed into a telephone pole, stolen by teenagers, peed in by vagrants, crashed ''again'', smashed with a baseball bat and finally set on fire.
* The Dude's poor car in ''[[The Big Lebowski]]''. It gets shot, crashed into a telephone pole, stolen by teenagers, peed in by vagrants, crashed ''again'', smashed with a baseball bat and finally set on fire.
* Carl Bentley's police car in ''[[Jumanji]]''.
* Carl Bentley's police car in ''[[Jumanji]]''.
{{quote| "FINE! TAKE IT!"}}
{{quote|"FINE! TAKE IT!"}}
* It's not the same car every time, but [[James Bond]] has a habit of destroying whatever [[Cool Car]] Q has provided him.
* It's not the same car every time, but [[James Bond]] has a habit of destroying whatever [[Cool Car]] Q has provided him.


== Literature ==
== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', the running joke is that Harry's old VW bug, the "Blue Beetle," keeps getting wrecked, but Harry has an awesome mechanic who keeps reviving it. By the later books, it has five or six different colors due to replacement doors/hoods/etc. from other VW bugs. {{spoiler|It finally gets wrecked for good in ''Changes''.}}
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', the running joke is that Harry's old VW bug, the "Blue Beetle," keeps getting wrecked, but Harry has an awesome mechanic who keeps reviving it. By the later books, it has five or six different colors due to replacement doors/hoods/etc. from other VW bugs. {{spoiler|It finally gets wrecked for good in ''Changes''.}}
* In [[Daniel Pinkwater]]'s ''The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death'', Winston and Walter's biology teacher, Miss Sweet, periodically excuses one of her students from class to go and drive her car from the garage to the parking lot behind the school. A substantial fraction of the student body will then arrive in the parking lot as soon as class gets out, because they can count on her to immediately drive the car into the nearest tree.
* In [[Daniel Pinkwater]]'s ''The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death'', Winston and Walter's biology teacher, Miss Sweet, periodically excuses one of her students from class to go and drive her car from the garage to the parking lot behind the school. A substantial fraction of the student body will then arrive in the parking lot as soon as class gets out, because they can count on her to immediately drive the car into the nearest tree.


== [[Live Action TV]] ==
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In ''[[Leverage]]'', Hardison has gone through three different iterations of "Lucille", his [[Spies in a Van|spy van]].
* In ''[[Leverage]]'', Hardison has gone through three different iterations of "Lucille", his [[Spies in a Van|spy van]].
* In ''[[Due South]]'', Ray Vecchio drives a mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera. Unfortunately, Fraser keeps making plans that lead to it exploding, so it's not always the same mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera.
* In ''[[Due South]]'', Ray Vecchio drives a mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera. Unfortunately, Fraser keeps making plans that lead to it exploding, so it's not always the same mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera.
* In ''[[Eureka]]'', there's at least a 50% chance that any given experiment-of-the-week is going to entertainingly destroy Carter's Jeep. Henry attempts to [[Defied Trope|defy]] this in "Up in the Air" by painting it with a protective osmium coating, but it only leads to the Jeep being literally lost in space.
* In ''[[Eureka]]'', there's at least a 50% chance that any given experiment-of-the-week is going to entertainingly destroy Carter's Jeep. Henry attempts to [[Defied Trope|defy]] this in "Up in the Air" by painting it with a protective osmium coating, but it only leads to the Jeep being literally lost in space.
** The Jeep was brought to life in the 2011 Christmas special due to some hologram wackiness, and had choice words for Jack for its constant abuse.
** The Jeep was brought to life in the 2011 Christmas special due to some hologram wackiness, and had choice words for Jack for its constant abuse.
* ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' has the [[wikipedia:Reliant Regal|Reliant Regal]] driven by Bean's nemesis, which gets tipped over or crashed every time it shows up.
* ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' has the [[wikipedia:Reliant Regal|Reliant Regal]] driven by Bean's nemesis, which gets tipped over or crashed every time it shows up.
* On ''[[Dukes of Hazzard]]'':
* On ''[[Dukes of Hazzard]]'':
** The General Lee is an odd borderline example. It's not that the car gets wrecked all that often in-universe; the stunts they pulled with it, however, meant they had to go through ''300'' different cars over the course of the series for filming purposes. They eventually had to start using stock footage because that model of car was getting rarer by the stunt.
** The General Lee is an odd borderline example. It's not that the car gets wrecked all that often in-universe; the stunts they pulled with it, however, meant they had to go through ''300'' different cars over the course of the series for filming purposes. They eventually had to start using stock footage because that model of car was getting rarer by the stunt.
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* One episode of ''[[Monk]]'' ("Mr. Monk And The Three Julies") has Stottlemeyer's new car fall victim to this trope.
* One episode of ''[[Monk]]'' ("Mr. Monk And The Three Julies") has Stottlemeyer's new car fall victim to this trope.
* Not a car, but Starbug in ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is crashed pretty much every other episode, if not more often. Even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in an episode:
* Not a car, but Starbug in ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is crashed pretty much every other episode, if not more often. Even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in an episode:
{{quote| '''Kryten:''' Starbug was built to last, sir. This baby's crashed more times than a [[wikipedia:ZX-81|ZX-81]].}}
{{quote|'''Kryten:''' Starbug was built to last, sir. This baby's crashed more times than a [[wikipedia:ZX-81|ZX-81]].}}


== Radio ==
== Radio ==
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== [[Web Originals]] ==
== [[Web Originals]] ==
* [[Red vs. Blue]]: The Chupathingy gets destroyed every time in makes an appearance.
* [[Red vs. Blue]]: The Chupathingy gets destroyed every time in makes an appearance.


== [[Western Animation]] ==
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[Donald Duck]]'s [[The Alleged Car|famous 313]] has to suffer from time to time.
* [[Donald Duck]]'s [[The Alleged Car|famous 313]] has to suffer from time to time.
* Cars owned by [[Goofy]] usually fall into this trope.
* Cars owned by [[Goofy]] usually fall into this trope.
* In ''[[Dan Vs.]]'', something happening to Dan's car is usually the reason he wants revenge on the episode's subject.
* In ''[[Dan Vs.]]'', something happening to Dan's car is usually the reason he wants revenge on the episode's subject.
* In ''[[DuckTales]]'' the team pilot Launchpad McQuack would crash whatever he was provided with [[Once an Episode]] - including a living condor and a gadget plane that accidently folded into a suitcase mid-flight.
* In ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' the team pilot Launchpad McQuack would crash whatever he was provided with [[Once an Episode]] - including a living condor and a gadget plane that accidently folded into a suitcase mid-flight.
* In ''[[Men in Black (animation)|Men in Black]]: The Series'', the LTD suffers from an unfortunate number of catastrophic accidents per session.
* In ''[[Men in Black (animation)|Men in Black]]: The Series'', the LTD suffers from an unfortunate number of catastrophic accidents per session.
* Kevin's car in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' repeatedly gets destroyed in various ways.
* Kevin's car in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' repeatedly gets destroyed in various ways.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Whenever they buy a car in place of their Pink Sedan and Station Wagon, it will be totaled by the end of the episode (such as the Canyonero) to keep the status quo (the only exception is the snowplow Homer bought when he started his Mr. Plow business, which was repossessed because Homer never made payments on it). Homer's sedan does get severely damaged multiple times; it becomes good as new the next week, but it still shows the damage on the front fender.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Whenever they buy a car in place of their Pink Sedan and Station Wagon, it will be totaled by the end of the episode (such as the Canyonero) to keep the status quo (the only exception is the snowplow Homer bought when he started his Mr. Plow business, which was repossessed because Homer never made payments on it). Homer's sedan does get severely damaged multiple times; it becomes good as new the next week, but it still shows the damage on the front fender.
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'': Captain Fanzone's car.
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'': Captain Fanzone's car.
* In ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', Cyborg's car gets destroyed pretty much in every episode it makes an appearance in.
* In ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', Cyborg's car gets destroyed pretty much in every episode it makes an appearance in.
* In ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'', every time something is thrown off screen with an explosion, you can hear the same guy scream "My Car!!!".
* In ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'', every time something is thrown off screen with an explosion, you can hear the same guy scream "My Car!!!".
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[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]
[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]
[[Category:Chronically Crashed Car]]
[[Category:Chronically Crashed Car]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]

Latest revision as of 02:33, 30 March 2018

This is a car that keeps getting destroyed, mostly in comedic situations. Because Status Quo Is God, and so the joke can continue, it always gets replaced or repaired, often by an exact duplicate to make filming easier.

Compare The Chew Toy and They Killed Kenny, similar concepts that apply to characters rather than their cars. If the owner opts for the "repair" version of this trope, it may lead to the car becoming The Alleged Car. For added hilarity, try combining it with The Precious Precious Car or Watch the Paint Job.


Examples of Chronically Crashed Car include:

Anime and Manga

  • The Vice-Principal's beloved Toyota Cresta in Great Teacher Onizuka. Onizuka keeps on destroying it by accident.

Comic Books

Film -- Animated

  • Beavis and Butthead Do America: The Movie features Tom Anderson's Camper, which suffers—in order—a broken fridge, a TV ruined by spilled cola, total destruction by flood from the Hoover Dam release, being torn apart by ATF agents, destruction in a 300 car pile-up, and being defiled by Beavis having A Date with Rosie Palms (as Cornholio).

Film -- Live Action

  • Trish's car from Jeepers Creepers may be considered this.
  • The Dude's poor car in The Big Lebowski. It gets shot, crashed into a telephone pole, stolen by teenagers, peed in by vagrants, crashed again, smashed with a baseball bat and finally set on fire.
  • Carl Bentley's police car in Jumanji.

"FINE! TAKE IT!"

  • It's not the same car every time, but James Bond has a habit of destroying whatever Cool Car Q has provided him.

Literature

  • In The Dresden Files, the running joke is that Harry's old VW bug, the "Blue Beetle," keeps getting wrecked, but Harry has an awesome mechanic who keeps reviving it. By the later books, it has five or six different colors due to replacement doors/hoods/etc. from other VW bugs. It finally gets wrecked for good in Changes.
  • In Daniel Pinkwater's The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Winston and Walter's biology teacher, Miss Sweet, periodically excuses one of her students from class to go and drive her car from the garage to the parking lot behind the school. A substantial fraction of the student body will then arrive in the parking lot as soon as class gets out, because they can count on her to immediately drive the car into the nearest tree.

Live Action TV

  • In Leverage, Hardison has gone through three different iterations of "Lucille", his spy van.
  • In Due South, Ray Vecchio drives a mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera. Unfortunately, Fraser keeps making plans that lead to it exploding, so it's not always the same mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera.
  • In Eureka, there's at least a 50% chance that any given experiment-of-the-week is going to entertainingly destroy Carter's Jeep. Henry attempts to defy this in "Up in the Air" by painting it with a protective osmium coating, but it only leads to the Jeep being literally lost in space.
    • The Jeep was brought to life in the 2011 Christmas special due to some hologram wackiness, and had choice words for Jack for its constant abuse.
  • Mr. Bean has the Reliant Regal driven by Bean's nemesis, which gets tipped over or crashed every time it shows up.
  • On Dukes of Hazzard:
    • The General Lee is an odd borderline example. It's not that the car gets wrecked all that often in-universe; the stunts they pulled with it, however, meant they had to go through 300 different cars over the course of the series for filming purposes. They eventually had to start using stock footage because that model of car was getting rarer by the stunt.
    • Played straight by the Sheriff's Office cars, which are constantly wrecked while trying to catch the Dukes.
  • Virtually all of the cars that last more than one episode of Canada's Worst Driver. The season 7 finale included a funeral for the 2009 Dodge Challenger that got used for one challenge each episode (including the Mega Challenge).
  • One episode of Monk ("Mr. Monk And The Three Julies") has Stottlemeyer's new car fall victim to this trope.
  • Not a car, but Starbug in Red Dwarf is crashed pretty much every other episode, if not more often. Even lampshaded in an episode:

Kryten: Starbug was built to last, sir. This baby's crashed more times than a ZX-81.

Radio

  • The Navy Lark has a chronically crashed frigate in the form of HMS Troutbridge thanks to Navigation Officer Sub-Lieutenant Phillips. It's the only ship in the navy with a corrugated hull, and once had her entire superstructure blown clean off leaving her looking like a miniature aircraft carrier, yet she still manages to not sink and keep going.

Web Comics

  • Narbonic: Dave Davenport goes through many cars, some of which even get wrecked off-panel.

Web Originals

  • Red vs. Blue: The Chupathingy gets destroyed every time in makes an appearance.

Western Animation

  • Donald Duck's famous 313 has to suffer from time to time.
  • Cars owned by Goofy usually fall into this trope.
  • In Dan Vs., something happening to Dan's car is usually the reason he wants revenge on the episode's subject.
  • In DuckTales (1987) the team pilot Launchpad McQuack would crash whatever he was provided with Once an Episode - including a living condor and a gadget plane that accidently folded into a suitcase mid-flight.
  • In Men in Black: The Series, the LTD suffers from an unfortunate number of catastrophic accidents per session.
  • Kevin's car in Ben 10 Alien Force repeatedly gets destroyed in various ways.
  • The Simpsons: Whenever they buy a car in place of their Pink Sedan and Station Wagon, it will be totaled by the end of the episode (such as the Canyonero) to keep the status quo (the only exception is the snowplow Homer bought when he started his Mr. Plow business, which was repossessed because Homer never made payments on it). Homer's sedan does get severely damaged multiple times; it becomes good as new the next week, but it still shows the damage on the front fender.
  • Transformers Animated: Captain Fanzone's car.
  • In Teen Titans, Cyborg's car gets destroyed pretty much in every episode it makes an appearance in.
  • In The Penguins of Madagascar, every time something is thrown off screen with an explosion, you can hear the same guy scream "My Car!!!".