Improbably Cool Car: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Similar to the [[Cool Car]], but there's no logical reason for the character to have it. They don't fight crime, they're not wealthy, they've never shown a particular interest in cars or any mechanical aptitude, and yet their daily driver is something right off the showroom floor of the local Porsche dealer? [[Fridge Logic|How did that happen?]]

 

{{examples}}

 

== [[Film]] ==

*** The Operator can get her any car he can conceivably code in the Matrix, the only limit is how much Agent attention the chosen model would attract.

** Being a bit of a car fan, Steve Coogan knew enough to subvert this one in ''[[Saxondale]]'' by giving the middle aged protagonist a [http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/5214/saxonmach1jj5.jpg '72 Mach One] Mustang. Since the character is an ex-roadie who's still stuck in [[The Seventies]], he'd prefer the seventies Mustang.

* Any movie featuring David Spade will probably have a rare vintage Chrysler muscle car somewhere.

* Also, the Mini Coopers used extensively in ''[[The Italian Job]]'' remake. Justified for the chase scenes, as they were chosen for their size so they could be driven down subway tracks and through storm sewers, and extensively remodeled to carry several ''thousand'' kilos in gold in reinforced trunks. Not so much in the opening scenes, where a ''legitimate'' safecracking expert has one just for zipping around.

* A few important characters in Richard Linklater's ''[[Dazed and Confused]]'', despite being rather ordinary high school students attending Extremely Average High School High, drive pricey and/or incredibly slick and rare cars which middle- and working-class kids would be quite unlikely to own, as noted in the Criterion DVD commentary. Examples include Pickford's 1970 GTO Judge, and a rare 1970 Plymouth Superbird which appears briefly in the background. Some of the better cars belonging to named characters, however, are driven by the few slightly older, non-high school students. In [[The Seventies|1976]], most muscle cars were at least four years old and thought of as cheap gas-guzzling used cars, but rusted out sixties sedans would probably have been more believable.

* ''[[Charlie Bartlett]]'' depicts a Mercedes 600 Grosser in use as a chauffeured vehicle by a non-car-enthusiast owner in the early 2000s. Apparently it hasn't yet run up a repair bill that approaches the cost of a three-year lease on a Lincoln Town Car...bit ''it will''...

 

== [[Literature]] ==

 

* Averted in ''[[Seinfeld]]''. Jerry Seinfeld is a Porsche fanatic in real life, and the apartment set is peppered heavily with Porsche memorabilia, but his TV persona drove an innocuous Saab. However, Kramer drives a spotless 1970s Chevrolet Impala, improbable for a car that presumably spent 20 years parked curbside in Manhattan.

* Justified in ''[[Life]]'', where the ordinary cop character drives a flashy Bentley thanks to a large legal settlement. {{spoiler|The car is crushed by a tractor at the end of the pilot episode}}.

* [[Mr. Bean]]'s lime green/yellow Mini Cooper is a classic example.

* [[Stephen Colbert]] parodies this with his build-a-bear parody - Build-a-car workshop. It's a tank on monster truck wheels, has a sail and a sidecar attached to it,an American flag on the back and "You steer it with your balls."

* ''[[Nash Bridges]]'' 1971 Hemi Barracuda convertible. One of only seven made, and worth more than a million dollars. How many ''honest'' San Francisco Police detectives could afford one?

*** Not so improbable for a crooked individual with some [[Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word|financially worthwhile dirty laundry on someone powerful.]]

** On the show, it's established that the 'Cuda used to belong to his brother. Now the question is how ''he'' got it.

* Eli's early '60s Cadillac-based hearse in ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]''. Most hearses in Canada at that time would've been based on Buicks (which were made in Canada, Caddys weren't), and the most available hearse for a teenager in 2010 would be a late '80s/early '90s Caddy, most of which are just now being sold out of funeral service and which use easy and (relatively) cheap-to-get-parts-for small-block Chevy engines.

* [[My Name Is Earl]] has, in our only view of the local high school, an obnoxious student with a mint 1967 Chevy Camaro despite being sixteen and in a town implied to be mainly rundown and poor.

* One episode of ''[[In Plain Sight]]'' lampshades this when Mary has to replace her old car which was wrecked in a shootout. Her sister's rich boyfriend owns a car dealership and he hooks up Mary with a great looking vintage muscle car. However, Mary's boss quickly points out that the car is way too noticeable. A US Marshall working for Witness Protection cannot stand out and Mary is forced to return the car to the dealership.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

[[Category:This Index Is Highly Improbable]]

[[Category:Vehicle Tropes]]

[[Category:Travel Cool]]

[[Category:Improbably Cool Car]]