History Main / ImprobablyCoolCar

** Them owning that cherry a car is [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in two ways. One, the car was handed down to Sam & Dean from their father, who bought it in TheSeventies when it was just another used car in a lot. Dean is also shown to take ''meticulous'' care of the car, even down to practically rebuilding it from scratch a few times. Having a friend/father figure who owns a junkyard makes that easier. He's so anal about keeping it in it's original state that he practically wept when Sam installed an MP3 player in it.

* Inverted in ''[[TheDresdenFiles]]''. Harry's Blue Beetle is very much TheAllegedCar, even though it's pointed out more than once that as a wizard, Harry could easily get a much better car through various means.

* Series/MrBean's lime green/yellow Mini Cooper is a classic example.

* StephenColbert 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."

* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' gives us Ash's Monster XR, a custom-built all-wheel-drive V-8 powered rally car combining the best aspects of three similar versions of the Merkur [=XR4Ti=]/Sierra Cosworth. Its justification is that it was the project car of Harry, who's from the UK, and he sold it to Ash as part of a deal to clear out space in his growing auto garage business. The engine, missing in the original timeline, was a gift from Ash's mom.

* Entertainingly averted in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' (though probably not intentionally). Bella's impossibly gorgeous, BadAss [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys brooding]] vampire love interest Edward Cullen drives... (drumroll please) ...a ''Volvo'', while Bella herself has a classic '60s Chevy pickup. Although [[DrivesLikeCrazy the way he drives]] it's probably for the best.

* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' gives us Ash's Monster XR, a custom-built all-wheel-drive V-8 powered rally car combining the best aspects of three similar versions of the Merkur [=XR4Ti=]/Sierra Cogsworth. Its justification is that it was the project car of Harry, who's from the UK, and he sold it to Ash as part of a deal to clear out space in his growing auto garage business. The engine, missing in the original timeline, was a gift from Ash's mom.

This trope often manifests itself one of two ways. Either it's a brand-new luxury-sports car with at least a high five-figure sticker price or it's an impeccably preserved classic car (old-school 1960's muscle cars and large convertibles are popular choices). A third way was seen mainly in high-concept youth oriented comedies from TheSixties, where the characters would drive an elaborately customized showrod (usually done by George Barris) and inevitably available as a scale model kit (sometimes still, if the original tooling survives).

This can get jarring when, despite looking awesome, the car in question will be characterized or described as a jalopy; sort of the automotive version of HollywoodHomely. This may be an attempt to connect with the SmallReferencePools of like-minded viewers who will understand that something built in Detroit 40 years ago is an "old car" while ignoring the fact that it obviously isn't suffering from the usual old car problems of body rust and worn-out parts and would be worth a small fortune to any number of collectors. Or simply that a car that's 40+ years old is likely to be restored, and the owner they rent it from isn't willing to have changes made to make the car look like a wreck.

Contrast: TheAllegedCar

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4699873398_52b018213f_b_1310.jpg|What can I say? There's some big tippers on my paper route.]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4699873398_52b018213f_b_1310.jpg]]

This trope often manifests itself one of two ways. Either it's a brand-new luxury-sports car with at least a high five-figure sticker price or it's an impeccably preserved classic car (old-school 1960's muscle cars and large convertibles are popular choices).

* MrBean's lime green/yellow Mini Cooper is a classic example.

* ''ItsAWonderfulLife'' features another inversion with George Bailey, a prominent citizen and owner of an (albeit small) financial institution in 1946 driving a circa-1920 open car. Granted that having a flashy car isn't a priority for him and no new cars were made from 1942[[hottip:*: There were 1942 models, made during calendar 1941 and just into the new year]] to summer 1945[[hottip:*:Always referred to as 1946 models]]; still, a 1938-41 Ford, Chevy or Plymouth would've been more likely.

In many cases this can be attributed to blatant ProductPlacement for the former and writers choosing memorable cars from their youths for the latter.

[[quoteright:320:[[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leaguecar_7456.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:[-[[Website/{{Cracked}} Also, Venice doesn't have streets. Hire a screenwriter who knows how Venice works]][[note]][[FridgeLogic And how does that car steer with four front wheels...?]][[/note]]-].]]

[[caption-width-right:320:[-[[Website/{{Cracked}} Also, Venice doesn't have streets. Hire a screenwriter who knows how Venice works]]-].]]

* 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]].

* Justified in one of Patrick Robinson's books. A Navy officer drives a Jaguar. On the other hand, he didn't ''buy'' it, he apparently got it for a song.

This can get jarring when, despite looking awesome, the car in question will be characterized or described as a jalopy; sort of the automotive version of HollywoodHomely. This may be an attempt to connect with the SmallReferencePools of like-minded viewers who will understand that something built in Detroit 40 years ago is an "old car" while ignoring the fact that it obviously isn't suffering from the usual old car problems of body rust and worn-out parts and would be worth a small fortune to any number of collectors.

* For a time in TheSixties, George Barris-customized cars were almost ''de rigeur'' for SitCom characters who were in any way eccentric. TheMunsters' Koach ''(sic)'', [[TheMonkees the Monkeemobile]] and of course the '60s [[{{Batman}} Batmobile]] came out of this.

* [[ArchieComics Archie's]] car ''ended up'' being this. In 1941, a 1916 Model T would be an AllegedCar over two decades old (and they'd have still been ''everywhere''. By the 19''80s'', it would be a museum piece.

* [[ArchieComics Archie's]] car ''ended up'' being this. In 1946, a vehicle from the 1920s would be an AllegedCar over a decade old. By the 1980s, it would be a museum piece.

* 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 innocuous Saabs (and a BMW early on). However, Kramer drives a spotless 1973 Chevrolet Impala, improbable for a car that presumably spent 20 years parked curbside in Manhattan.