History Main / UnconventionalVehicleChase

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' starts as a car chase made of a Gotham Police armored truck carrying Harvey Dent, the Joker and his men racing them in a semi truck, a cargo truck full of the Joker's men following the armored truck, and the Tumbler. By the end of the chase, it's the police armored truck, the Joker's semi, and the Batpod.
* ''Film/FastAndFurious6'': The villains take a tank and start running over civilian cars before Dom's gang put a stop to them.

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''
** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': John Connor, Sarah, and the Terminator flee in a slow truck, while the T-1000 pursues in a tanker filled with liquid nitrogen.

The heroes need to get away from danger, or [[HotPursuit pursue an escaping villain]]. Sounds like it's time for a [[ChaseScene high-speed car chase]]. The ideal form of transport would be a badass looking car, [[RuleOfCool with insanely high top speeds, and capable of impossible maneuvers]]. Though chances are the dream vehicle isn't conveniently lying around, so the hero will have to make do with whatever's available.

The substitute vehicle can be very bizarre at times, with popular choices being a fire engine, tow truck, or a tank. Expect the driver to utilize the vehicle's built-in features to gain an advantage, as well as a lot of destruction to the surroundings. Often necessitates a BadassDriver, considering the unfamiliarity of this new vehicle requires skill to operate.

** ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'': While on the island of San Monique, Bond and Solitaire escape in a double-decker bus while the San Monique police pursue on motorcycles and in squad cars.
** ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': Bond rides an auto rickshaw through a bazaar in Delhi, chased by Kamal Khan's thugs in a jeep and an auto rickshaw of their own.
** ''Film/AViewToAKill'': About to be arrested by police in San Francisco, Bond steals a firetruck to escape. At one point he takes out the ladder which wrecks a lot of the environment, including taking the top off a truck with a sleeping couple inside.

** ''Film/GoldenEye'': After latest Bond girl Natalya gets taken by Ourumov in a car, Bond steals one of the tanks in the yard and pursues them, with the tank causing [[HeroInsurance sizable damage to the buildings]] around town.

** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' has ''two'' of these, in addition to one conventional (-ish, as both vehicles are equipped with weaponry) CarChase:

*** Bond also uses a rocket-propelled sled (one of the BigBad's hobbies) to run away from the blast of a KillSat.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' starts as a car chase made of a Gotham Police armored truck carrying Harvey Dent, the Joker and his men racing them in a semi truck, a garbage truck full of the Joker's men following the armored truck, and the Tumbler. By the end of the chase, it's the police armored truck, the Joker's semi, and the Batpod.

* An example of the villain using an unconventional vehicle occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'': Edgar winds up trying to escape from Napoleon and Lafeyette on a "one-wheel haystack".

* Vinz and Angelino flee from the MenInBlack in an ice-cream van in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mutafukaz}}''. Although they initially seem at a disadvantage, Vinz is able to take out a few MIB cars by covering their windscreens with thrown ice-cream.
** What makes this funnier is the happy ice-cream van tune and dramatic chase music become synchronised.

* ''WesternAnimation/PenguinsOfMadagascar'' includes an early boat chase...between penguins and octopi. Due to a series of coincidences, the boats begin travelling along the land on wheels partway through.

* In ''Film/AceVenturaWhenNatureCalls'', when Cadby is getting away in his car, Ace looks over several vehicles parked nearby. The only one with a key in the ignition happens to be a monster truck. Watch the ensuing chase [[https://youtu.be/BaqIALamCz8?t=24s here]].

* ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery''. Parodied when Austin and Vanessa try to escape pursuing guards in a steamroller that [[LowSpeedChase moves so slowly]] that the guards should be able to easily catch up to them.

* ''[[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious Fast & Furious 6]]'': The villains take a tank and start running over civilian cars before Dom's gang put a stop to them.

** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': In order to escape Willard Whyte's facility near Las Vegas, Bond steals a prototype moon buggy and zooms off across the desert. He's followed by guards in cars and on motorized trikes. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y03zBX_q4TM here]].
** ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'': While on the island of San Monique, Bond and Solitaire escape in a double-decker bus while the San Monique police pursue on motorcycles and in squad cars. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuDAx4Yndv0 here]].
*** The same episode includes a boat chase.

* In ''[[Film/KidnappingCaucasianStyle Kidnapping, Caucasian Style]]'', there's a car chase of bad guys after the escaped kidnapped girl. Good guys join in riding a wooden barrel on a platform with small wheels. Villains attack this transportation device with [[EdibleAmmunition all the cucumbers they've got]] and spend a 3L glass jar of oil before finally [[OilSlick having it crash and break]] (confirming that [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum it was just a barrel]]). - ([[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12ky78_kidnapping-caucasian-style-1967-pt-2_creation available here, starting 5:57]])

* In ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'', Alex and Sabrina take a horse to get to Sayle Tower, since the cars are getting stuck in London traffic. They nearly crash into a patrol of the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Household Cavalry]], who briefly chase after them.

* In "Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer", the vehicle would be a perfectly normal public bus if it weren't 1. ripped apart and 2. being propelled by The Vitalizer's powers instead of its engines and wheels.

* In the music video for ''Technohead'' song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmYi5u9BhtI I Wanna Be A Hippy]]", three skinheads chase after a hippy wielding inflatable hammers. At first it's a foot chase, but then the hippy gets on a bicycle while the skinheads get in a pedal powered carrier and chase after.

* ''Videogame/NoOneLivesForever 2'' Features a LowSpeedChase with Cate and Armstrong on a child's tricycle pursuing a mime on a unicycle through the streets of Calcutta.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Sideshow Bob tries to fly off and kill Krusty by stealing the Wright Brothers' original airplane. The Air Force have to chase after him on foot because their interceptor planes fly too fast, and in the end Air Force personnel driving tanks accidentally run it over, crushing it.

Subtrope of ChaseScene and HotPursuit. Compare: WackyRacing, which is when a race is intentionally organized with unconventional vehicle choices as a gimmick. See also: ImprobableWeaponUser and WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer for non-vehicle examples. May often lead to HeroStoleMyBike.

* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series has had a few of these show up occasionally. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' had two missions where you escape the triads and the police respectively in a limousine. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has a pursuit mission in go-karts, and the final mission has you chasing a fire truck. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony'' had a getaway sequence in golf carts.

* ''Film/RomancingTheStone'': One of the chase sequences in the continuation ''The Jewel of the Nile'' involves Jack, Joan and Al-Juhara (a saintly man and [[LivingMacGuffing the titular "Jewel"]]) trying to escape the armed forces of Omar's the dictator in an F-16 "Fighting Falcon" (that Jack tore the wings off with [[DrivesLikeCrazy his crazy driving]]), culminating with Jack firing up the jet's afterburner to try to lose Omar's forces in a sand storm.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
** ''Film/BatmanBegins'': Rachel has been poisoned by Dr. Crane with a very dangerous hallucinogen, and Batman needs to get her to the Batcave to administer the antidote. This means having to race her there in the Tumbler while being chased by the police, who are limited to their conventional squad cars, which are no match for him. The situation is very much lampshaded when the Tumbler reveals itself by driving over and flattening a police car with two cops in it.
--->'''Cop in Cruiser:''' He is in a vehicle!\\
'''Dispatcher:''' Make and color?\\
'''Cop in Cruiser:''' It's a black...''[looks at his equally confused partner]''...tank.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' starts as a car chase made of a Gotham Police armored truck carrying Harvey Dent, the Joker and his men racing them in a semi truck, a garbage truck full of the Joker's men following the armored truck, and the Tumbler. By the end of the chase, it's the police armored truck, the Joker's semi, and the Batpod.

* Vinz and Angelino flee from the MenInBlack in an ice-cream van in ''Film/{{Mutafukaz}}''. Although they initially seem at a disadvantage, Vinz is able to take out a few MIB cars by covering their windscreens with thrown ice-cream.
** What makes this funnier is the happy ice-cream van tune and dramatic chase music become synchronised.

** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': John Connor, Sarah, and the Terminator flee in an extremely slow van, while the T-1000 pursues in a tanker filled with liquid nitrogen.

* ComicBook/{{Soda}} once chases after a perp in a street cleaner, but the driver tells him he likes to tinker with it on Sundays, and to push the big red button on the dashboard. Acceleration ensues.

* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series has had a few of these show up occasionally. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' had two missions where you escape the triads and the police respectively in a limousine. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has a pursuit mission in go-karts, and the final mission has you chasing a fire truck. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony'' had a getaway sequence in golf carts.

* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]] ([[AndZoidberg and]] [[NoRespectGuy Pierce]]) rescues Zimos from [[MadeASlave sex slavery in an S&M dungeon]] as a part of the "Return to Steelport" mission, and the two (well, three) of them escape in a rickshaw pulled by Zimos in full bondage gear, chased by enforcers ''also'' driving rickshaws pulled by bondage-clad submissives, styled to look like a Roman ChariotRace. As if this all weren't weird enough, the rickshaws also ''[[MadeOfExplodium explode]]'' when they crash.[[note]]According to WordOfGod, when the sequence was first created, the programmers simply designed a rickshaw skin to overlay on the physics used by the game's [[EveryCarIsAPinto cars]] and didn't bother to disable the "explodes on crash" flag during testing. When they later disabled the flag, a very vocal faction [[ThrowItIn missed the explosions and wanted them restored]] [[RuleOfCool and damn the logic]], and finally got their way mere days before the code was finalized.[[/note]]
* ''Videogame/NoOneLivesForever 2'' Features a LowSpeedChase with Cate and Armstrong on a child's tricycle pursuing a mime on a unicycle through the streets of Calcutta.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresInOdyssey'' video series, Eugene has to use a skateboard to chase a guy in a car who he believes kidnapped Connie.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': During the Gaang's first encounter with Azula they attempt a getaway using Omashu's cargo chutes. Azula jumps into one of the carts and follows them down the chute, flinging fireballs at them the entire way down.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'': In "A Million Ways To Lose a Million Dollars", after the Police Cadets have their taxi stolen, [=MacArthur=] uses her police badge to hijack a hotdog vendor cart (shaped like a hotdog) to give chase.

* An example of the villain using an unconventional vehicle occurs in ''Disney/TheAristocats'': Edgar winds up trying to escape from Napoleon and Lafeyette on a "one-wheel haystack".
* The villainous Ratigan in Disney's ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' flees with {{moe}} Olivia as his hostage in an airship powered by a bicycle-like assembly at its tail. Ratigan is pursued by TheHero Basil of Baker Street in a makeshift helium balloon powered by jetting the gas from the balloon's bottom. The chase runs a merry distance over London; Ratigan's Fidgit-powered craft jettisons Fidgit, and Ratigan himself propels the craft, while Basil's balloon stays close behind despite bleeding off copious amounts of helium.
* Fagan rides a scooter ''cum'' shopping cart in Disney's ''Disney/OliverAndCompany'' while trying to flee from the malicious Sykes in a large sedan. Both vehicles enter a subway station and leap onto the tracks. Fagan's hybrid judders badly on the ties between the rails, while Sykes sedan neatly rides the rails on its wheels' rims.

The substitute vehicle can be very bizarre at times, with popular choices being a fire engine, tow truck, or a tank. Expect the driver to utilize the vehicle's built-in features to gain an advantage, as well as a lot of destruction to the surroundings.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Sideshow Bob tries to fly to safety by stealing the Wright Brothers' original airplane. The Air Force have to chase after him on foot because their interceptor planes fly too fast, and in the end Air Force personnel driving tanks accidentally run it over, crushing it.

!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* The climax of ''WesternAnimation/TheTripletsOfBelleville'' features Madame Souza, Champion, the Triplets, and Bruno trying to flee from an armada of cars... with only a bicycle simulator as their escape vehicle.
* ''WesternAnimation/PenguinsOfMadagascar'' includes an early boat chase...between penguins and octopi. Due to a series of coincidences, the boats begin travelling along the land on wheels partway through.

* An example of the villain using an unconventional vehicle occurs in ''Disney/TheAristocats'': Edgar winds up trying to escape from Napoleon and Lafeyette on a "one-wheel haystack."

* Vinz and Angelino flee from the MenInBlack in an ice-cream van in ''Film/{{Mutafukaz}}''. Although they initially seem at a disadvantage, Vinz is able to take out a few MIB cars by covering their windscreens with thrown ice-cream.
** What makes this funnier is the happy ice-cream van tune and dramatic chase music become synchronised.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The ''Film/JamesBond'' films are quite fond of these.
** ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'': When his defending forces are overcome, Blofeld escapes Piz Gloria in a bobsleigh. Bond grabs another and goes after him.
** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': In order to escape Willard Whyte's facility near Las Vegas, Bond steals a prototype moon buggy and zooms off across the desert. He's followed by guards in cars and on motorized trikes. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y03zBX_q4TM here]].
** ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'': While on the island of San Monique, Bond and Solitaire escape in a double-decker bus while the San Monique police pursue on motorcycles and in squad cars. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuDAx4Yndv0 here]].
*** The same episode includes a boat chase.
** ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': Bond rides an auto rickshaw through a bazaar in Delhi, chased by Kamal Khan's thugs in a jeep and an auto rickshaw of their own.
** ''Film/AViewToAKill'': About to be arrested by police in San Francisco, Bond steals a firetruck to escape. At one point he takes out the ladder which wrecks a lot of the environment, including taking the top off a truck with a sleeping couple inside.
*** Earlier in the movie, as Bond follows May Day from the ground as she parachutes down from the Eiffel Tower, the subcompact he commandeers is smashed, crashed, and ultimately chopped in half - yet it remains drivable to the end.
** ''Film/LicenceToKill'': After Bond destroys Sanchez's drug lab, he chases down the gasoline tanker trucks used to smuggle the cocaine.
** ''Film/GoldenEye'': After latest Bond girl Natalya gets taken by Ourumov in a car, Bond steals one of the tanks in the yard and pursues them, with the tank causing [[HeroInsurance sizable damage to the buildings]] around town.
** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': While skiing in Azerbaijan to oversee the construction of a pipeline, Bond and Elektra are attacked by men in Parahawks (paraglider-equipped snowmobiles).
** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' has ''two'' of these, in addition to one conventional (-ish, as both vehicles are equipped with weaponry) CarChase:
*** In the pre-credits sequence, Bond and the North Korean arms dealers engage in a hovercraft chase.
*** Bond also uses a rocket-propelled sled (one of the BigBad's hobbies) to run away from the blast of a KillSat.
** ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': Bond briefly chases terrorist Mollaka in a bulldozer.
** ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': Bond rescues Camille from General Medrano with a wooden Haitian fishing motorboat and Medrano's men chase them with inflatable boats.
** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': Bond uses an excavator to reach the train on which henchman Patrice is fleeing.
** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': Bond goes to Madeleine Swann's rescue from Mr. Hinx and other Spectre henchman who captured her. Bond uses a BN-2 Islander plane and the Spectre henchmen use Land Rovers.
* In ''Film/TrueLies'', the terrorist steals a police motorbike while Harry "borrows" a policeman's horse and gives chase through the streets of Washington D.C., a mall and a hotel.

* ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'':
** In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', Marty transforms a wooden trolley into a skateboard which he then uses to escape Biff and his gang who chase after Marty in their car.
** A suspiciously similar scene happens in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', where Young Biff and his friends chase Marty across the town square on their hover boards.

-->'''Rosewood (about the mixer)''': Don't complain! It's [[ClosestThingWeGot all that I could find]]!
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''
** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': John Connor, Sarah, and the Terminator flee in an extremely slow van, while the T-1000 pursues in a tanker filled with liquid nitrogen.
** ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'': John Connor flees the scene in a veterinary van belonging to his future wife. The T-X hacks then hacks into several police cars she can operate remotely, while driving a tow truck herself. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's Terminator then steals a police motorcycle and pursues as well. Shortly afterwards, he abandons the motorcycle and falls onto a fire truck, where he promptly pushes out the occupants and continues to give chase in his new vehicle.
* In ''[[Film/KidnappingCaucasianStyle Kidnapping, Caucasian Style]]'', there's a car chase of bad guys after the escaped kidnapped girl. Good guys join in riding a wooden barrel on a platform with small wheels. Villains attack this transportation device with [[EdibleAmmunition all the cucumbers they've got]] and spend a 3L glass jar of oil before finally [[OilSlick having it crash and break]] (confirming that [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum it was just a barrel]]). - ([[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12ky78_kidnapping-caucasian-style-1967-pt-2_creation available here, starting 5:57]])
* In ''Film/AdeleHasntHadHerDinnerYet'', the villain in his car is pursued by the hero's sidekick riding a bicycle while carrying the hero in a wooden basket on his back.

* ''Film/JohnnyEnglish'':
** Johnny and Bough attempt to catch Sauvage's {{Mooks}} after discovering them attempting to make off with the stolen Crown Jewels. Johnny's car ends up being picked up by a tow truck, so he and Bough use the truck to give chase. Though eventually, Johnny feels the truck is too slow and gets back into the car on the back of the truck.
** The continuation has English being chased by MI6 all over London... with English's getaway vehicle being a SuperWheelchair.
* In ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', at the start the O'Connell family escape using a double-decker bus.
* In ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'', Alex and Sabrina take a horse to get to Sayle Tower, since the cars are getting stuck in London traffic. They nearly crash into a patrol of the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Household Cavalry]], who briefly chase after them.
* ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery''. Parodied when Austin and Vanessa try to escape pursuing guards in a steamroller that [[LowSpeedChase moves so slowly]] that the guards should be able to easily catch up to them.
* Played for laughs in ''Film/UndercoverBrother''. The title character and Sista Girl and the guards pursuing them have a LowSpeedChase in golf carts.
* A surreal version in ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''. While Mean Mr. Mustard is escaping in his van, the protagonists pursue him in a hot air balloon. It has a hand-cranked propeller to give them a little more speed.
* The German comedy film ''Film/DerWixxer'' (a parody of black & white Edgar Wallace films, especially "The Wizard") features a multi-party chase with old, creaky bicycles.The sequel has a stairlift chase.
* ''[[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious Fast & Furious 6]]'': The villains take a tank and start running over civilian cars before Dom's gang put a stop to them.
* ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'' has a famous ChaseScene up and down the hills of San Fransisco, kicked off by the lead couple trying to escape their pursuers on a [[HeroStoleMyBike borrowed]] grocery delivery trike.
* Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/StrangersOnATrain'' comes to a crescendo near the end with a "chase" on a Merry-Go-Round.
* In ''Film/{{Logan}}'', Logan uses the limousine he drives from work to escape the Reavers trying to capture Xavier and Laura. It sustains heavy damage from the gunfire and ramming along the road, but manages to help them escape thanks to Logan's [[BadassDriver chaotic driving]] and sheer luck of crossing a passing train.

-->'''Cop in Cruiser:''' He is in a vehicle!
-->'''Dispatcher:''' Make and color?
-->'''Cop in Cruiser:''' It's a black...''[looks at his equally confused partner]''...tank.

* Literature/ArtemisFowl, ''The Lost Colony'', has an interesting case, where former criminal and [[BadassDriver master driver]], Doodah Day, is recruited specifically to drive a child's electric car as a diversion, which involves fleeing from gunfire.

* Variation: In ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing: Wraith Squadron]]'', Wedge Antilles and rookie pilot Falynn Sandskimmer at one point settle a minor argument by going for a race in anti-gravity ore haulers (basically a cross between a landspeeder and a dump truck). Wedge wins by ramping his hauler ''onto'' Falynn's and bouncing off into the lead, which she calls cheating. Wedge tells her that to survive as a pilot, she's going to ''have'' to cheat.

** In "Planet of the Spiders", a villain tries to escape from the Doctor by stealing a hovercraft.
** Not really a chase, but in "The Eleventh Hour", the Doctor steals a fire engine in order to gain access to a sealed off hospital.
** In "Amy's Choice", the Doctor drives a minibus to escape a mob of [[ItMakesSenseInContext killer, old people possessed by aliens]], and picks up several survivors along the way.
* Taken to extremes in ''Series/DueSouth,'' typically with the theme of outdated vs. modern.

** In "Mountie on the Bounty," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police tracks a modern freighter across the Great Lakes in a three-masted frigate.
* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'':
** In one episode's ending chase, Hill's character takes a little girl's hoop & stick and uses that as his vehicle. (To clarify, a hoop & stick is a running toy, so it's actually no help in going faster.)
** In the final episode, Hill gets in a slow moving maze boat (which runs on tracks) to get away from a mob, while the mob boards a boat behind his. In both cases, there is a land area around which would be faster to run on instead of riding the boats.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': George is faking being handicapped and going around in a mobility scooter. Some actual elderly/handicapped people discover this and chase after him in their own scooters, in a LowSpeedChase. Eventually George hops out of his, picks it up, and runs away, quickly losing his pursuers... but parading his physical capabilities in front of the bureaucrat that gave him his handicapped status (and benefits).

* Season 5 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has a bunch of knights on horseback chasing down a Winnebago.

[[caption-width-right:280:[[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer When all you have is a bike.]]]]