History Main / MidlifeCrisisCar

* In ''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer: Shutokou Battle 01'', there is Sanjyushi, an entire gang of middle-aged men with souped up MLC cars in the Wangan area.

* In one ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' mission, Don Salvatore eagerly shows Toni the brand new, "top of the line" convertible sports car he just bought, while Maria, [[GoldDigger Sal's moll]], snarks about his obvious mid-life crisis. [[BrickJoke At the end of the mission]] you can find the same car completely wrecked on a tree by the edge of Sal's driveway.

** Ross and Monica's father mentioned buying a Porsche when he turned fifty. A few seasons later he gives it to Monica (as an apology for using the boxes with all her childhood relics to block flooding water in order [[SkewedPriorities to protect the car]]).

* "He Got What He Deserved", a song in ''Theatre/MidlifeTheCrisisMusical'' one of the ladies laments that her husband "traded in our mini-van / for a shiny sports car, naturally it's red."

-->"And I say that as a man who's already chosen his future automotive penis enhancer! Her name's Brenda, and she's a Chevy!""

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter's car after he finds out that Chris is much larger than him in a certain... area. This whole sequence is a pisstake on the [[CompensatingForSomething concept]], with Peter's car being extremely phallic, him to drive in-and-out of a tunnel repeatedly before the car gets crushed by an oncoming semi-truck, and a passing bus full of supermodels giggling at him as he looks sad and mutters "Ow, my pride..."

* Unusually, the 1991-1999 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (the [=W140=]) as detailed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W140 on this page]] at Website/TheOtherWiki. It's often bought by people wanting to recapture their youth or relive a car the enjoyed in UsefulNotes/TheNineties. Often, they'll go all out and buy the Mercedes-Benz [=S600L=], which is highly expensive to run - it's got a 6.0-liter/402hp V12 engine. This may not typically be an example of this trope, but then again, they buy [[BrandNamesAreBetter due to Mercedes-Benz brand image]].
* Arguably invoked by GM's former brand marketing. Their plan was for their customers to age with the company, starting with a Chevy in their younger years and upgrading to a (now discontinued) Pontiac and then a Buick or Oldsmobile as they grow more established, finally retiring with a Cadillac. (In later years this grew more obtuse as more and more marques were added or discontinued; nowadays they just market the four remaining brands-- Chevy, GMC, Buick and Cadillac-- along very different lines.)
* Older men who rode motorcycles in their youth, gave them up to have kids, and buy new bikes when the kids are grown. They don't realize they are a lot older and have worse reflexes, and motorcycles are bigger, faster, and more powerful than they used to be."Whereas in 1975, 80 percent of motorcycle fatalities involved riders 29 years old or younger, now the age group with the most fatalities is 50 and older, at 35 percent."[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:289:[[Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/midlife_crisis_car.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:289:Because [[http://nonadventures.com/2014/06/14/girl-fly-day/ even mayflies]] will have to feel better about their mid-lives.]]

->'''Caroline:''' Uh, whose car is that out front?\\
'''Lester:''' Mine. 1970 Pontiac Firebird. The car I've always wanted, and now I have it. I ''rule!''
-->-- ''Film/AmericanBeauty''

* In ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', Lumpus gets a huge monster truck that he names "Hammy" after suffering a mid-life crisis in "Peace Frog".

* In the song cycle ''The Theory of Relativity'', the student in "Footprint" who finds him home life changing every time he visits hears that, among other signs of EmptyNest syndrome, his father bought a vintage Chevrolet Bel-Air.

* In the song cycle ''The Theory of Relativity'', the student in "Footprint" who finds him home life changing every time he visits hears that, among other signs of EmptyNest syndrome, his father bought a vintage Chevrolet Bel-Air.

* In the TV Movie ''A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story'', the titular character taunts her soon-to-be ex about he should pose for the cover of "Midlife Crisis Magazine", citing his much younger (21 years old) new girlfriend, and of course, his flashy red sports car.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* Giles replaces TheAllegedCar with one (a red, BMW M3 convertible) at the beginning of season 5 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. He claims it "seduced" him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Act Your Age", Dr. Doofenshmirtz laments that he's never had a mid-life crisis, so he builds an inator that causes him to have one. One of the things he does is test-drive a fast, red convertible sports car... which he promptly crashes. When he asks the dealer if they have something else, the salesman says "We have another one just like it, but in yellow".

* Unusually, the 1991-1999 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (the [=W140=]) as detailed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W140 on this page]] at Wiki/TheOtherWiki. It's often bought by people wanting to recapture their youth or relive a car the enjoyed in UsefulNotes/TheNineties. Often, they'll go all out and buy the Mercedes-Benz [=S600L=], which is highly expensive to run - it's got a 6.0-liter/402hp V12 engine. This may not typically be an example of this trope, but then again, they buy [[BrandNamesAreBetter due to Mercedes-Benz brand image]].

* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', the team asks Nate if he's buying a Mid-Life Crisis Car with his cut of their money, and mock him when he says [[BeingGoodSucks he's getting an electric car]]. Then, he jumps into his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster Tesla Roadster]], and they watch in awe as he drives away, agreeing that he's definitely having a midlife crisis.

* In ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', Michael whips a red car out of nowhere in the episode [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS2E04ExistentialCrisis Existential Crisis]].

* ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV Grand Theft Auto Online]]'': One of the possible sports cars that you can steal in the ''Vehicle Cargo'' mission series is a Porsche 918 Spyder-{{Expy}} with the license plate [[VanityLicensePlate M1DL1F3]]... well, at least it's (former) owner was honest about it.

* As of ''VideoGame/TheSims 3'''s "Generations" ExpansionPack, Sims can have a Mid-Life Crisis once they reach adulthood. One of the wishes that can be triggered during their MLC is to purchase a new car worth at least 10,000 Simoleons, and doing so will earn your sim a ''lot'' of Lifetime Happiness points.
** Not to mention that the icons for both that wish and the Mid-life Crisis LTR are ''red'' cars.

* At the start of one ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' mission, Don Salvatore has bought one and eagerly shows it off to Toni, while [[GoldDigger his moll Maria]] snarks about his obvious mid-life crisis. [[BrickJoke At the end of the mission]] you'll find the car already totaled and wrapped around a tree at the edge of Sal's driveway.

* Don Salvatore buys one at the start of one ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' mission, and eagerly shows it off to Toni, while [[GoldDigger his moll Maria]] snarks about Sal's obvious mid-life crisis. [[BrickJoke At the end of the mission]] you'll find the car already totaled and wrapped around a tree at the edge of Sal's driveway.

* Aging crime boss Salvatore Leone buys one in a ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' mission, eagerly showing off his new "fully loaded, top of the line" sports car to Toni, while [[GoldDigger his moll Maria]] snarks that she can ''smell'' Sal's mid-life crisis. Becomes a BrickJoke at the end of the mission when, on the way back to Salvatore's, you'll find that he's already wrapped the car around a tree not far from where he was showing it off.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', Lumpus gets a huge monster truck that he names "Hammy" after suffering a mid-lifw crisis in "Peace Frog".

[[/folder]]
* Older men who rode motorcycles in their youth, gave them up to have kids, and buy new bikes when the kids are grown. They don't realize they are a lot older and have worse reflexes, and motorcycles are bigger, faster, and more powerful than they used to be."Whereas in 1975, 80 percent of motorcycle fatalities involved riders 29 years old or younger, now the age group with the most fatalities is 50 and older, at 35 percent."

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter's car after he finds out that Chris is much larger than him in a certain... area. This whole sequence is a pisstake on the [[CompensatingForSomething concept]], with Peter's car being extremely phallic, him driving in and out of a tunnel repeatedly before the car gets crushed by oncoming traffic, and a group of cheerleaders giggling at him as he looks sad and mutters "Ow, my pride..."

* Aging crime boss Salvatore Leone buys one in one ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' mission, eagerly showing off his new "fully loaded, top of the line" sports car to Toni, and his moll, Maria, digs at him by claiming that she can ''smell'' Salvatore's mid-life crisis. Becomes a BrickJoke at the end of the mission when, on the drive back to Salvatore's, you'll find that he's already wrapped the car around a tree not far from where he was showing it off.