Line #9 Main/HubcapHovercraft


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5	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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11	[[quoteright:300:[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bttf_delorean_6200.jpg]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:300:Where we're going, we don't need roads.]]
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14	This is a sci-fi trope in which a wheeled vehicle of some kind is capable of [[FlyingCar flying]] or hovering by simply rotating the wheels 90 degrees, usually up and into the vehicle in question. The hubcaps then become thrust-capable engines, propelling the vehicle upwards.
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16	On occasion, the vehicle will only levitate without any visible thrust. In others, the vehicle will have literal jets or rockets emitting thrust from the wheels. Sometimes the wheels are perpetually stuck in the 90 degree position, or downward facing engines replace the wheels entirely.
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18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Anime]]
23	%%ZCE * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' briefly had a six-wheeled jeep-like vehicle that the ''White Base's'' crew used to move around on, that showed this ability during the memetic "Jumping onto White Base" scene.
24	* ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam's'' infamous ''Adrastea''- and ''Lysithea''-class [[MilitaryMashupMachine Land Battleships]] are capable of splitting their giant motorcycle wheels in half and taking to the air.
25	[[/folder]]
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27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool'' has Princess Asrial rebuilding a derelict 1962 Chevy Corvette with alien technology, including the capacity to fly through these means (and beating [[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Lola]] by about a couple of decades!)
29	* ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} hovercars are both the TropeMaker and the UrExample. ComicBook/NickFury (and the reader) get their first look at the iconic [[AirborneAircraftCarrier Helicarrier]] from the passenger seat of a HubcapHovercraft Porsche, courtesy of course, of the explosive imagination of Creator/JackKirby.
30	[[/folder]]
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32	%%[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
33	%% ZCE * [[Franchise/{{Cars}} Mater]] in ''[[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts UFM: Unidentified Flying Mater]]''.
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36	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
37	* The ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy:
38	** The [=DeLorean=] in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' (and the final scene of Part I) is the TropeCodifier. Turns out that by 2015, all cars can undergo a "hover conversion" like this.
39	** The Time Train from the end of ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'' also has these, except it has its own thrust engines - the wheels are still, for some reason, rotated by the steam pistons in their flying position.
40	* A rough-draft version of such a car appears in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' when Howard Stark is showing off a futuristic car at the World Expo. However, it only floats for a few seconds before suddenly crashing. It didn't have wheels, though, just props placed in front of it so the audience didn't know it was a hover car until TheReveal.
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Literature]]
44	* Although it doesn't use this for flying, Ian Fleming's ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'' may be the Trope Codifier. To wit: the Pott family is picnicking on a beach, and the tide comes in. Mr. Pott turns a knob, causing Chitty's wheels to turn down and out in this manner. The car glides along the water exactly like a hovercraft.
45	[[/folder]]
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47	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
48	* In ''Series/AgentCarter'', it seems that Howard Stark managed to produce at least one fully functional version of the prototype seen in ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Captain America]]'', and in the climax of Season 2 it's used to tow a Gamma Cannon through a miniature black hole to seal it.
49	* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', another version is seen, also implied to have been based on Howard's design, installed on a 1962 Chevy Corvette. Agent Coulson [[ICallItVera calls it Lola]].
50	[[/folder]]
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52	[[folder:Toys]]
53	%% Needs context * Some of the ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' cars were this.
54	* The [[http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u22/FOTN/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles/FootCruiserWithBe-BopRocksteadyandShredder3.jpg Foot Cruiser]] from the original ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' toy line had wheels that folded under to give off this look, since the car is from Dimension X in the backstory. The toy itself couldn't fly, obviously.
55	[[/folder]]
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57	[[folder:Video Games]]
58	* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': Being set in a PostCyberpunk setting, all vehicles have this functionality where they can rotate wheels after gaining enough propulsion to thrust upward and become a FlyingCar.
59	* S.O.P.H.I.A. the 3rd and all of her variants from the ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'' series.
60	%% Needs context * Before ''Mario Kart 8'' did something very, very similar, ''VideoGame/CrashNitroKart'' featured zero gravity sections using the exact same thing.
61	* The Probulot 2000 from ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing'' and ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled'', which also has its wheels act as hover engines. Bonus points for also being a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''.
62	* A derivative appears in ''Videogame/EliteDangerous'''s first ExpansionPack, ''Horizons''. The Surface Recon Vehicle is a six-wheeled rover for exploring planets and planetoids, and has a gimballed thruster in each wheel hub. On a low-gravity world, they fire upwards to keep the rover on the ground, whereas on high-grav worlds they fire downwards to prevent the suspension from bottoming out. The thrusters can temporarily be fired for a forward boost or a jump.
63	%% ZCE * Called a Deluxo in ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoV''. It also comes with a minigun and a rocket launcher.
64	* Featured in ''[[VideoGame/LegoRacers Lego Drome Racers]]'' as a power-up for the street and off-road vehicles. When activated, the car would begin hovering above the track at top speed. The drawback of this however [[AwesomeButImpractical was that the car wasn't very stable in this state]] and hitting walls, smacking into obstacles and trying to fly over the tops of opponents would result in the car flipping onto its side, smacking into walls, spinning out or randomly crawling along the invisible walls around the track.
65	* The karts in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' do this for the anti-gravity sections of tracks.
66	* ''Videogame/{{Overwatch}}'' has these as part of the world-building: All the "payloads" on Escort maps have wheels tilted 45 degrees relative to vertical and have glowing blue (or red, depending on whether attack or defense is in control) rims. Parked vehicles that are static parts of lots of maps all also have these style of wheels.
67	-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Hal-Fred Glitchbot]]:''' ''(if the payload stops on Hollywood)'' Might as well have ''tires'' on this thing!
68	%% Needs context * One of the upgrades in ''Streets of VideoGame/SimCity''.
69	* Danica Patrick's F1 car in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-stars Racing Transformed]]'' will rotate its rear wheels 90 degrees backwards, and either spin up to turn into jet turbines for flight mode, or extrude propellers from the center of the rims for water mode.
70	* Many of the ground-based Transformers from ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'' and ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron'' use hubcap hover wheels when moving around at normal speed (to enable strafing), but flip down into standard wheel mode when boosting.
71	* The versatile hoverpod powerup in ''VideoGame/{{Vigilante 8}} Second Offense'' that levitates sportscars, motorbikes, [=RVs=] and garbage trucks alike.
72	[[/folder]]
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74	[[folder:Western Animation]]
75	* ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'': The Mystery Machine's tires turn and become thrusters when it flies.
76	* The short-lived ''WesternAnimation/PolePosition'' cartoon of TheEighties featured a pair of [[TalkingApplianceSidekick talking]] hovercars.
77	* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': By Season 3, Sphere rotates her wheels parallel to the ground while flying.
78	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HubcapHovercraft