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''Hot Rod Dogs and Cool Car Cats'' is a 1995 animated series. It takes place in the world of Autopia, which is populated by two races: dog-cars and cat-cars. The main characters are Hot Rod and his friends Carbs, Doggone and Benz, who are on the run from Autopia's tyrannical ruler, The Crusher, and his henchman, Scarhood.

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!!Tropes
* AbnormalAmmo: Hot Rod's SuperMode allows him to fire gears at his enemies.
* TheAllegedCar: Benz. He is constantly falling apart while driving, and is in regular need of spare parts.
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Both dogs and cats come in all kinds of colors.
* AnimalVehicleHybrid: The inhabitants of Autopia consist of canines and felines who have wheels instead of paws, engines, and other vehicular traits (such as [[GlowingEyes headlights in their eyes]]).
* TheAtoner: Gus, the mechanic who built the Crusher, helps the team out to make up for his mistake.
* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: Hot Rod and Carbs become this whenever Baby Bumpers shows up in their hideout, constantly having to keep him from hurting himself - and getting hurt themselves in the process.
* BigBad: The Crusher is the tyrannical ruler of the setting, the main antagonist, and the one in charge of the villains.
* BlindedByTheLight: Carbs' SuperMode includes high-intensity headlights that temporarily blind her opponents.
* BountyHunter: Scarhood, who was called in by the Crusher to capture Hot Rod and his friends. His minions, the Choppers, also qualify.
* TheChosenOne: Suggested. Both Gus and the Crusher hinted that Hot Rod is "special", but this was never elaborated on.
* CoolBigSis: Carbs' sister, Spare Parts.
* CoolOldGuy: Doggone.
* TheDragon: Scarhood is this to the Crusher.
* EnmityWithAnObject: After an attempt at crushing the heroes is foiled by getting a "crank popper" stuck in his inner workings, the Crusher announces that he has a new mission... to destroy all crank poppers.
* EvilMinions: The Choppers, Scarhood's henchmen. They attack other cars, looking to strip them down for parts.
* EvilOverlord: The Crusher is the evil ruler of the setting.
* FantasticRacism: Sometimes seen between the cats and the dogs.
* FlyingCar: One of the abilities of Hot Rod's customised form.
* GadgeteerGenius: Both Gus and Spare Parts qualify.
* GeniusBruiser: Gus. A brilliant mechanic, and he can hold his own in a battle with Scarhood.
* GeniusLoci: The Crusher is a sentient trash compacting complex.
* GlowingEyes: All characters have these, by virtue of being part-car. At night, or at times of low visibility, they can activate their eye lights to see where they're going.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: The Crusher, who went from being a glorified garbage disposal to the unquestioned, tyrannical ruler of Autopia.
* HypnoticEyes: The OneShotCharacter Jag possessed these.
* InterspeciesRomance: Hot Rod, a dog-car, and Carbs the cat-car, have a mutual crush on each other.
* KickTheDog: After Hot Rod falls off a cliff, seemingly dead, Scarhood tells the others that [[BlatantLies he ran away and abandoned them]].
* TheMentor: Doggone has shades of this regarding Hot Rod.
* TheMole: In one episode, [[spoiler:a young dog-car named Towhead]] is sent to infiltrate Hot Rod's group and lead them into a trap.
* NearVillainVictory. In one episode, the Crusher succeeds in trapping the heroes within his inner workings. He is on the verge of crushing them when a "crank popper" Doggone had gotten for Benz falls into his workings, disrupting them enough for the heroes to escape.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Carbs. Her full name is [[PunnyName "Carburetta"]], but no-one ever calls her that.
* PoliceAreUseless: The Gridlockers, Autopia's police force, are utterly incapable of catching Hot Rod and his friends.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Carbs.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Gridlocker #6, having read the files on Hot Rod, has doubts over how much of a criminal he really is. After he saves her from falling, she reinflates his punctured tire and allows him to escape in return.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Scarhood has these, reinforcing his villainous nature.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Baby Bumpers.
* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: Scarhood is introduced in the second episode of the series, called in by the Crusher to capture Hot Rod and his friends after the Gridlockers failed to accomplish this task.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Carbs is the only female of the main characters.
* SuperMode: Hot Rod and Carbs both get one, courtesy of Gus.
* WallCrawl: Carbs' SuperMode comes with spikes in the tires that allow her to drive up walls.
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