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Mid-Life Crisis Car

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Because even mayflies will have to feel better about their mid-lives.

Mimi: Gee, Drew, I'm so sorry for you. At daytime you're a loving boyfriend, but at night you race in a great metal penis.
Drew: No, Mimi, THAT'S. A. CORVETTE! The penis's made of fiberglass.

This car is probably red, usually a convertible, always expensive and zippy, and necessarily driven by a middle-aged man. If he's been around for a while, this will be the first time he's shown any tendency to care about what he drives. It is almost always Compensating for Something.

Sometimes a motorcycle can fill the same function.

Very often becomes The Precious, Precious Car. Compare Cool Car (which generally comes with more weapons and gadgets and things), Hummer Dinger. Contrast The Alleged Car. Often referred to as a "Midlife Chrysler."

Truth in Television when you're not lucky enough to have been born wealthy: it takes time to amass enough money for a Cool Car.


Examples:

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    Comic Strips 
  • Referenced twice in FoxTrot when both Roger and Andy were having difficulties with aging. In one arc, Roger got a toupee and Andy worried it was a sign of him hiding aging insecurities, mentioning this trope as another possible step before a young blonde girlfriend. Later, when Andy turned 42 and had her own mid-life crisis, she briefly considered getting a Ferrari before she moved past it.
  • Parodied in this cartoon from The New Yorker.

    Film — Animated 
  • The Incredibles:
    • Bob Parr buys a black sports car with the money he's earning with secret superhero work (the idea that he's going through a mid-life crisis is brought up in the movie). This becomes a Chekhov's Gun when he uses it to destroy Syndrome's plane at the end. Of course by that stage he's reconnected with his family, so it's no longer Compensating for Something.
  • Bob's crisis returns in Incredibles 2, when he's stuck as a House Husband trying to raise the kids (a sulky teenager, a hyperactive pre-teen, and a high-maintenance toddler) while Helen is off living the superhero life. At one point, he sees his former Cool Car from his Glory Days now owned by a collector who can't even figure out how to work it, and he's tempted to take it back. By the end of the film, he has a new family-sized one.

    Film — Live-Action 
  • In American Beauty, Lester buys a 1970 Pontiac Firebird. He's not compensating for something, but rather pissing off his wife (who would later interrupt their first intimate encounter in years because she was afraid he would spill beer on her sofa).
  • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022): Parodied with Dale, who hasn't found any success since his old show got cancelled, driving a rusty old car meant to be driven by humans (modified so he can reach the wheel and pedals).
    Chip: You know they make chipmunk-sized cars, right?
    Dale: Duh, but human stuff is the best. A little work done on her, and she'll be back to her glory days. (the bumper falls off)
    Chip: Do you know what a metaphor is, Dale?
    Dale: If you're about to say this car's a metaphor for something about me, you can stop. Because, no, don't know what a metaphor is.
  • Discussed Trope in Crazy, Stupid, Love where Emily asks for a divorce from Cal, her husband of 25 years. In the aftermath she comments that she might be having a midlife crisis, and doesn't know how to handle it because the movies only ever show men buying ridiculous cars.
  • Albeit it wasn't originally bought with this trope in mind, the titular SUV Sharon from Venezuelan movie Mi Vida Por Sharon has become this for its owner.
  • In Nobody Hutch doesn't own a car but has the keys for a car belonging to his would-be killers. However rather than taking the sensible car, he gives into temptation and steals his neighbor's vintage muscle car.

    Literature 
  • One of the more unpleasant characters in Cujo by Stephen King dubs this "sports car menopause".
  • In the latter books of the Amber Brown series, Amber's father drives around a very fancy sports car that Amber's mother refers to as "your father's middle-aged-man-starting-over car." In Amber Brown Horses Around, it's revealed that it's a red sports car that he calls his Hot Tamale, though Amber's mother is now calling it the "Midlife Folly" as a snarky rhyme.
    Amber: Sometimes I think it is no surprise my parents got divorced.
  • In Robots and Empire, it is mentioned that older Spacers have a tendency to buy bigger and more powerful robotic servants.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.:
    • An old acquaintance of Agent Coulson tells him he's having a midlife crisis, what with the airborne mancave, renewed idealism, surrounding himself with attractive agents, and yes, the flying Corvette named Lola. Having just recovered from a Not-So-Near-Death Experience, he quips that it's "More of an afterlife crisis."
    • A later episode has Coulson on the run, and when he attempts to buy a car, the seller immediately assumes he's looking for one of these.
  • In Better Call Saul, Mike explicitly describes Daniel's circus wagonnote  as one to Nacho.
  • In an episode of Boy Meets World, Alan Matthews wants to get a midlife crisis motorcycle, but he eventually decides against it.
  • Walt replacing his aging POS light green Pontiac Aztek with a new black Chrysler 300 in Breaking Bad is a (relatively) sensible example. In a straighter (though vicarious) example, he also gets his son a bright red Dodge Challenger at the same time (in season 4, he had earlier gotten Walt Jr. a different bright red Dodge Challenger, though that was specifically at Walt. Jr.'s instigation).
    Walt Jr. (gesturing at a billboard): If you're going to buy me off, buy me off.
  • Giles replaces The Alleged Car with one (a red, BMW M3 convertible) in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Real Me". He claims that it "seduced" him.
    Spike: He's bound to have some kind of midlife crisis transport. Something red, shiny, shaped like a penis.
  • In Californication, Hank Moody buys a Porsche after he earned some money from a writing gig. His agent Charlie Runkle is a bit worried though he should be used to Hank's irresponsibility by that time.
  • Steve McDonald's midlife crisis dune buggy in Coronation Street. His wife Michelle is not impressed. Not at all.
  • In an episode of The Cosby Show, one of Cliff's friends enters a mid-life crisis after his wife divorced him for being too boring. The first thing he does is go to the car dealership and try out the fastest, most expensive car they have. By the end of the episode he decides not to buy it though.
  • CSI has an episode with Gil Grissom acting as though he's starting to go into mid-life crisis. Brass advises him, "Buy a convertible. It's cheaper."
  • Doctor Who: In "Smith and Jones", Martha's father is driving such a car when he first appears, complete with a (much younger) girlfriend the script compares to a Big Brother evictee.
  • Friends:
    • 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 to protect the car.
      Jack: I was driving it the other day and I saw my reflection in a store window. Your mother's right, I do look like an ass.
    • Ross buys one of these. Too bad it's so small it gets stuck in the parking space and he spends most of the time trying to drive out. He also quickly abandons the car when an old, bald gentleman shows up driving the exact same car.
  • In The Good Place, Michael whips a red car out of nowhere in the episode Existential Crisis.
  • A female example: Joanna Clore in Green Wing asks a salesman which of two cars will make her look younger: the salesman deadpans, "Neither. They are just cars."
  • In 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 he's getting an electric car. Then, he jumps into his Tesla Roadster, and they watch in awe as he drives away, agreeing that he's definitely having a midlife crisis.
  • Political satirist Mark Russell, on one of his PBS specials in the 1980s, discussed the motorcycle version of the trope while joking about the number of espionage cases that had gone public in the recent past. Paraphrased, "It seems like these days, when guys hit a midlife crisis, they do one of three things: they acquire a mistress, they buy a fire-engine red motorcycle, or they sell secrets to the Russians."
  • In Please Like Me, John's father buys himself a Porsche - despite his son and girlfriend mocking him for it.
  • A variation in Red Dwarf. Kryten, a service mechanoid with a life expectancy of six million years, has a mid-life crisis at about three million years of age. While he does not buy a new car (impractical where he lives anyway), he does upgrade his chassis to a very goofy-looking "sporty" model.
  • In an episode of Scrubs, Dr. Kelso comments that during his midlife crisis he bought an overpowered cigarette boat.
  • Red from That '70s Show buys a Corvette in the 4th season, which has been waiting 25 years to get because he had kids.
  • 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.
  • In one episode of Young Sheldon, George has a fight with his wife Mary about the family moving to Oklahoma for his job. This leads to him going out and buying a red Fiero.

    Music 
  • Referenced in the song "Mid Life Chrysler" by Collin Raye.

    Radio 

    Theatre 
  • "He Got What He Deserved", a song in MID-LIFE! the Crisis Musical, has one of the ladies lament that her husband "traded in our mini-van / for a shiny sports car, naturally it's red."
  • In the song cycle The Theory of Relativity, the college student in "Footprint" who finds his home life changing every time he visits hears that, among other signs of Empty Nest syndrome, his father bought a vintage Chevrolet Bel-Air.

    Video Games 
  • The second victim of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Pal Merkatis, was a middle-aged gang doctor who owned a bright green sports car. He ended up causing a hit-and-run before his murder because of a clogged muffler.
  • Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories: One mission opens with aging Mafia Don Salvatore Leone eagerly showing off his brand new, "top of the line" convertible sports car that he apparently bought on a whim, while his jaded moll, Maria, snarks about his obvious mid-life crisis from the passenger seat. At the end of the mission, you'll find the same car completely wrecked on a tree by the edge of Sal's driveway.
  • 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 M1DL1F3... well, at least its (former) owner was honest about it.
  • As of The Sims 3's "Generations" Expansion Pack, 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. The icons for both that wish and the Mid-life Crisis LTR are red cars.
  • Early in Paper Mario: Color Splash, Mario encounters a Toad at Bloo Beach Bay who's determined to sail to the edge of the world. One of the other Toads thinks he's having a midlife crisis and tells him to "buy a convertible and be done with it".
  • On the midlife crisis level of Life: the Game, "new car" is on the shopping list.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • Parodied in Camp Camp, when Nurf decides that being cool means being an adult with a steady job, while Space Kid's idea of being cool is being a racecar. Nurf claims Space Kid as a sports car he bought during his recent mid-life crisis.
  • He'll never admit it, but the protagonist of this Fenspace story is flying around in a Mid-Life Crisis Spaceship.
  • In hremail 2000, Homestar Runner claims that the signs that an old pair of sneakers are starting to wear out are the equivalent to "graying hair, buying a blue Miata and dating your graduate assistant".
  • The Cinema Snob apparently has one picked out for when it's his time to have this.
    "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!"

    Western Animation 
  • In Camp Lazlo, Lumpus gets a huge monster truck that he names "Hammy" after suffering a mid-life crisis in "Peace Frog".
  • The Fairly OddParents!:
    • Timmy's dad buys a cool car that he doesn't allow Timmy to ride in. Hilarity Ensues when Timmy wishes to be said car. The reason his father doesn't let him ride in the car is because it's VERY lacking in safety features, and while he realizes how dumb he's being by driving it around, he wouldn't endanger his son by letting him ride in it. So it's kind of cute, in a weird way.
    • In the episode "Wishy Washy", Timmy's dad falls in love with it. His mom then tries to destroy it.
  • Family Guy: 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 concept, with Peter's car being extremely phallic, him driving 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..."
  • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy lampshades this by calling it "The Hot Rod Stage" of Harold's midlife crisis. "Next stage is the Trophy Wife!"
  • In the Phineas and Ferb 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". We later see Vanessa driving it, implying he gave it to her after he decides to stop using the inator for his own safety and just remain simple.
  • Stan's dad gets one in South Park when he and his wife divorce for the episode.
  • The Finnish comedy cartoon Pasila featured a chronic speeder who drove a SUV big enough to fit another SUV in the trunk. He claims the car is not a penis extension, but constantly slips off the Freudian slope when he talks to anyone about it for any extended period of time.
  • Pinky and the Brain: In "This Old Mouse", Brain invents a device that lets him get a glimpse of his future. Expecting to see himself ruling the world, he is horrified when he sees that he's still trying to take over the world every night as an old mouse. In an effort to escape the futility of his existence, he decides to "live life in the fast lane" and gets a human-sized red convertible, modified with ropes and cranks to enable him to turn the steering wheel.
  • The Venture Brothers - after Rusty is called "old" he gets a 1970 Corvette, frightful "mod" clothes, and a ratty-looking wig in the episode "Mid-Life Chrysalis".
  • Futurama: During Lrrr's midlife crisis we briefly see him trying out a small red hovercar.
  • In The Simpsons' episode YOLO, Kirk van Houten gets a red convertible and tells Homer he signed up in a hip music course. Homer laughs at him, but later he suffers from a midlife crisis too and gets depressed.

    Real Life 
  • The Chevrolet Corvette: its owners are overwhelmingly white males between the ages of 40 and 69, with a median age of 53. The Corvette appeals to two demographics — high school and college boys who can't afford them (the rich kids who could afford one would go for something more upscale, like a Jaguar or a Porsche), and middle-aged men trying to recapture their youth.
  • Unusually, the 1991-1999 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (the W140) as detailed on this page at The Other Wiki. It's often bought by people wanting to recapture their youth or relive a car the enjoyed in The '90s. 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 due to the 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.


Alternative Title(s): Midlife Chrysler

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