History Main / InvincibleClassicCar

* A variation appears in ''VideoGame/CyberPunk2077'', where the 50 year old Archer Hella is described as so reliable that most customers never bought another car, almost bankrupting the company. In-game, the Hella is also very sturdy, able to survive a considerable amount of abuse before throwing in the towel.

* In Film/Drive2011, the Driver's 1973 Malibu survives enough abuse to render it undrivable, yet emerges unscathed, [[spoiler: even after he rams a late model Lincoln Town Car off a cliff.]]

** Even though the newer and heavier [=DeLorean=] would likely pancake Biff's convertible.

-->'''Doc:''' Marty, he's in a '46 Ford; we're in a [=DeLorean=]. He'd rip through us like we were tinfoil. Even though the newer and heavier [=DeLorean=] would likely pancake Biff's convertible.

-->'''Doc:''' Marty, he's in a '46 Ford; we're in a [=DeLorean=]. He'd rip through us like we were tinfoil.

* A common point in ''WebVideo/RegularCarReviews'' is how 1950s-70s American cars' rigid construction meant that in a lower-speed collision with a modern car, the driver of the modern car would survive but the car would not, and the classic car would survive but the driver would not. From the review of the 1956 Oldsmobile Super 88:
-->'''And when you're driving in traffic...''': "O-oh am I taking too long on this stoplight? wh-wh-what're you gonna do? Honk at me? OOH. Or maybe you have neck tattoos and a mushy brain and you're gonna bump me from behind on your Dodge Durango. O-oh go ahead, run into me, I dare you! I have 16 gauge steel all around me and your kit-kat plastic SUV will shatter! O-yeah yeah I'll be dead because there's no seatbelts or head restraints and the steering column will impale me but heh your day will be ruined!"

* The perceptions of Classic Cars being Invincible (or at least more invincible than modern cars) comes from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body-on-frame Body on Frame]] method of construction. In this manner the critical parts of the car's structure, the frame, was protected by a shroud of thick gauge cosmetic steel. All sorts of minor accidents could be "fixed" by replacing or repairing the dented body panels. Cars with a Unibody construction risk damaging critical elements of the frame in even a minor impact and moreover are also designed to be sacrificed in order to absorb impact energy to protect the occupants. Rigid frames do not crumple (easily) leaving the occupant's face as the only thing available to [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou decelerate them]].
** In short, Jay Leno's line at the top of the page is to be taken literally. In the older cars, the drivers and passengers were the crumple zones.
** Even if frame were damaged there were ways available to straighten them out and return the car to the road.

* Subverted when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety marked its 50th anniversary by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck crashing a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air into a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu]]. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair at 35 mph, but the modern car's driver would've had a few cuts and bruises while the '59's driver "would've been killed instantly" (read: impaled on the steering column and crushed between the dashboard and the seat). Granted, though, Chevy had switched to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_frame#X-frame x-frames]] in 1959, which offered poor performance in a crash and was dropped in 1964.

The biggest reason for this trope in real life, however, is the "crumple zone" misconception. Modern cars use are designed to dissipate crash energy by spreading it across the frame as evenly as possible, and into sacrificial areas. The idea of a "crumple zone" is misunderstood to mean the car collapses like an accordion; since vintage ones don't have them (and are built in a much heavier-looking way), they are falsely assumed to be stronger. [[http://jalopnik.com/5816178/lexus-attacks-two-classic-cars/ The reality is quite different.]]

-->'''And when you're driving in traffic...''': "O-oh am I taking too long on this stop sight? wh-wh-what're you gonna do? Honk at me? OOH. Or maybe you have neck tattoos and a mushy brain and you're gonna bump me from behind on your Dodge Durango. O-oh go ahead, run into me, I dare you! I have 16 gauge steel all around me and your kit-kat plastic SUV will shatter! O-yeah yeah I'll be dead because there's no seatbelts or head restraints and the steering column will impale me but heh your day will be ruined!"

-->-- '''[[Series/TheTonightShow Jay Leno]]'''

* Subverted when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety marked its 50th anniversary by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck crashing a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air into a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu]]. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair at 35 mph, but the modern car's driver would've had a few cuts and bruises while the '59's driver "would've been killed instantly" (read: impaled on the steering column). Granted, though, Chevy had switched to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_frame#X-frame x-frames]] in 1959, which offered poor performance in a crash and was dropped in 1964.

* Volvo cars in general have the aura of indestructibility.
* Subverted when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety marked its' 50th annniversary by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck crashing a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air into a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu]]. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair at 35 mph, but the modern car's driver would've had a few cuts and bruises while the '59's driver "would've been killed instantly" (read: impaled on the steering column). Granted, though, Chevy had switched to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_frame#X-frame x-frames]] in 1959, which offered poor performance in a crash and was dropped in 1964.

* The [[Film/TheBluesBrothers Bluesmobile]] survives incredible abuse amidst ridiculous stunts until it [[CriticalExistenceFailure literally comes apart]] once the boys finally reach Daley Plaza. Though unusually for this trope, it was only five years old at the time of filming.

* Justified in ''Literature/GoodOmens''. Crowley's car is a Bentley from the 20s, which still is in perfect condition when the book (which takes place some time in the late 80s) starts. Of course, Crowley is a fallen angel, and when he decides he wants something around him to be a certain way, reality usually realigns itself accordingly.

So, your character has an older car. It may be a CoolCar, the AllegedCar, or somewhere in between - but it has a slight gimmick. It can survive harsh crashes that would maim a modern car - it's the Invincible Classic Car. While old cars tend to survive crashes better than new ones, this trope usually takes it UpToEleven. Only applies to classic cars (classic = 25+ years old at time of production) and the cars do not have to be ''completely'' invincible, per se. Commonly overlaps with WhatAPieceOfJunk

The biggest reason for this trope in real life, however, is the "crumple zone" misconception. Modern Cars use are designed to dissipate crash energy by spreading it across the frame as evenly as possible, and into sacrificial areas. The idea of a "Crumple zone" is misunderstood to mean the car collapses like an accordion, since vintage ones don't have them (and are built in a much heavier looking way), they are falsely assumed to be stronger. [[http://jalopnik.com/5816178/lexus-attacks-two-classic-cars/ The reality is quite different.]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'':

* Boko Fittleworth's car in ''[[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Joy in the Morning]]'' is an early example:

* {{Downplayed}} example in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', where it's something of a running gag for the Blue Beetle, Harry Dresden's [=VW=] Bug, keeps getting disabled and partly demolished in the process, only for [[TheGhost Mike the Mechanic]] to resurrect it from the dead. Over the course of the series, it's been fixed over and over again with a series of replacement parts with mismatched paint and a [[Film/TheLoveBug 53 graffitied onto the hood]]. During the course of events in ''Literature/Changes'', it gets put down for good.

* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': At one point, Jordi tells Aiden a story from a previous job of his where he, driving a vintage '70s muscle car ("Y'know, when an 'automobile accident' was still called a fuckin' ''car crash''"), was attacked by a team of rival hitmen trying to ram him off the road in "some plastic, eco-friendly shitbug" . Jordi recalls only feeling a small "ping" as they rebounded off his ride completely and totaled themselves on a parked van.

* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': At one point, Jordi tells Aiden a story from a previous job of his where he was driving a vintage '70s muscle car ("Y'know, when an 'automobile accident' was still called a fuckin' ''car crash''") when a team of rival hitmen in "some plastic, eco-friendly shitbug" tried to ram him off the road. Jordi claims that he only felt a small "ping" as they rebounded off his ride completely and totaled themselves on a parked van.

* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': Jordi relates an incident from a previous job of his to Aiden at one point, where he was driving a vintage '70s muscle car ("Y'know, when an 'automobile accident' was still called a fuckin' ''car crash''.") when a pair of rival hitmen, driving a modern sport hybrid, tried to ram him off the road. Jordi only felt a small "ping", while the hitmen rebounded off his ride completely and crashed into a parked van.

Compare/contrast TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo, BreakOutTheMuseumPiece, WatchThePaintJob and ThePreciousPreciousCar.

* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': Jordi certainly holds this opinion, especially after a certain failed hit on him.
-->'''Jordi''': You should've seen the way they tried to take me out; I'm driving this ''beast'' of a muscle car, right out of the seventies, y'know, when an "automobile accident" was still called a fucking car crash. Yeah, so, these geniuses here think they're gonna ram me off the road with some plastic, eco-friendly shitbug, but it just makes this weird "''ping!''" and bounces off into a parked van.

So, your character has an older car. It may be a CoolCar, the AllegedCar, or somewhere in between - but it has a slight gimmick. It can survive harsh crashes that would maim a modern car - it's the Invincible Classic Car. While old cars tend to survive crashes better than new ones, this trope usually takes it UpToEleven. Only applies to classic cars (classic = 20+ years old at time of production) and the cars do not have to be ''completely'' invincible, per se. Commonly overlaps with WhatAPieceOfJunk

* TheDukesOfHazzard's '69 Charger surely counts. To be sure, the reality was that they destroyed so many of them that towards the end of the series they began to have difficulty finding any more to smash up, but the on-screen portrayal (truckload of continuity errors notwithstanding) is of one single car that survived no end of {{Ramp Jump}}s and other comparably destructive stunts.

-->-- '''[[TheTonightShow Jay Leno]]'''

* ''Series/TopGear'' purchased an ancient Toyota Hilux pick-up truck which they proceeded to drive down a set of concrete stairs, crash into a tree, submerge in the sea, drive through a shed, set on fire, drop a caravan on it, hit with a wrecking ball, and placed on top of a 22-story building just before it was demolished. With minimal repairs (the only part they replaced after being damaged was the windshield, and that was so they could continue abusing the truck without risking harm to the driver), it re-started ''every single time''. It now has a place of honor in the ''Top Gear'' studio.