The Alleged Car/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Basic Trope: A clattering clunker of a car.
  • Played Straight: Bob's car is old and rusty, tops out at 40 mph, and does not always start right away.
  • Exaggerated: All of the above, with the caveat that the car must be started using some non-conventional means, originally came from a country that no longer exists due to civil war, economic collapse, or a brutal invasion from a neighboring country, and has more duct tape than paint on it. It also breaks down about once a week, has been on 60 Minutes more times than it's been on the road, uses ridiculous amounts of gas, has been mistaken for abandoned and/or stolen from a junkyard more times than it's been on the road, and was once disqualified from a Soapbox Derby race for lack of structural integrity.
  • Justified: Bob is too cheap or poor to buy a Cool Car (or even a halfway decent one).
    • Bob is purchasing the car as part of an experiment, in which the car doesn't really need to move.
    • Bob is purchasing parts or scrap metal, not a whole car.
    • Bob is homeless and needs a car (no matter how much of a clunker it is) to live in rather than to drive around in.
  • Inverted: Bob has a Cool Car
  • Subverted: What a Piece of Junk!: Bob's car may look like crap, but it actually works really well.
  • Double Subverted: ...But there have been times when it's lived up to its reputation as an Alleged Car.
  • Deconstructed: The car appears more affordable than it is; spending all that money on repairs causes it to be a ripoff. And let's not even mention the safety concerns.
  • Reconstructed: Bob finds a really good body shop, and they make the car like new again.
  • Parodied: The car has an Embarrassing Nickname, which everyone in town knows from local newspapers, TV news, and YouTube videos.
    • Not even the local junkyard will take in Bob's car for scrap.
    • The car is shaped suspiciously like a lemon with wheels. Square wheels. With patches on them.
  • Lampshaded: "Wow, what a hunk of junk!"
  • Zig Zagged: Sometimes Bob's car runs poorly, sometimes it runs well.
  • Averted: Bob's car is neither an Alleged Car nor a Cool Car, but it's very good at getting from point "A" to point "B" (and points "C" through "Z" on special occasions)
    • Bob doesn't have a car.
  • Enforced: Rule of Funny, Plot-Driven Breakdown
  • Invoked: Bob sees an ad in the paper for a used car priced at just $500, and thinks it's a good deal.
  • Defied: Bob decides to save his money for a car that's good-quality, because he knows that it's a better investment in the long run. Even though it sucks not having a car now.
  • Discussed: "How can that piece of shit even run?"
  • Conversed: "I dunno. I think Bob should just sell it for scrap."
  • Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
  • Played For Drama: The car is dangerous, has cost him thousands in repairs, and is a threat to his physical and mental health.
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