Tropescilloscope: Every Car Is a Pinto

Hollywood cars catch fire and/or explode when badly damaged. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

More Tropes Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Advertised Extra Smoking Is Cool Frame-Up Based on a True Story Cloudcuckoolander The '60s Never Found the Body Bald of Evil The Vamp Kill 'em All Cain and Abel Sanity Slippage Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Film Noir Index Big Bad Bad "Bad Acting" Captain Ersatz Dark Is Not Evil Four-Temperament Ensemble 20 Minutes into the Future Training Montage She's Got Legs Downer Ending Did Not Get the Girl Artistic License – Military Death by Irony Face–Heel Turn Cowboy Cop Shown Their Work Insane Troll Logic Reality Is Unrealistic Better to Die than Be Killed Improbable Weapon User Storming the Castle Even Evil Has Loved Ones Character Development Title Drop Hero Antagonist Bi the Way Reality Has No Subtitles Suspiciously Similar Substitute Ax-Crazy The End... Or Is It? Those Two Guys Aside Glance Exact Words Truth in Television Wham Shot Almost Kiss Anguished Declaration of Love Alpha Bitch Armor-Piercing Question Artistic License – Biology Bolivian Army Ending Slasher Smile Parental Abandonment B-Movie Stalker with a Crush Demonic Possession Neck Snap Tempting Fate Foregone Conclusion Central Theme Dressing as the Enemy Guns Akimbo Corrupt Corporate Executive The Smurfette Principle Our Zombies Are Different Greater-Scope Villain Mighty Whitey Wham Line Male Gaze Framing Device Composite Character Broken Aesop Big Bad Duumvirate Faux Affably Evil Unwitting Instigator of Doom Bond One-Liner Disney Villain Death Villainous Breakdown Canadian Movies Unspoken Plan Guarantee Posthumous Character Ambiguous Ending Whole Plot Reference Crucified Hero Shot Bowdlerise Retcon Works Set in World War II Adaptational Heroism Awesome, but Impractical Kill It with Fire Reckless Gun Usage Woman in White From Nobody to Nightmare Breaking the Fourth Wall Abhorrent Admirer Shout-Out Darkest Hour Catapult Nightmare Vampire Fiction Dogged Nice Guy The Mole Fat Bastard Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies An Axe to Grind Token Minority Jerkass Has a Point Kick the Son of a Bitch She Cleans Up Nicely The Place Death by Sex Hidden Depths Jerk Jock Real Life Writes the Plot Accidental Misnaming Only in It for the Money Wretched Hive There Is No Kill Like Overkill Hollywood Law Names to Run Away from Really Fast Spell My Name with an "S" Catch-Phrase Epic Fail Eureka Moment Evil Laugh Bare Your Midriff Running Gag Slasher Movie Rule of Three Dark Action Girl Wrong Genre Savvy No Celebrities Were Harmed Spanner in the Works Age Lift Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Intrepid Reporter Off-into-the-Distance Ending Spiritual Successor Made of Iron Fanservice No Antagonist Recycled IN SPACE! Historical In-Joke Bad Boss Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Exactly What It Says on the Tin Crapsack World Freudian Excuse Take a Third Option Every Car Is a Pinto All Just a Dream folderlabel Setting Update Slashed Throat Expy Rule of Funny Annoying Younger Sibling Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Guile Hero Lampshade Hanging Determinator Insistent Terminology Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Would Hit a Girl Mistaken for Gay Hoist by His Own Petard The Quiet One Men Are the Expendable Gender Batman Gambit Papa Wolf Mundane Made Awesome In Medias Res Action Genre Eldritch Abomination The Chessmaster Not What It Looks Like Damsel in Distress MacGuffin From Bad to Worse All Men Are Perverts You Have Failed Me Rasputinian Death Pay Evil unto Evil Contrived Coincidence Badass Normal Only Known by Their Nickname Race Against the Clock Black Dude Dies First Pretty Little Headshots Award-Bait Song Badass Boast Well-Intentioned Extremist The '50s Friend to All Children Together in Death Pet the Dog Sexy Discretion Shot Call-Forward No OSHA Compliance Bunny-Ears Lawyer Riddle for the Ages Scare Chord Peek-a-Boo Corpse Henpecked Husband Super Strength Room Full of Crazy Maybe Ever After The Dragon Undying Loyalty The Dog Bites Back The Un-Reveal Punch-Clock Villain Laser-Guided Karma Didn't Think This Through Funny Foreigner The Alcoholic Blood from the Mouth Genre Savvy Self-Deprecation Motor Mouth Outrun the Fireball Mexican Standoff Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Destination Defenestration Adaptation Dye-Job Noodle Incident The '90s Amoral Attorney Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Japanese Films Deus ex Machina Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality The '70s Index of Film Westerns The Musical Last-Name Basis Fiery Redhead Dissonant Serenity Bound and Gagged As Long as It Sounds Foreign Boom, Headshot! Cool Guns Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking He Who Fights Monsters Big-Bad Ensemble Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other The Ghost Too Dumb to Live Film Series Fanservice Extra Conspicuous CG May–December Romance Car Fu My God, What Have I Done? Sci-Fi Horror Department of Redundancy Department More Dakka The Voiceless Dies Wide Open Asshole Victim Documentary My Greatest Failure Book-Ends Paper-Thin Disguise Bittersweet Ending An Aesop The Hero Dies Loads and Loads of Characters Casting Gag Artistic License – Law The Film of the Book Domestic Abuse The Dreaded Zombie Stories Chekhov's Gun Hypocrite The Brute Mercy Kill Getting Crap Past the Radar Parental Incest Stealth Hi/Bye Black Comedy Rape Married to the Job Jump Scare Bait-and-Switch Dramedy Early Installment Weirdness Dirty Old Man Random Events Plot Distracted by the Sexy Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Protagonist Title Unusually Uninteresting Sight Meaningful Name Visual Pun Scenery Porn Combat Pragmatist Fantasy Films Idiot Ball A Date with Rosie Palms Jitter Cam Humans Are Bastards "Shaggy Dog" Story Decoy Protagonist The Cavalry Adults Are Useless Blood Knight Historical Villain Upgrade Face Death with Dignity Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Trailers Always Spoil Adaptation Distillation All There in the Manual Broken Pedestal The Faceless Femme Fatale Handicapped Badass Mr. Fanservice Nice Guy Video Credits Historical-Domain Character Blackmail Dark Reprise Evil Sounds Deep Improbable Aiming Skills Rape as Drama Red Shirt Call-Back Black Best Friend Soft Glass Unresolved Sexual Tension Death by Adaptation Fun with Acronyms True Companions German Films Amusing Injuries Race Lift Dramatic Irony Re-Cut Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Fatal Family Photo Improvised Weapon Dull Surprise Horror Comedy Establishing Character Moment Same Language Dub Pretty in Mink Green-Eyed Monster Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Non-Indicative Name Big Brother Instinct The Bully Loophole Abuse Bottomless Magazines Ghost Fiction Heroic Sacrifice Brutal Honesty Double-Meaning Title Ripped from the Headlines Fate Worse than Death Death Seeker Defrosting Ice Queen Karmic Death Adaptation Name Change Romantic False Lead And Starring Hooker with a Heart of Gold Failed a Spot Check Taking the Bullet Captain Obvious Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Funny Background Event Hair-Trigger Temper Small Name, Big Ego Beta Couple Meaningful Background Event Affably Evil Police are Useless Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Imagine Spot Would Hurt a Child Meaningful Echo Love at First Sight The Stinger Disney Death Adaptation Expansion Heterosexual Life-Partners Driven to Suicide Poor Communication Kills Mind Screw Toplessness from the Back Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Grievous Bottley Harm Children Are Innocent Dumb Blonde Big Eater Film Noir The Sociopath Comically Missing the Point Disproportionate Retribution Brainless Beauty One-Word Title Dual Wielding The Great Depression Love Triangle The Hero Pragmatic Adaptation Male Frontal Nudity Insult Backfire No-Sell Kids Are Cruel Not So Above It All Not So Stoic Deliberately Monochrome Badass Grandpa Adult Fear Flipping the Bird Actor Allusion Took a Level in Jerkass Your Head A-Splode Obstructive Bureaucrat Red Right Hand Red Oni, Blue Oni Determinator aka: The Determinator Bring My Brown Pants Danny Peary Cult Movies List Light Is Not Good Chase Scene It Will Never Catch On Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Animal Motifs Mood Whiplash Belligerent Sexual Tension Market-Based Title Only a Flesh Wound Shower Scene Here We Go Again! Deal with the Devil Flashback Tap on the Head Death Glare Eye Scream Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Fantastic Racism Adaptational Attractiveness Red Eyes, Take Warning Gainax Ending Killed Mid-Sentence Leitmotif NO INDOOR VOICE Stepford Smiler Anachronism Stew Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Retired Badass Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism How We Got Here Author Avatar Air-Vent Passageway Important Haircut Wounded Gazelle Gambit Up to Eleven Empathic Environment Revenge Sassy Black Woman Have a Gay Old Time Scary Black Man Tagline Cool Car For Want of a Nail Heel–Face Turn Camp Gay Anti-Villain One-Man Army Not So Different Crazy-Prepared Took a Level in Badass Smug Snake Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Big Damn Heroes After the End Serious Business Beauty Is Never Tarnished Sir Swears-a-Lot Back from the Dead Product Placement Jerk with a Heart of Gold Cat Scare Knife Nut Retirony Spared by the Adaptation Jerkass Historical Hero Upgrade Needs Wiki Magic Love Dirty Coward Daylight Horror Foil Drives Like Crazy The Stoic Bloodier and Gorier O.O.C. Is Serious Business One Steve Limit Morality Pet Obviously Evil Parental Neglect Manic Pixie Dream Girl Early-Bird Cameo This Is Gonna Suck Translation Convention Chiaroscuro Mooks Extremely Short Timespan Costume Porn Eiffel Tower Effect Fish out of Water The Power of Love Ambiguous Disorder The Big Guy Stock Footage The Reveal Pyrrhic Victory Facial Horror Red Herring Reality Ensues Curb-Stomp Battle Butt-Monkey Made of Explodium Take That! Those Wacky Nazis The Stoner What You Are in the Dark Foreshadowing Action Prologue No Good Deed Goes Unpunished The Oner Everyone Has Standards Lighter and Softer I Need a Freaking Drink Epic Movie Leaning on the Fourth Wall Aluminum Christmas Trees For the Evulz I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Science Fiction Films The Lancer Fingore Easily Forgiven Kubrick Stare Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Romantic Comedy Laughing Mad Deconstruction Sequel Hook As the Good Book Says... "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Drowning My Sorrows Totally Radical Only One Name Redshirt Army Black Comedy Artistic License – Physics As You Know Get Out! Hypocritical Humor Big Fancy House Shell-Shocked Veteran Vacation Films Author Appeal Meet Cute Broken Bird Superhero The Ditz Dutch Angle Cassandra Truth Dropped a Bridge on Him And I Must Scream Overly Long Gag Leave the Camera Running Naked People Are Funny Hate Sink Cool Old Lady Mugging the Monster Disappeared Dad Ship Tease Suddenly SHOUTING! Thriller Intergenerational Friendship Horror Films Say My Name Abusive Parents The Atoner Malevolent Masked Men Arranged Marriage Stuff Blowing Up You Killed My Father Immune to Bullets Very Loosely Based on a True Story The Load Serial Killer Word of God Arch-Enemy Daddy's Girl Sacrificial Lion Implacable Man Cruel and Unusual Death Sealed Evil in a Can Darker and Edgier Artistic License – Geography Parental Substitute Closed Circle Suspiciously Specific Denial Nice Hat Rule of Cool Russian Films "The Reason You Suck" Speech Evil Is Petty Apocalypse How Sadistic Choice Woman Scorned Corpsing Sequel Escalation Honor Before Reason My Beloved Smother Ms. Fanservice Evil Counterpart I Did What I Had to Do In Name Only No Name Given BFG Pre-Mortem One-Liner Italian Films British Films Show Within a Show Ungrateful Bastard Twist Ending Auto Erotica Coming-of-Age Story War Is Hell Homage Redemption Equals Death Roaring Rampage of Revenge Fatal Flaw Fourth Date Marriage Crazy Jealous Guy Christmas Movies Index Shoot the Shaggy Dog Never Trust a Trailer Vomit Indiscretion Shot Happily Married Extreme Doormat Offscreen Teleportation Not Using the "Z" Word The '80s Sinister Minister Dark and Troubled Past Your Cheating Heart Freeze-Frame Bonus Groin Attack You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Manipulative Bastard Heel Realization Manly Tears Bloodless Carnage In the Back Demoted to Extra He Knows Too Much Does Not Like Shoes Bland-Name Product Shipper on Deck Continuity Nod The Casanova Spiteful Spit Missing Mom Fainting Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Bullying a Dragon No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Television Movie Index Calling the Old Man Out Karma Houdini Eyepatch of Power The Alleged Car Stylistic Suck Dying Moment of Awesome The Bad Guy Wins Affectionate Parody Properly Paranoid Major Injury Underreaction Naïve Newcomer '80s Hair Credits Gag Villain with Good Publicity Babies Ever After Country Matters Victoria's Secret Compartment Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Actually Pretty Funny Drill Sergeant Nasty Plucky Comic Relief Ambiguously Gay Defiant to the End Unreliable Narrator Silent Movie Those Two Bad Guys Creepy Child Logo Joke Hell Is That Noise Authority Equals Asskicking Overprotective Dad Real Life Canon Foreigner Deliberate Values Dissonance Eagleland The Cameo Anachronic Order What the Hell, Hero? Gratuitous English The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite World of Ham Bloody Hilarious Unusual Euphemism Cluster F-Bomb Dramatic Gun Cock Wicked Cultured Arc Words Taking You with Me Narrator Villain Protagonist Animated Credits Opening Lock and Load Montage Double Entendre Becoming the Mask Villain Song Famous Last Words Straight Gay Evil vs. Evil Half the Man He Used to Be Genre Throwback Plot Hole Black and Gray Morality Our Vampires Are Different Gilligan Cut Knight Templar Evil Brit Fake Shemp Irony It's Personal Bond Villain Stupidity Camera Abuse "Well Done, Son!" Guy Time Skip Action Girl Villain Ball Novelization Mad Scientist Earn Your Happy Ending Badass Longcoat The Mafia Dirty Cop Beware the Nice Ones Animal Title Index What Happened to the Mouse? Never My Fault All for Nothing Death of a Child Berserk Button I Have Your Wife Stealth Pun Ass Shove Large Ham Sports Stories Gorn Due to the Dead Military and Warfare Films Really Gets Around Disguised in Drag Match Cut Faking the Dead Drugs Are Bad Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? timeperiod The X of Y Cool Old Guy Chekhov's Gunman Anti-Hero All Girls Want Bad Boys Only Sane Man Break the Haughty Cold-Blooded Torture Man on Fire Silence Is Golden Psychopathic Manchild Madness Mantra Neck Lift Fire-Forged Friends A.I. Is a Crapshoot Psycho for Hire A Minor Kidroduction You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Shut Up, Hannibal! Let's Get Dangerous! Beard of Evil Ominous Latin Chanting As Himself Australian Movies Agony of the Feet Kick the Dog Body Horror Hope Spot Music Stories Yandere Creative Closing Credits The Smart Guy Artistic License – Gun Safety Developing Doomed Characters Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Action Survivor Nothing Is Scarier Five-Man Band All There in the Script Deadpan Snarker Put on a Bus Fan Disservice Badass Bookworm Evil-Detecting Dog Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Psychological Thriller And the Adventure Continues Big "NO!" Blatant Lies No Ending Informed Ability Rule of Symbolism Reasonable Authority Figure Rich Bitch Mr. Exposition An Arm and a Leg It Can Think Adaptational Villainy Genre Shift Once More, with Clarity! Hero of Another Story Bury Your Gays Moment Killer Gory Discretion Shot Badass in a Nice Suit Police Brutality Adapted Out Slap-Slap-Kiss Diabolus ex Machina The Chick Monumental Damage Adaptational Badass Precision F-Strike Despair Event Horizon Shirtless Scene Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Bavarian Fire Drill Break the Cutie Martial Arts Movie Alliterative Name Heroes Want Redheads Rewatch Bonus A God Am I Manchild Pragmatic Villainy Offscreen Moment of Awesome Not Even Bothering with the Accent Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Chekhov's Skill Does This Remind You of Anything? Betty and Veronica N-Word Privileges The Remake Worthy Opponent Gone Horribly Right Grey and Gray Morality Bar Brawl The Starscream Accidental Murder Curse Cut Short Cool Shades Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Anyone Can Die Chewing the Scenery Make It Look Like an Accident Politically Incorrect Villain Brick Joke Playing Gertrude Vomit Discretion Shot Punny Name Biopic Interrupted Suicide Artistic License – History Even Evil Has Standards Mama Bear Heroic BSoD Gender Flip Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Skewed Priorities Left the Background Music On Attempted Rape Obfuscating Stupidity Hong Kong Films Tranquil Fury The Lost Lenore Dwindling Party Creator Cameo The Ace Not Quite Dead A Father to His Men I'm a Humanitarian "Awesome McCool" Name Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Covers Always Lie Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Hollywood Darkness Ironic Echo Sole Survivor Rated M for Manly Big Applesauce Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor French Films Pimped-Out Dress La Résistance Vitriolic Best Buds Refuge in Audacity Alas, Poor Villain Evil Is Hammy Bilingual Bonus Mystery and Detective Films Be Careful What You Wish For Final Girl Scenery Gorn Older Than They Look Rousing Speech Gold Digger Humiliation Conga Brother–Sister Incest Depraved Bisexual Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Oh, Crap! Ascended Extra Public Domain Feature Films Throwing Your Sword Always Works Antagonist Title Expository Hairstyle Change Evil Plan Line-of-Sight Name I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Celebrity Paradox Off with His Head! Villain Opening Scene Adorkable It's All About Me Card-Carrying Villain Good Is Not Nice Soundtrack Dissonance Instant Death Bullet Enemy Mine Mythology Gag Cat Fight Star-Crossed Lovers