Picture Car Glossary
breakaway vehicle
What is a breakaway vehicle?
Updated June 2026 · Revolution Picture Cars
A breakaway vehicle is a picture car engineered with structural weak points or pre-scored panels designed to shatter, crumple, or separate cleanly on cue for a stunt sequence.
Unlike a standard stunt car that is reinforced for crew protection, a breakaway vehicle is purpose-built to collapse predictably so that the camera captures the correct visual result such as a door flying off, a roof collapsing, or bodywork peeling away. The extent of breakaway engineering is specified by the stunt coordinator and SFX team during pre-production.
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