An engineer must tame his rage — and his attraction to the woman who triggers it — to turn his father’s rusted classic into the next EV revolution.

SYNOPSIS:

1974, Flint, Michigan. Late at night, a blizzard takes over a working-class neighborhood. In the driveway of a modest house, a dark-blue 1961 Oldsmobile Starfire. Stuck in four feet of snow. A young mulatto adult, Andrew Smith, shovels the snow around it. He accidentally hits the car hood with his shovel. Moments later, late-30s white-man Miles Smith punishes him with his fists. Inside, mid-30s Black Martha Smith beats her nine-year-old son, Peter, for stuttering. Later that same night, Miles puts a gun to his head as Peter tries to stop him. "Dad, no! I'll fix your car!" A gunshot.

A “Black-Tight Killer” boss

2008. The Deal n’ GO GO! family used car dealership in Flint. In its body shop, 44-year-old buzz-cut Peter awakes from a wet dream. In it, athletic plus-size Asian-American Bonnie Ming, his day-job boss in Detroit, was a 1966 “Black-Tight Killer.” At spitting distance from Peter's bed is late Miles' rusted Starfire. After hurting his toe, raging Peter throws a metal chair into the air. The chair bounces off the Starfire hood. The resulting dent brings over two frowning men: 54-year-old Andrew and mid-70s Uncle Ernie. Andrew then gives Peter a serious warning: “Dumbo. There’s a lot of dad in you. Watch it.” He also tells him about his decision to sell the family dealership.

Meanwhile, in her Detroit penthouse, Bonnie Ming gets scolded in Cantonese by her mom. The petite, perfect Mrs. Ming deplores that Bonnie has gained weight. She also pretends that Bonnie has never been a fighter, therefore could never become CEO. Bonnie pressures her mom to tell her what a fighter is. Mrs. Ming finally says, “A fighter goes to war. With a plan to win!”

“T-T-Toastmasters?”

On his way to work, Peter gets into a road rage fight with the driver of a 1990 Chrysler Imperial. The Imperial driver is left for dead on the pavement. Peter flees the scene. Another motorist starts pumping the Imperial driver’s chest.

The USMotors skyscraper in downtown Detroit. In its boardroom, white-haired CEO Don Russel makes Chief Financial Officer Bonnie Ming an offer she can’t refuse: Get VP-Innovation Officer Peter Smith to deliver on his automated restoration of American classics as EVs, and she'll become CEO. Bonnie allows Peter to develop and make a soft launch of his Starfire EV prototype at the Deal’n GO GO! The condition for this is for him to join and get an eloquence breakthrough at their in-house Toastmasters class. Peter notices Bonnie’s curiosity for his brother when a pic of him flies out of his journal. During a USMotors online meeting, Bonnie frustrates Peter by taking over while he’s stuttering.

A vision.

The USMotors' Toastmasters class. Peter’s stutter-free eloquence impresses the early attendees. Among them is black mid-40s Angela Brown. But Bonnie gets in, and Peter starts stuttering again. It gets even worse when Bonnie triggers Peter by the way she looks at her shoes in a mirror. She does it the same way Martha Smith used to do it. During the coffee break, Angela nails the root cause of Peter’s Bonnie-specific stuttering: Unresolved childhood trauma. Peter gets a call from Andrew about Ernie’s passing.

After Ernie's funeral, Peter drives down memory lane and has a "vision": Make the recycled-restored Starfire a mid-size EV. At the Deal’n GO GO!, Peter strikes a deal with Andrew to secure a grand re-opening of the family dealership featuring his EV prototype. The price for Peter is hooking up Andrew with Bonnie as per a plan designed to yield the best sex ever: "Love. Break up. Make up."

A deal. A hook-up. A disaster.

One month later, it’s the grand re-opening of the family dealership as “Deal’n Drive.” Late Miles’ old 1961 Starfire is now a restored mid-size EV under siege by families and reporters. The lot is equally flooded with people around nine other Starfire EVs. Andrew shows Bonnie the automated Starfire assembly chain in the auto body shop. She and Andrew have sex and come out of the body shop holding hands.

At Peter's dismay, the hook-up plan turns into a love story…

Peter gives black TV reporter Mary Toppler a live tour of the lot. At the body shop door, Mary waits for Peter to cut short his ever-stuttering intro. Bonnie then unknowingly triggers Peter saying, “How come you stutter so much?” In a violent rage, Peter knocks the cameraman down, then hurls his camera into the dealership's office window.

Everybody runs away. Peter is arrested. At the police station, Andrew hands Peter a spiral-bound sketch pad. Once freed, Peter hands it back to Andrew. Leaves in a black Starfire EV. Bonnie and Andrew both nod at Peter’s drawing of the dealership sign reading, “Starfire - Drive a Dream.” That same sketchpad also shows drawings of a 70s-style city featuring a USMotors car dealership.

“You must… face your trauma.”

At Denny’s, Angela advises Peter to confront his trauma. She also shares a technique to help him defuse a stuttering episode. The next day, Peter visits his 79-year-old mom at the nursing home. He takes her out for a coffee run at the nearest drive-thru. There, Peter gets handed a nasty overheated coffee cup. The ride gets scary when Peter drifts into a road rage. The black Starfire EV gets sideswiped by a painter’s van. It drifts to a stop in the middle of heavy traffic. Peter pulls his black Starfire EV onto the shoulder. Both he and Martha step out in shock.

Peter then saves her mom's life when a concrete truck squashes the Starfire into a flaming blow-out. Back at the nursing home, Peter connects with his mom like he never did. Walks out as a stutter-free, confident man.

At the Deal'n Drive dealership, Bonnie learns about Peter’s evil plan to hook her up with his brother. She storms out and blocks him on her phone. Andrew's despair makes him screech away in his Mustang Mach 1 with a bottle of Beefeater. Later, Peter speeds off in a white Starfire EV, ducking the bullets of the Imperial driver. He soon decides to pull over and face the Imperial driver, Charles. Peter calls it quits on rage, survives a beatdown, then talks Charles into attending the official Starfire launch event. There, Peter introduces Charles as his rage-sober buddy. Don and Bonnie politely acknowledge both as Peter helps Bonnie answer a nay-saying attendee's question. She still kicks out Peter as a fallen executive. Peter's radiant serenity unexpectedly wins the heart of the crowd, who shout, "Peter! Peter! Peter!"

“Dumbo was flying… way too high.”

Bonnie then recalls Don's promise to make her the new CEO on a successful rebrand. That leads her to use Peter at the event. She thus invites Peter onstage, where he finishes answering the nay-saying attendee’s question. Peter's heartfelt "Drive a Dream" end word gets the crowd enthusiastically sold on Starfire Motor's recycling EV-led mission. Back at the Starfire Motors dealership, Peter learns about Andrew's deadly car rollover into Lake Huron. Cries out his "Dumbo" sadness at the funeral home.

Six months later, Peter and Bonnie work on building their "Andy City, Florida" 70s-style Starfire dealership-based family center. The opening of the city is a huge success. At the drive-in theater, Peter and Bonnie fall in love.

Christmas Eve. A car dent. Again.

Nine years later, at the couple's mansion, Peter defuses his rage over Jr.'s denting of the original EV Starfire. However, during an argument, Bonnie triggers Peter into kicking a Starfire window. Peter is taken away handcuffed in a police car when he hears a thump on the trunk. Peter Jr. and Bonnie cuddle Peter in the police car. After Jr. convinced his mom to drop the charges... "You’re giving me a chance... No one ever did," says Peter. The three return home on foot. Peter makes Bonnie fall in love again when sharing the one thing she never expected: Unwavering trust. Jr. joyfully triggers a snowball fight. In the distant blizzardy background, the Starfire Motors "Drive a Dream" skyscraper.

STARFIRE