Car of Dreams (1935) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Robert Miller pretends to be a showroom employee because he wants to get close to Vera without revealing his wealthy background. He explains that he is often harassed by women who are only interested in his inheritance, so he hides his true identity to find someone who loves him for who he is, not his money.

• Robert Miller
• deception
• love interest
• showroom
• wealthy background

Miller offers to work as a chauffeur because he wants to spend more time with Vera while keeping his true identity secret. Since none of the Hart family can drive, they accept his offer, allowing him to drive Vera to work daily and get closer to her without revealing he owns the factory.

• chauffeur
• Miller
• Vera
• deception
• proximity

Robert Miller secretly arranges for Vera's wages to be raised to five pounds a week after discovering how little she is paid. However, he does this anonymously, leaving Vera confused about who granted her the raise since she believes she has never met Miller.

• pay raise
• Vera
• Miller
• wages
• secret benefactor

Butterworth and Miss Fisher become suspicious when Vera receives an unexpected pay rise and see Miller showing her special attention. They assume she must be his secret mistress rather than an ordinary employee, especially after learning how little she was previously paid compared to the sudden increase.

• Butterworth
• Miss Fisher
• jealousy
• suspicion
• fancy woman

When Butterworth reveals that Miller is actually the factory owner's son, Vera feels hurt and thinks his offer to live together was about being a kept woman, not marriage. She pretends to lose interest in Miller and redirects her attention to Peters to mask her wounded feelings.

• Vera
• Peters
• hurt feelings
• pretend
• Miller identity

Mrs Hart is suspicious because the car seems too good to be true. While Vera's father is delighted by the gift, her mother recognizes that receiving an expensive car from a stranger with no clear explanation is unusual and potentially dishonest.

• Mrs Hart
• car
• suspicion
• gift
• intuition

At the country hotel's ice-skating carnival, Vera finds herself with both Miller and Peters separately. Butterworth and Miss Fisher witness her with each man at different times and conclude she is two-timing them, creating further misunderstandings about her intentions.

• ice-skating carnival
• Peters
• Miller
• confusion
• two-timing

When Vera goes to Miller's office to confront him about her pay raise, Miller hides and has his friend Peters impersonate him. Peters takes a liking to Vera and tries to convince her to go on a date with him, adding to the confusion about who genuinely cares for her.

• Peters
• impersonation
• confrontation
• Miller
• date

The 'car of dreams' symbolizes the union between Vera and Miller and their fresh start together. After all misunderstandings are resolved, they drive off together in the same car Robert initially gave Vera, now representing their genuine relationship built on honesty rather than deception.

• car of dreams
• symbol
• ending
• union
• fresh start

Robert buys Vera the car on a whim after falling instantly in love with her at the showroom. To make the gift believable, he claims she has won it as the 10,000th customer, a whimsical lie that allows him to give her an extravagant present while maintaining his disguise as a showroom employee.

• Robert
• Vera
• car
• gift
• love
• whim