A thief named Quint barely escapes after being hired to steal computerized documents containing tax records from the Lucky Dollar Corporation, a Las Vegas, Nevada, accounting firm under investigation by a Grand Jury. At a gas station in the desert, Quint admires a futuristic "Black Moon" sports car being towed on a flat bed trailer by owner, Earl Windom, and his associates, Billy Lyons and Tyke Thayden. He hides the stolen computer cassette in a rear compartment of the vehicle. After the travelers leave, the accounting firm’s security team arrives, and leader, Marvin Ringer, demands Quint return the tax records. However, Quint evades the men, and later meets an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who also demands the cassette. Instead, Quint wants double his original asking price and a passport out of the country, and assures the agent that he will have the information before the next court hearing. He arranges for the handoff to take place at the Betsy Club in Hollywood, California, the Black Moon’s destination. In the Betsy’s parking garage, Earl Windom, the car's designer, explains the sports car’s finer points to a prospective auto manufacturer, and they continue the meeting inside the club. Soon, Quint arrives and is unable to open the car’s rear compartment. Meanwhile, an attractive club patron named Nina arranges for several high-end automobiles, including the Black Moon, to be stolen from the garage. Quint chases Nina as she drives the Black Moon. When she loads the sports car onto a transport truck, he follows her to the Ryland Towers parking garage in downtown Los Angeles. However, the truck disappears behind a false concrete wall, while Mr. Ryland watches on a closed circuit monitor as Quint inspects a small trail of oil on the ground near the wall. Quint returns to the Betsy, meets the FBI agent, and explains the cassette has been stolen. The agent gives him three days to find it. Quint approaches Earl Windom to cut a deal for the return of the Black Moon, but Earl rejects his offer. Meanwhile, Quint meets with “Iron John,” a contractor friend, to uncover Ryland Towers’ blueprints. Back at the Towers, Nina informs Ryland that she plans to keep the Black Moon for her own use. Although she believes that she evaded Quint, Ryland tells her that she was followed. When Ryland complains that Black Moon is too conspicuous, Nina relinquishes control of the car. Across the street, Quint begins surveillance, and follows Nina to an industrial warehouse. There, she switches cars, and he follows her to a nightclub. When she leaves, he hitches a ride with her. They chat about cars, and Quint explains that a special car belonging to some friends was stolen, and they want it returned. He asks Nina if she has any ideas how to make it happen. They spend the night at Nina’s apartment and make love. Later, Quint tells Nina that they have a lot in common because they are both thieves. When Nina asks why she should help him, Quint kisses her. Back at the Towers, Earl, Billy and Tyke sneak in to reclaim the Black Moon. However, Tyke is run over by a Ryland lackey. After the murder, Earl seeks out Quint, and together they visit Emile French, a security systems specialist and consultant for the alarm systems at the Towers. Emile tells them that Ryland Towers is a fortress. Later, Quint finds Iron John dead, then Marvin Ringer and two cohorts ambush and severely beat him. He reaches underneath his rental car and retrieves two guns, and seemingly kills Marvin and his associates. Quint is so injured, however, that he zigzags across the road as he drives back to town. He returns to Nina’s apartment, and she cleans his wounds. At Emile’s office, Earl learns how to disable the Towers’ alarm system. Quint arrives with true Tower blueprints, and explains a plan to use an adjacent, unfinished, and largely security-free Tower as his way to gain access to the roof of Ryland Tower. Then, he can give Earl and Billy access to the Tower building. Nina meets Ryland, and he shows her a surveillance video of Quint in the Tower garage on the night that he followed her. When Nina denies knowing Quint, Ryland shows her another video of her and Quint making love. Feeling betrayed, Ryland instructs an associate to beat her. Quint, Earl and Billy load their equipment and begin their break in. Quint knocks a guard unconscious, while Earl and Billy cut wires in alarm boxes. Quint traverses to the Tower roof after launching a cable from the adjacent building. Although weak from his injuries, Quint enters the Tower building, and climbs through air ducts. Billy introduces a decoy tape of the parking garage into the closed circuit television monitor, and they continue their mission. Quint rescues Nina, then knocks out some guards, and changes into one of their security uniforms. Nina leads him to the cage where the Black Moon is kept, but a heavy chain and lock must be picked before they have access to the vehicle. As Linda and Quint drive the Black Moon, they evade security guards and race toward the fake wall. As Earl detonates the false concrete wall in the Tower garage, jail bars descend to block escape. Quint steps on the vehicle’s brakes and avoids a crash. He turns the car around looking for another way out. Quint, Nina, and the car become trapped in a freight elevator controlled by Ryland. As they drive onto an automotive showroom floor with other cars, Ryland compliments their efforts, but says it is time to surrender. Instead, Nina pops up through the roof and shoots members of Ryland’s security team. Back inside the car, Quint runs over Ryland and accelerates. The Black Moon crashes through both Tower windows and the windows of the adjacent building and lands safely. Once Quint retrieves his cassette, he must fend off Marvin and his henchmen. FBI agents appear, rescue Nina, and watch as Quint and Marvin engage in hand-to-hand combat. Quint beats Marvin, grabs the cassette and tosses it to FBI agents. In turn, Quint receives his payment, and they return to Nina’s apartment. There, he and Nina make love, but his injuries hamper his ability to complete the act. Nina laughs and advises him to rest.