Car carries Penny to hostage-taker (6)
I believe the answer is:
captor
'taker' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'car carries penny to' is the wordplay.
'carries' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters carried inside).
'penny' becomes 'p' (short for pence).
'p'+'to'='pto'
'car' placed around 'pto' is 'CAPTOR'.
'hostage' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for captor that I've seen before include "He catches someone" , "To carp (anag)" , "He takes someone prisoner" , "Holder of a prisoner" , "Guard" .)