Police said the driver was dragged from his car before it was set on fire.
A man was dragged out of his car and hit on the head during a night of disorder in the Galliagh area of Londonderry.
Police said buses and a delivery driver’s van came under attack and attempts were made to burn a van.
The trouble followed the removal of wood and other materials from a bonfire site earlier on Monday.
Ch Supt Nigel Goddard said the disorder was both disappointing and worrying.
“We appeal for calm and urge those with influence to use that to ensure there is no repeat of any disorder,” he said.
Contractors removed the material from the site of the bonfire on Monday morning
For several months, young people in Galliagh have been collecting material for a bonfire on 15 August – a date when bonfires have been lit for a number of years in nationalist areas of Derry.
On Monday, Stormont’s Department for Communities (DfC) said it had cleared the site due to “public safety concerns”.
The material was being gathered close to homes on a large green space owned by the department.
Bins, tyres and pallets were dragged onto roads in Galliagh and set on fire throughout the evening, police said.
Police said the man was dragged from his vehicle at about 22:30 BST on Monday.
He was struck on the head before his car was set on fire.
Earlier in the day, at about 16:30, a delivery driver’s van was attacked by two masked men in Knockalla Park.
A community centre was damaged by petrol bombs
At about 17:50, a brick was thrown at a bus on the Upper Galliagh Road, damaging a window, while at 19:15 petrol bombs were thrown at a bus parked at a community centre in Bracken Park.
At about the same time, police said, there was an attempt by a group of young people to set fire to a van that was parked at a local playschool.
Bins, tyres and pallets were dragged onto roads in Galliagh and set on fire throughout the evening.
One man who lives in the area told BBC Radio Foyle that at one stage a crowd of about 100 people gathered to watch the disorder.
“It was a mixed age group gathering to watch, as if it was a day out. I find it bizarre,” he said.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had been afraid to leave his house on Monday night “for fear of reprisal”.
“It is sad to say, it’s a lovely estate, full of hard working people with families,” he said.
“I don’t believe half the people who come here and do these things are from here. It isn’t pleasant to sit up and worry about these things.”
He said trouble had “become the norm” at this time of year in the area.
Debris was thrown on a road and set alight in Galliagh on Monday evening
“What we saw unfold in Galliagh from late yesterday through to the early hours of this morning was both disappointing and worrying,” Ch Supt Goddard said.
“This type of criminal activity is totally unacceptable and should be condemned by all.”
Ch Supt Goddard said the events of Monday evening were “not reflective of the community and the people who live there”.
“Nor are they reflective of the majority of young people in Galliagh,” he said.
Police would continue to work with community representatives and monitor the situation, he added.
‘Unacceptable scenes’
Derry’s Mayor Patricia Logue also appealed for calm.
She said she was disappointed by the “unacceptable scenes”.
“It has caused significant distress to those affected and I would appeal to those responsible to bring it to an end now before they cause any more damage and upset to their community,” the Sinn Féin councillor said.
In 2012 the removal of material at a bonfire site in Galliagh sparked three nights of riots.
The previous year Father Michael Canny, a senior priest in Derry, condemned bonfires across the city, including in the Galliagh area, as “a nuisance”.
This month it was announced that a controversial bonfire in the city’s Bogside on 15 August could be cancelled and replaced with a music event.
