Police said Andrew Evans, 26, from Wigan, claimed he needed the money to buy a present for his dying daughter.
He bundled the couple, who are in their late 70s, into their own car to get the cash - and then crashed it having been seen speeding at up to 70mph.
Evans is wanted for robbery and kidnap over the raid, which police said left the couple "petrified".
After the incident - which happened between 0300 and 0400 GMT on 16 March - he dropped them back at their home in Stone Cross Lane North, Wigan, saying he would leave their car in a supermarket car park to be collected later, police said.
He also kissed the woman on her hand.
Revealing details of the robbery for the first time, Det Insp Paul Rollinson of Greater Manchester Police said Evans, who was armed with a gun and a knife, had subjected them to a "prolonged and harrowing ordeal".
An armed man broke into a couple's home then forced them to take hundreds of pounds out of a nearby cash machine.