We’ve all got that one movie car that we’d bite someone’s arm off to get in our garage. Few would turn down the opportunity to have something from the Bond oeuvre in their collection, so long as it’s not the pointless BMW Z3 from Goldeneye or the Ford Mondeo in Casino Royal, and the Fast and Furious franchise has something for everyone (for me it’s the black Honda Civic coupes from the first one), even if you think the movies are toilet.
The great thing about movie cars is that, most of the time, they’re based on actual production models you can buy in the real world. Or, in the case of the Audi R8-previewing RSQ in iRobot, concepts that would go on to make the production line. And that means you too can have a Aston Martin DBS like Bond, a Toyota Supra like Brian O’Conner or a Ford Mustang like Bullitt. The car we have here, however, is a proper one-of-a-kind. Well, a copy of one, anyway. It’s a replica of a Lotus Type 77 Formula 1 car built for the 2013 Ron Howard film Rush, which makes it quite possibly the coolest movie prop there is.
Yes, it was the fierce rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda that made Rush arguably one of the best car films of all time, bringing a classic F1 tale to a global audience long before Drive to Survive took the world by storm. But a huge part of the film’s magic is its use of real cars and practical stunts, rather than rendering all the action sequences in CGI. Adding to the film’s authenticity was the use of bonafide F1 machines, including the protagonist McLaren M23 and Ferrari 312 T2, though a handful of replicas were commissioned for wheel-to-wheel action shots, and it’s one of those stunt cars you see here.
Keen-eyed F1 fans will have likely noticed this isn’t the genuine article from the lead image alone. Look past the period-correct JPS livery and you’ll notice that it’s really rather dinky compared to the real thing, from the stubby nose to the slimmer tyres and shorter wheelbase. That’s because it’s built around an old Formula Ford chassis, with bodywork fabricated by Norfolk-based Mirage Engineering, which specialises in historic race car restoration and repairs, so you know it’s been put together by people who really knew what they’re doing. It’ll easily fool anyone who isn’t an F1 anorak, mind, and you didn’t hear moviegoers complaining about the size of the front tyres now, did you?
So what do you do with an old movie prop car then? Well, the good news is it moves under its own steam. Like, really moves. Behind the Ford DFV-style rocker covers is a 600cc Yamaha motorbike engine spinning to 16,000rpm with a six-speed sequential gearbox mated to it. What’s more, the fully independent suspension is fully functional, with coilovers at each corner and a rear anti-roll bar at the rear. How much power it produces isn’t mentioned, but it’s not like it has all that much to push along. So while it may look a touch gawky to us F1 geeks, chances are it’ll be a riot to drive.
Just imagine seeing this thing tearing around on a track day, looking like a historic F1 car but screaming like a Supersport bike. You’ll need to contact the seller to find out how much they want for it, but it’ll be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying the real thing. And while it won’t have the pedigree of a full-blown Grand Prix car built by Colin Chapman, its starring role in one of the truly great motorsport movies gives it a prestige most replicas can only dream of...
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