Ron Howard’s “Rush” is my favorite car movie and whenever I watch it, I dream of driving one of those ’70s Formula 1 cars. I know I’m not alone, either. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us will never experience what it’s like to drive such a thrilling and dangerous race car. However, one lucky, deep-pocketed person will get pretty close, as the movie’s prop Ferrari F1 car is up for sale and it’s begging to become a hilarious track-day build.
This prop played the role of Niki Lauda’s Ferrari 312 T2 F1 car, though the extent to which it was used is unclear. It’s one of nine prop cars made for the movie but it’s hard to tell how much driving this car actually did. It looks like it was driven at least a little bit, as there’s some wear and tear on it from movie use but it doesn’t seem to have been driven too hard.
It’s built on a Mygale chassis, with a fiberglass body, and packs a Ford Duratec 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and a Hewland manual transmission. While the exact type of suspension is unknown, it has some sort of adjustable coilovers. Giving it even better suspension, an engine tune, and maybe some more comfortable cockpit modifications could turn this movie prop into the coolest car at your local track day.
Although, it might take heavy modification to make it a safe car to drive, even on track. According to Propstore: “This car is substantially modified from its original engineering and should not be used to drive. It is sold in a static ‘rolling only’ condition, drained of all fluids and battery removed.”
However, if it can be modified to safely drive on track, someone should do it. Imagine going to a local track day and driving Niki Lauda’s ’70s Ferrari driving alongside modern Porsches, Miatas, and Corvettes? Sure, this car is just a replica but it would provide the closest experience possible to the real thing. At $75,000, that’s an expensive experience but perhaps a small price to pay to drive a slice of one of the best cars movies of all time.
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