Cars can often be an integral part of a film. The DeLorean DMC-12 is renowned for its appearances in the Back to the Future films, while the Aston Martin DB5 has been integral to several James Bond movies.
In more recent times, one of the most famous cars to grace the silver screen has been the Lamborghini Countach, which played a starring role in Martin Scorsese's 2013 box office hit The Wolf of Wall Street.
The film is based on the antics of Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who was a trader on Wall Street during the 1980s and 1990s who climbed to the top with unethical tactics. The Lamborghini you see here appeared in a segment of the film where Belfort drives the car while severely impaired by the drug Quaaludes, sustaining various damage on the drive.
This very car is now heading to auction. Let’s take a look at five cool things to know about it.
It’s a real Lamborghini
You might be thinking that there’s no way that a real Lamborghini would be damaged and this is just a replica. But you’d be very wrong, as the car you see here is a Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition, which marked a quarter of a century of car building for the firm.
Just 658 examples were produced, and today they’re worth north of £400,000. The car you see here would be even rarer as it’s one of just 12 ‘Bianco Polo’ examples produced for the US market with a matching white interior.
Scorsese ordered more damage to be inflicted after it didn’t look ‘wrecked’ enough.
Billed as the ‘hero car’ in The Wolf of Wall Street, this Countach really was used in stunts, too. These included swerving with its scissor doors open, crashing into other vehicles and hitting various objects such as signs and a postbox.
However, director Martin Scorsese deemed that the damage inflicted in the stunts wasn't serious enough, so the crew were ordered to make it look more ‘wrecked’ by crashing it further.
At the end of the film sequence, Belfort is arrested outside his home, while the wrecked Countach is parked outside, which is one of the movie’s most iconic scenes.
It’s been preserved ever since by one of the original filmmakers
After filming, this Lamborghini was retained by one of the original filmmakers and is now being offered for the first time to the public at auction.
It is said to have been preserved in its ‘as-filmed’ condition, and said to be a ‘time-capsule’. It’s also being sold with various pieces of film memorabilia, including the Jordan Belfort costume worn by DiCaprio in the scene with the car, and a director’s chair and clapboard, both signed by Scorsese, DiCaprio and Margot Robbie, who also appears in the film as Belfort’s second wife, Naomi Lapaglia.
It’s estimated to sell for $2m
As we’ve mentioned, the Countach 25th Anniversary is already valuable on its own, and could easily be worth £400,000 on its own. Even though this damaged film car isn’t suitable for use on the road, it’s estimated to sell for $1.5m-$2m (£1.2m-£1.6m).
It is going under the hammer with Bonhams at an auction on November 25 at the Yas Marina racing circuit, coinciding with the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Gran Prix.
It’s one of two Countach models from the film being sold this year
The ‘hero’, damaged car you see here isn’t the only Countach that starred in The Wolf of Wall Street, however, as a second, undamaged car was also used, though it was said to have far less screen time.
The second Countach was one that was hired at the time for use in the film, and strangely is also being sold for the first time later this year. The undamaged Lamborghini will be sold by RM Sotheby’s, and will go under the hammer in New York on December 8.
