“It’s terrible, it drives like a pig!” When Niki Lauda joined the Ferrari team for the 1974 team, he wasn’t happy with the way the car performed and wasn’t afraid to say it. At least, that’s how Ron Howard’s 2013 film Rush portrays the action. “It’s a shitbox! It understeers like crazy and the weight distribution is a disaster. It’s amazing, all of these facilities and you make a piece of crap like this,” says actor Daniel Brühl channeling Lauda for the film. Thankfully, that car, the poor-handling 312B3, was swapped out for the 312T the following year, which — along with the car this movie prop is meant to emulate, the famed 312 T2 of 1976 — saw much more success.
Somehow this movie prop made its way from the set of the film to Northeast Ohio car dealer Switchcars. I know the owner well and have bought a car from them in the past. If I had a spare $75,000, I might have already put my name on this one, too. Allegedly it’s one of nine 312 T2 replicas built for the film. It is powered by a Ford 2-liter Duratec four-cylinder engine mated to a Hewland gearbox. The chassis is listed as being a French-produced Mygale unit, and given the Duratec fitted out back, it is likely a USF2000 car built between 1999 and 2003.
There is no indication as to whether this car ever ran in the film or not, or if it was just a backup, but I’m just going to believe it’s the one that you see on film. It looks cool as heck, and probably drives great. Considering the relatively modern underpinnings, it might even be faster than a real 312 T2. Okay, maybe not, but an original one is too priceless to actually use anyway.
Based on the description provided by Switchcars, this Ferrari “looks highly authentic from 10 feet away (just like any film car), and upon close inspection it becomes quite obvious that it was a movie prop, as it was made to appear real on film but not actually function as a race car.”
Apparently the car was sold through Propstore at one point, which is an auction house for movie props. Here’s the description of the car from the Propstore archives:
A prop Ferrari 312T2 Formula One car made for Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) in Ron Howard’s racing biopic Rush. A total of nine prop cars were built for the film and supplemented with a number of genuine period vehicles. The Ferrari model 312T2 was used in the latter part of the 1976 racing season after regulations demanded the removal of the ‘high’ air box found on the earlier F-1 cars (dubbed model “312T”).
The custom-built car is based on a Mygale chassis with a fibreglass body, aluminium front and rear wings, 2-litre Duratec Ford engine with a dry-sump lubrication system and a Hewland FT200 H pattern gearbox.
A signature Ferrari-red paint scheme adorns the vehicle, as do logos for sponsors Heuer, Agip and Goodyear. Number “1” decals, signifying Lauda was the reigning champion the year before, sit proudly on the nose and on either side of the air intake, and “Niki Lauda” is applied in flowing white script to both sides of the cockpit. The vehicle has the original slick tyres used during production and a Ferrari-branded leather padded steering wheel.
The cockpit is simple, featuring minimal foam padding and a red safety harness. The chassis was adapted to accept a number of different exterior shells, allowing the same platform to serve as different vehicles within the context of the film.
All fuel and fluids were drained from the vehicle, and the battery is removed. The car remains in very good condition with wear from production. Dimensions: 460 cm x 200 cm x 120 cm (181” x 79” x 47”). This car is substantially modified from its original engineering and should not be driven. It is sold in a static ‘rolling only’ condition, drained of all fluids and without a battery
This is exactly the kind of car you buy when you have a private race track and just want to drive around and feel cool as heck. You can feel like you’re Niki Lauda, even if you’re driving a Ford-powered US F2000 car instead of a real Ferrari. If that seems like the kind of thing you want to do, send a wire of 75,000 American greenbacks to Switchcars and they’ll make all your wildest Niki Lauda fantasies come true.
Damn, now I need to watch Rush again.