For sale: Batmobile, John Wick’s Mustang, and more Hollywood cars
Just over 30 miles from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, a different kind of church pays homage to movies, TV shows and cultural touchpoints. Billing itself as “the temple of pop culture”, the Pop Central Museum in Étréchy now sells an impressive collection of original stunt cars.
The vehicles offered for sale were used in the Fast and Furious franchise, John Wick 2, To drive, Back to the Future 2And The Dukes of Hazzard. Others are lines seen in classics like Team A, Herbie the love virus (in all its late 1960s glory), BatmanAnd James Bond movies.
In total, the Bonhams auction house will sell 50 vehicles and motorcycles from films and TV series as well as memorabilia like a Jurassic Park The T-Rex statue is expected to cost between $40,000 and almost $70,000. If you could afford it, it would be a striking, even alarming, prehistoric conversation piece in your backyard.
Sourced from celebrities and real fender benders
Some of the vehicles up for auction, like the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 from John Wick 2have legitimate celebrity credibility. This vehicle was number 4 of 5 built for the film and driven by star Keanu Reeves in a car chase. According to stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott via Vanity FairReeves is an excellent driver. However, the cars were still quite damaged in the process.
“For several scenes, a stuntman drove the car from a roof-mounted cockpit so that Reeves could concentrate on his acting,” explained The reader in a 2017 story about the waterfall. “Then there were complex tricks like the gentle drift jump through a warehouse door, which took 7 or 8 takes and destroyed at least one Mustang when a stuntman clipped the steel door frame in mid-air.”
If I had to choose one of these movie cars, I would choose the circa 1989 Police Cruiser designed by Tim Flattery and built by Gene Winfield. Seen on screen in Back to the Future 2 Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson, the Police Car debuted as a futuristic flying car. The one up for auction is one of two examples built and the only one equipped with an engine. It was then exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum in California before being acquired by the Pop Culture Museum.
Those with a penchant for French cars will be drawn to the 1999 Peugeot 406 V6 from Taxis 2. This iconic machine will be on display at the Salon Époqu’Auto in Lyon, closer to Geneva, Switzerland than Paris, France. The Peugeot should attract a good crowd, because according to the auction house, it is “probably the most famous car in French cinema”. Bidding is expected to be between $80,000 and $138,000. Yes, sir.
At the top end, at least from a cost perspective, is a 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII built for the character played by the late Paul Walker in 2Fast 2Furious. Bonhams estimates it will sell for between $290,000 and $500,000, and they probably won’t be far off. Vehicles in the F&F family have fetched big money, like the 1994 Toyota Supra that commanded $550,000 at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 2021. Even bigger than that, in 2023, is a 2000 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R driven by Walker in 2023. Fast and Furious 4 sold for $1.36 million.
The museum leaves room for “other automotive projects”
It seems that at one time, the owner of the museum Franck Galiègue rented these cars for rides, but this function seems to have been discontinued. Surely there were enough people who wanted to take a ride Ghostbusters Ecto-1 replica or custom vehicle Fast and Furious 7.
Sadly, all of these vehicles will be adopted into new homes in the very near future.
“This museum has been an incredible adventure, but the time has come to move on to new automotive projects,” Galiègue said in a Bonhams release. “I have spent many years collecting these cars and have had the pleasure of sharing them with enthusiasts across Europe. Now it is time to pass them on to the movie buffs who will take over and continue to bring these witnesses of mechanical and cinematic history to life.”
Bonhams will host the online auction from November 21-28. Bring your wallet (and maybe a trust fund) if you want to create your own place of cinema worship.
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