Car chase scenes in films often require precious vehicles to be sacrificed for our viewing pleasure. A large number of those are done using CGI but which are the most expensive cars that were actually destroyed on set?
According to a new study by Confused, the title goes to the Porsche 917K which was infamously destroyed during the filming of the 1971 film Le Mans. While the accident wasn’t included in the movie script, the 917K driven by David Piper ended up on the barriers following a tire blowout during a high-speed scene. Despite the serious damage, the iconic racecar was rebuilt. A pristine Porsche 917K sold for $14 million in 2017 and it’s worth even more today, making it by far the most expensive vehicle sacrifice in the entire film industry.
Watch: Check Out The Cheats Hollywood Uses To Destroy Real Cars In Movies
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The next most expensive vehicle destroyed is the Aston Martin DB10 from the 2015 James Bond film Spectre. While the DB10 was heavily based on the mass-produced Vantage of the time, it featured a bespoke body previewing the design of the next generation. The iconic car chase scene with the Jaguar C-X75 in Rome wasn’t kind to the DB10 which ended up sinking in the river. Aston Martin built 10 examples of the model for the film, with seven being destroyed. One of the movie cars was offered for sale in 2016, fetching £2,434,500 ($3,586,009 at the time) in an auction.
The third place goes to Tony Stark’s Rolls-Royce Phantom from the 2010 film Iron Man 2. The luxury sedan was destroyed during the F1 race scene in Monaco which wasn’t all CGI. In fact, two examples of the Phantom valued at $493,000 each were used in the filming, where Mickey Rourke’s character Ivan Vanko used his electrified whiplash to cut them in half.
The entire top 10 list includes the following vehicles:
- Porsche 917K – Le Mans (1971) – $14 million
- Aston Martin DB10 – Spectre (2015) – $3.6 million
- Rolls-Royce Phantom – Iron Man 2 (2010) – $493k
- Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 – The Dark Knight (2008) – $354k
- Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe – Mad Max 2: Road Warrior (1981) – $265k
- Aston Martin DBS – Casino Royale (2006) – $225k
- 1967 Ford Mustang “Eleanor” – Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) – $219k
- 1941 Lincoln Continental – The Godfather (1972) – $209k
- 1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SE Cabriolet – The Hangover (2009) – $165k
- Lamborghini Huracan – Doctor Strange (2016) – $165k
