You may never be fortunate enough to embark on a treasure-hunting quest like Indiana Jones, but at least you can now own one of the movie cars used in the Raiders of the Lost Ark. As you might expect given its provenance, though, it won’t be a cheap endeavor.
Cosmopolitan Motors
A Jaguar in Mercedes-Benz guise
This is one of two examples built for the first movie in the Indiana Jones series and was prominently used in the “Desert Chase” sequence. While it looks like a Mercedes-Benz, the car is actually a modified Jaguar Mk. 5 body built on a lengthened 1960 Jaguar Mk. 9 chassis by Leaping Cats Coventry of England. It was reportedly built to not only resemble a 1930s Mercedes-Benz but also to reach speeds of 120 mph and survive the demanding chase scenes. The car uses rack and pinion steering, a left-hand drive configuration, and a 285 hp Jaguar XKE engine under the hood, mated to a Jaguar four-speed manual transmission.
Cosmopolitan Motors
Cosmopolitan Motors
Not its first time on the block
According to a MotorTrend article from 2008, the Raiders of the Lost Ark chase car was up for auction in December of that year at Profile in History’s Hollywood Auction #33. Craig Hinton, the mastermind who built the car at Leaping Cats Coventry, reportedly took possession of the car after filming concluded and exhibited it at numerous events, including the Bal Harbour Concours d’Elegance on July 10, 1982. If this blog post is correct, then the car sold for $60,000 plus buyer’s premium at that 2008 auction.
Cosmopolitan Motors
Final thoughts
While info regarding the car’s history is pretty scarce, this is still one of the coolest movie memorabilia items you can own. Most movie props are something you display on a shelf and show off to visitors, but having a movie prop you can take to shows? That’s a little more special.
This Indiana Jones “Mercedes-Benz” is currently offered by Cosmopolitan Motors for a whopping $275,000. While that’s a far cry from the $60,000 price tag of 2008, we’re sure there are some diehard Indian Jones fans who see it as a relative bargain.
About the author
Gabriel Ionica
Senior Editor, Autoblog