Readers of a certain vintage can probably mouth all the iconic lines from the innovative 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which help to launch the careers of stars Matthew Broderick (as Ferris), Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey, Alan Ruck, and a young (and then largely unknown) Charlie Sheen, best remembered for a hilarious (and prescient) short scene with Grey. It also gave many viewers their first exposure (and ride-along) to a vintage Ferrari, a gorgeous 1961 GT 250 California SWB Spider convertible that meets an inglorious – but poignant – end.
The movie is apparently a favorite of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, now employed by Ferrari, even though he was in diapers when it came out. Now, with some digital magic, Hamilton has inserted himself (and pal Edward Norton) into a key scene with the Ferrari and the Ferris Bueller cast. He posted the edit on his personal YouTube channel, where it was quickly heading for millions of views just a day after being uploaded.
It’s a fun scene, with Hamilton playing the Chicago parking garage attendant originally played by veteran character actor Richard Edson, with Broderick sneaking in a quick 4th wall break that was emblematic of the movie.
In the movie, Edson, né Hamilton, tries to put Alan Ruck’s character, Cameron Fry, at ease by parking the multi-million dollar Ferrari in the garage after Broderick’s Bueller character pre-tips him $5. “Relax,” Hamilton says to Ruck’s Fry, who at first refuses to allow the car to be parked in the garage because it “might get breathed on wrong.” “You got nothing to worry about. I’m a professional,” Hamilton says as he gingerly drives the car away, only to be shown in the next scene gunning the Ferrari out the exit of the garage after picking up his co-worker – played by Edward Norton – for a joyride set to John William’s iconic Star Wars theme music. Here’s the original scene from the movie:
You’ll need to hop onto YouTube to watch the shot-for-shot recut with Hamilton and Norton, but here’s a still frame from the edit:
Online car journal Jalopnik reports that in a quest for accuracy, Hamilton was able to track down the actual car used in the movie and convince the unnamed owner to let himself and Norton be filmed in it for the short sequence. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has been one of my favourite movies since I was a kid,” Lewis writes in the video’s description. “This is to pay homage to the iconic film and to celebrate my first season with Ferrari. It definitely took a lot of cutting edge tech, production and planning to get right. Had to get the exact car too … it’s been a dream car since seeing the movie. Shout out to the legendary Edward Norton for coming along for the ride.”
The Ferrari GT 250 comes to a sad (if cathartic) end in the movie, and while many scenes were shot with an actual GT 250 California, the driving scenes and the key end scene were done with one of four Ford-powered replicas built for the film.
And while a real-deal Ferrari GT 250 California SWB Spider will set you back eight figures, the Ferris Bueller replicas have sold for close to half a million dollars each when they went to auction – including the crashed example.
Lewis’ next gig will be at the controls of Ferrari’s rebooted F1 effort. Sorry, Ed, but there’s no passenger seat in that car.
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