Lewis Hamilton is known to be a serious movie buff and has even made a foray in Hollywood as a producer on more than one occasion. His passion for driving, though, is what he is known for across the globe, and with seven F1 world championships, it’s fair to say he does a more than decent job at it.
The Mercedes driver has been around in the sport for a considerable period of time and being one of the leading personalities, he earns a staggering amount of money. While this income allows him a lavish lifestyle, Hamilton still has plenty of moolah to spare and invests this on pretty much anything he feels like.
When he saw a replica of the vintage Shelby GT500 (1967 model), Hamilton instantly knew it was a purchase he had to make, even if it cost $200,000. The Stevenage-born driver always knew he was buying a ‘heap of junk‘ and would never actually end up driving it. The 39-year-old claimed that the only thing the company did well with the car was its paint job and the rest of it ‘just isn’t very good’.
Despite never driving it and publicly stating how useless the car is, its value has risen by 60% and stands at $320,000 today, according to revologycars.
It is obvious that the only reason Hamilton bought the car was his love for cinema and just simply having a lot of spare cash, but even he wouldn’t have anticipated that it would become a frugal investment. Today, it adds further value to Hamilton’s car collection, which is handy to say the least.
If we are to dive into the features of the Shelby GT500, it has a supercharged Ford/ROUSH Performance 5.0L Ti-VCT “Coyote” DOHC V8 engine. This is notably the most powerful engine Ford has ever produced in over 100 years of business.
Hamilton may have been a touch harsh in his assessment of the car as it is believed to have brakes at par with that of the Ferrari 488 owing to its two-disc clutch that reduces the effort drivers need to pedal to extract power. To explain it in numerical terms, a driver can go from 62.1 mph to 0 mph in just 97.1 feet.
It may be true that Hamilton purchased the car purely due to its appeal in a movie, but he certainly didn’t get a bad deal.
Is Lewis Hamilton going to act in a movie?
Known to be a big-time movie buff, Hamilton’s favourite movie is believed to be Top Gun, a fact that he confessed during an interview in 2022. When Top Gun: Maverick was in the pipeline, Hamilton reportedly ‘begged’ Hollywood star Tom Cruise to get any role in it.
“When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I have to ask him’. I said ‘I don’t care what role it is. I’ll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back,’” Hamilton said.
Tom Cruise did oblige and gave Hamilton the role of a fighter pilot. It could’ve been a dream-come-true for Hamilton, but the former McLaren driver turned it down since he felt that he wouldn’t be able to do justice to the role owing to time commitments.
However, Hamilton has since suggested that he will never turn down such an opportunity in the future.
Acting is something that Hamilton might have to wait for, but he was still able to convince Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski to direct his own upcoming F1 movie that features Brad Pitt.