The two rare Lamborghini Countachs from the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" did not meet the same fate at auction.

There are cars that live through the decades thanks to their technical specifications. And then there are those that become immortal thanks to the cinema. The Lamborghini Countach The Wolf of Wall Street belongs in this category. Except that behind the legend lies a less glamorous story. A story of pride, threats, auctions... and a seller who, in his pursuit of the jackpot, may have let his best chance slip through his fingers.

Two Countach

There's one thing many people don't know: The Wolf of Wall Street didn't use just one Countach, but two Countach 25th Anniversary. Two cars Lamborghini very close, both in American configuration, both white, both linked to this film that has become one of Scorsese's most famous. One has remained "healthy": it's the one that appears in shots where we're looking for a perfect car. The other, on the other hand, became the subject of the craziest scene: the wrecked Countach, later preserved in its original condition. And that's where the story gets interesting: because the "non-accident" Countach wasn't put up for sale by just anyone. Its owner at the time of sale was John Temerian, CEO of We Are Curated, and it is he who tells the hidden side of this saga.

How the film deliberately "broke" the Lamborghini Countach

Contrary to popular belief, the crashed Lamborghini Countach from The Wolf of Wall Street wasn't destroyed by accident on the set. Martin Scorsese insisted on the use of a real Countach, believing that a replica would not have produced credible on-screen damage. During the chaotic driving scenes, the car was indeed subjected to real shocks, supervised by professional stuntmen. But these stunts alone did not explain the extremely degraded condition visible in the film. To accentuate the dramatic effect, the production team then deliberately added damage. After the rolling scenes had been filmed, the Countach was placed on a flatbed truck, then bumped in a controlled manner against fixed objects (posts, obstacles, set elements). The aim was not to destroy the car, but to give it the rugged appearance we see in the film.

John Temerian: "I washed this Countach when I was a kid".

Temerian explains that the purchase of this Countach "Wolf of Wall Street" was one of the most exciting moments of his career. Chassis KLA12722 is indeed one of the two examples used in the film. And according to him, it took five years of "hunting" to acquire it, document it and tell its story properly. During the search, Temerian discovers that his father had maintained the car in the 1990s... and he, as a child, used to wash it. The previous owner, a former customer of his father's, even contacted him again and sent him an equally interesting document: the original purchase contract, dated 1997, in which the Countach was bought for $74,000.

Non-accident Lamborghini goes on sale in New York at RM Sotheby's

The "non-accident" Countach is being auctioned at RM Sotheby's in New York, for a sale scheduled for December 2023. The ad is built like a story: iconic car, screen presence, model rarity, role in the film. As the RM Sotheby's sale gathers momentum, Temerian recounts the arrival of a formal notice and particularly aggressive calls. The opposing camp are the owners of the wrecked Countach. Their argument: talking too loudly about the "healthy" Countach would damage the value of the wrecked car. He tries a proposal: buy back the car, or sell the two together, creating a historic duo, a perfect "package". But the discussion degenerates. Tempers flare.

The owners of the crashed Countach then made a surprising choice: instead of accompanying the American story to New York to sell both cars at the same time, they sent their car... to Abu Dhabi, at Bonhams, at the end of November 2023, just before the sale of the New York car, with a very high estimate.

Lamborghini crashed in Abu Dhabi goes on sale at Bonhams

The Bonhams sale takes place against a spectacular backdrop. The announcement is grandiloquent: "hero car", accessories, signed objects, Jordan Belfort's costume... Everything is done to transform the car into a museum relic. Estimate: 1.5 to 2 million dollars.

Two strategies, two destinies

Just a few weeks apart, the two Lamborghinis in The Wolf of Wall Street followed radically different paths. In November 2023, the wrecked Countach, despite being the most memorable on-screen car, went to auction with an (overly) ambitious estimate. Bidders responded, but not at the level demanded. At $1.35 million, the seller chose to retain the car, convinced it was worth more. The hammer fell in the void. A month later, in New York, the non-accident Countach sold for $1,655,000 at RM Sotheby's. A clean, public, documented sale that set a clear benchmark for this type of car, combining rarity, cinema and personal history. In the end, $1.35 million was probably the right price.