Porsche 928 Tom Cruise Drove in ‘Risky Business’ Just Sold For Way Too Much Money
Celebrity-owned cars are kind of hit or miss on the auction block. However, picture cars (cars actually on screen in movies) like the Porsche 928 Tom Cruise drove in Risky Business often do way better. That being said, no one thought the Tom Crusie Porsche 928 in gold from the iconic film would do this well. The Risky Business Porsche just sold for crazy stupid money, and no one saw it coming.
The Risky Business Porsche 928 just crushed the world record
This Porsche 928 is a strange case. On the one hand, it’s the hero car in an iconic 80s film; on the other hand, it’s still a Porsche 928.
If it had been a Porsche 911 or something more collectible and rare in its own right, that would have been something, but the 928, while cool, just isn’t very special. Well, bidders at the 2021 Barrett-Jackson Houston auction clearly felt differently.
According to Motor1, Tom Cruise’s gold Porsche 928 from Risky Business just sold for an astounding $1,980,000.
Tom Crusie learned to drive stick in this Porsche 928
After the auction concluded, Barrett-Jackson confirmed that the Risky Business Porsche is now the world-record-holding most expensive Porsche 928 of any year ever sold. Aside from it being the hero car from the film, the owner got a little extra cream on top with the fact that Tom Cruise had to learn to drive stick for the action sequences in this film. Seeing as how the 928 would be the car he’d have to drive, Tom Cruise decided to learn on the gold 928 itself, adding to the car’s provenance.
The 2021 Barrett-Jackson Houston auction had some momentum behind it
This most recent Barret-Jackson auction was a red-letter year for the auction house. Officials say that the weekend cleared $37 million in total sales. The auction also saw every car sell, and 34 of them were world-record sales, including the Risky Business Porsche 928. This made Barret-Jackson responsible for 200 world-record sales to date.
Now, what does this mean? We have seen some wild auctions of the past year or so. As COVID has wreaked financial stress on many sectors, one market that seems healthier than ever is the collectible/ luxury market.
We’re not saying that Tom Cruise’s 928 was just caught in the wave, but nearly $2 million for it certainly raised some eyebrows. More than it shows a massive fan base for Risky Business; it shows a wealthy crowd with a healthy appetite for excessive spending.
Why did Risky Business use Porsche 928 instead of a 911?
While this may seem a tad off-subject, many people wonder why the director of Risky Business, Paul Brickman, chose the far more obscure Porsche over the iconic Porsche 911. Brickman said that the 911 seemed a bit “mundane,” whereas the 928 had some flair.
If the price wasn’t already crazy enough, this isn’t even a factory original car. The Porsche 928 that just sold was one of the three cars used to film. However, this was the hero car used in all the close-ups and was the one primarily used for the chase scene.
This car started life wearing a green paint job and got repainted in its flashier gold color for the film. So, this hasty re-paint is what sold for nearly $2 million. Without the film, this would likely be something you’d find on Craigslist for $15,000. I’d call that quite the bump.
