“We can’t stop here. This is bat country!”
– Raoul Duke

The Mint 400 will likely ring a bell even among those not into desert racing, owing to it being the setting for Hunter S. Thompson’s iconic book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and its 1998 film adaptation.

Appropriately, Thompson’s personal 1973 Chevrolet Caprice convertible that was used in the movie is set to be auctioned off just five days after the race.

From March 12 to 14, in-person auctions will be held for the Jim Irsay Collection, the personal collection of the late Indianapolis Colts owner who passed away last May. Irsay had an extensive arsenal of memorabilia and artifacts that he compiled throughout his lifetime, predominantly instruments like guitars used by music legends as well as sports items such as the saddle used on Secretariat during his 1973 Triple Crown run.

Thompson got the Caprice in 1990 from Artie and Jim Mitchell, owning until his death in 2005. The brothers, heavyweights in San Francisco’s pornography scene during the 1970s and ’80s, restored the Caprice in solidarity with Thompson when the gonzo journalism pioneer was on trial for drug charges before giving it to him when the case was dropped.

Nicknamed the “Red Shark”, the Caprice is based on the same Chevrolet that Fear and Loathing protagonist and Thompson’s alter ego Raoul Duke drives on his way to Las Vegas to cover the Mint 400. For the film, Duke and Dr. Gonzo—respectively played by Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro—drive Thompson’s Caprice in close-up cuts, though an Impala was used for exterior shots. The Caprice’s steering wheel was replaced with that of an Impala anyway for continuity.

While the movie was a box office flop and garnered mixed reviews at first, it has since become a cult classic. Many tend to associate Las Vegas and the Mint with Thompson’s works such as Fear and Loathing as a result.

Thompson’s widow Anita Bejmuk inherited the Caprice after his passing, while Irsay privately acquired it in 2021. The car is estimated to go for between $100,000 and $150,000.

The auction is overseen by Christie’s.

Featured image credit: Christie’s