Do you have a penchant for comedy films? Are you a fan of feeling the wind through your hair? Did you just do an upper-decker in the master bathroom? If you’ve answered yes, hold onto your genitalia, because Will Forte is auctioning off the one and only MacGruber Mazda Miata.
Welcome back to Gavel Gazing, our daily series where we show all of you what online car auctions have piqued our interest. Yesterday’s 1980 MGB Limited Edition ended up just being out of gas according to the seller, yet still hammered for a reasonable $6,000. That’s both well-bought and well-sold.
Over a total lifespan of more than 30 years and various names from Eunos Roadster to Miata to MX-5, Mazda’s little ragtop has gone from an affordable sports car to the definitive affordable sports car. It’s outlasted every other roadster that’s tried to go toe-to-toe with it, weathered economic downturns, corporate divorces, generational shifts, and entire car companies. While I admittedly don’t quite mesh with anything older than the ND2, I have massive respect for Mazda keeping the fun in driving. From spec racing to autocross, these cars play a headlining role in keeping entry-level motorsport alive.
This particular Miata hasn’t won any races, but it did play a supporting role in a little film called “MacGruber,” with Will Forte’s titular and entirely ridiculous special agent character using it as his chariot of choice. Crazier still, guess who currently owns the Miata? That’s right, it’s Will Forte, who is currently auctioning it off in support of The Pangea Project, a charity aiming to help close the education gap in Kenya and America. Hollywood’s tough on cars, but this Miata’s been living a relatively quiet life for the past 14 years or so. As Will Forte notes,
Back in 2009, after we shot the MacGruber movie, the production said they were gonna sell the car, so I bought it. I parked it in my garage and it sat there until we used it again in the MacGruber TV series. After that, it sat on the lot for a few years until I picked it up about a month ago and parked it back in the garage.
Alright, so it was used hard, but at least it was put away dry. That’s probably a good thing because the plastic rear window is separating, meaning I wouldn’t count on this Miata being water-tight. Then again, what old Miata is? In addition, Forte notes that “The interior has seen better days — mainly a few tears in the seats, most likely from excessive farting.” Taco Bell is a helluva drug, kids.
The MacGruber Miata has a few things going for it besides provenance, being that it’s a manual 1.8-liter car. Sure, it may have 145,384 miles on the clock, but it’s a Mazda — it’s just barely broken-in. These engines certainly don’t hold the same reputation as MacGruber’s C-4, so expect many happy miles to come. Oh, and it’s an M Edition that’s been repainted red, so it gets all sorts of goodies from lightweight five-spoke alloy wheels to a Torsen diff. As for the writing on the Miata, that’s a spoiler for the MacGruber TV series, released on Peacock in 2021. Forte claims the writing should come off with a quick wash, but I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if a little compounding and polishing is necessary to truly remove any traces.
Unsurprisingly for a charity auction, this car also comes with tiered perks depending on where the bidding lands. From the description:
In the unlikely event that this car goes for over $15,000, I will give you a page from the KFBR392 notebook of my choosing.In the unlikelier event that it goes for over $30,000, I will give you a page from the KFBR392 notebook of YOUR choosing.In the unlikeliest event that this goes for over $50,000, I will personally deliver the car to you anywhere in the lower 48 and take you out to dinner. (or if you prefer, fly you out to LA for dinner so you can pick up the car yourself).And I’m crazy for even writing this because it will not get up this high, but if this car goes for over $100,000, I will fly you and a friend out to Albuquerque where we shot the MacGruber movie and TV series and spend the whole day giving you my own personal MacGruber tour. I’ll even bring the original MacGruber costume and wig for you to try on. Heck, wear it the whole day if you want!
You’re right, Will. I don’t think the top of the Miata market sits anywhere near $100,000. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if that $15,000 threshold is reached.
At the time of writing, the auction won’t wrap up until Sunday, Oct. 22, but the high bid already sits at $13,000. Oh, and if you’re the winning bidder and can’t drive stick, Will Forte will personally teach you. Imagine learning to drive manual with Will Forte giving instructions from the passenger seat. Life doesn’t get much more surreal than that.
(Photo credits: GiveButter Auction)
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You know what, I really like the stretch goals on the auction. That’s awesome.
This makes me think of the ratty red/beige Saab C900 vert from “Sideways,” which shows up on Bay Area Craigslist every few years. Its condition worsens every time it changes hands (listed for 30-50K). Who knows what it sells for, but based on its increasing state of decrepitude, a movie car seems like the worst thing you can buy as enthusiast. If you fix it up, you lose your ass, so you’re stuck with a clapped-out car from a movie most people don’t even remember. Some vineyard probably buys it and writes it off as a business expense, so maybe it’s actually selling for such crazy numbers.
I don’t know, doesn’t really add any value to me, I am aware of the Mcgyver soin off skits, and have probably seen one, but I really don’t remember. A spin off of a TV show from SNL just doesn’t sound crazily impressive like. I am guessing the charity angle helps more. For some people $30,000 is walking around money, so I will say that.
$55,000!
A friend of mine was an extra in the hilarious show. He played “stern looking admiral” or something like that lol.
I have always dreamed of being an admiral. Since I never joined the Navy, it seems unlikely that the government will just give me the title. Playing one on a low budget TV show would be almost as good as the real thing though
15k now, one page of whatever that notebook is.
Does the listing really only have 5 pictures with none of the interior? What is this, Facebook?
I hate to rag on a listing for charity, but I think he could raise more money if he spent more than 60 seconds writing the listing. Maybe he’s just banking on someone not caring about any details and just making an impulse decision based on the movie connection.
Maybe we should pool our resources and have Will “teaching” Torch or Mercedes how to drive stick 🙂
This is one of the many bad decisions I would make if I won the billion dollar lottery. I would absolutely drop $100k for the experience.
It’s never been my favorite SNL+ skit, but I do appreciate the oddness of how it’s both a reference to a specific show and also something that took on a complete independent life of its own.
And then warping back, Richard Dean Anderson was a good sport about it to the point of being in it. Though I’m a little disappointed that the meta loop wasn’t completed by the MacGyver reboot featuring a MacGruber reference (from what I’ve seen anyway).
Hey If I bid enough can I get a fat Magruder outfit with wig and pictures with the little guy?
One question before I submit a bid of $50,000. Does it come with the Blaupunkt??
Never saw more than an ad for this Mageuder guy. I out grew sarcastic fart joke teenage movies years before. But the Will guy seems to be a nice guy doing a nice thing for no other reason than it is a good thing. I think time with him would be worth at least the value of the car. So should sell for double the cars value.
The movie had more going on that that, it’s really basically what if MacGyver was totally incompetent, but everyone was oblivious to it, including him. It’s not going to be selected for preservation in the National Film Registry anytime soon, but it’s definitely in the top tier of SNL sketch based movies
The show was excellent as well. Not just fart jokes, but also fart jokes.
Ha, a few weekends ago I was at a Lemons race and a friend of mine was racing on a Miata team that was rocking a MacGruber theme. For some reason I didn’t connect the dots that MacGruber actually drove a Miata in the movie.
I kind of want to buy it and claim not to know how to drive stick, just to see what his lesson would be like.
I could not justify the purchase, but I hope that whoever buys it is willing to say they need the instruction.