The movie car’s been part of a private collection ever since the series wrapped filming—but come January, it’s off to a new home
- The “Shaguar” E-Type movie car from the Austin Powers films is up for sale for the first time
- The star car was the only one to appear on-screen across all three movies—no stunt cars were built
- The flamboyant Jaguar crosses the auction block in Florida in January 2025
When the first Austin Powers movie was filmed in 1997, the Jaguar he drove on screen was thirty years old, just enough of an anachronism to be parodied by painting a huge Union Jack over it. This explains why the film is funny. Today, we are nearly three decades from when that film was first released in theatres. This explains why your knees hurt.
Thus, seeing the actual Jaguar from the movie coming up for auction in January is less about nostalgia for the 1960s spy movies that Mike Myers was skewering; and more about a time capsule back to when your phone was only for phoning people. The 1990s! What a heady place to re-visit. Did we really go nuts for a floppy-haired, hairy-chested, perpetually bumbling secret agent with teeth like a picket fence in a hurricane?
Box-office results for all three movies of – Dr. Evil voice – one billion dollars says we did. Well, nearly half-a-billion. The Powers franchise was bigger than anyone remembers, and you’d have to think today’s young audiences would be completely bewildered by it. However, if you’re of a certain age, it was pretty fun, and eminently quotable.
The car was apparently acquired by someone tied to the studio right after filming wrapped on the third movie, and was promptly treated to a restoration; it’s been in private hands ever since. Shown off by Jaguar Land Rover from time to time, it’s a decent example of an E-Type underneath, with the 4.2L inline-six and a manual gearbox. However, the draw here really is for the Austin Powers fan. It’d be a fun addition to a collection of either significant Jaguars, or movie cars.
Head over to Mecum’s site to check out their presentation, and mark your calendar to watch what kind of money this thing will fetch—a not-so-nearly-famous example is worth about CDN$136,000 in driver condition, per insurer Hagerty, but we expect this one to go for quite a bit more. Yeah, baby! (Really? We used to say things like that?) The Shaguar goes up on the block on January 18, 2025.
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