Lola T70 Racecars Used To Be So Cheap That George Lucas Bought His Own To Film THX 1138

You may not have heard of the classic 1971 sci-fi movie "THX 1138," but you might have heard of another little movie called "Star Wars," done a few years later by the same director. While there are some similarities to be drawn, this early entry by George Lucas didn't have nearly as much budget. The studio allotted Lucas just $777,777 for his first feature film — and it showed. He had to get creative to make his pennies stretch, so when it came time to buy a futuristic-looking car for the movie, he chose to buy at least one used Lola T70 racecar.

That might seem like an odd purchase on a tight budget. Nowadays, a Lola T70 would easily go for more than $200,000. But that wasn't the case back in 1969, when the movie was filmed. Used race cars weren't considered the treasures they are today, especially when they reached the end of their usefulness on the track. That had just happened to the T70, thanks to the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512. Judging from what used T70s and used supercars were going for at the time, Lucas may have gotten the recently-obsolete T70 for just a few grand, even though it would have been only a couple of years old. And the fact that Lucas had likely cultivated connections when working as a cameraman on "Grand Prix" – an incredibly realistic film about racing – probably didn't hurt.

Before this Lola T70 made its sci-fi movie debut, it was owned by the actor James Garner, famous for starring in the Rockford Files. Sometimes, Garner liked to drive the racecar himself; other times, he would simply participate as the owner of his racing team. Owning this car made sense, and although it was obsolete by 1969, the Lola T70 dominated during its debut at Can-Am. The same model that would later star in Lucas' film raced in the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona, where it came in second. That same year, the movie studios made Garner quit his racing career, so he sold his Lola — which is how Lucas and company got their hands on it.

This Lola was a 1967 Mark III model, serial number SL73/117. For the movie, they put lights and a siren on top of the vehicle and painted it to look like a futuristic squad car. They also put a fake turbine on the back of it to make it look like it had a jet engine, because some thought cars would eventually adopt gas turbine engines in the future. To maintain the illusion, they replaced the audio of the racecar roaring through closed San Francisco tunnels with the sound of a fighter jet. (Of course, if such a future came to pass, that wouldn't stop neighbors from calling the police to complain about noise.)

If you've seen "THX 1138" for yourself, you probably remember at least two Lolas. When Robert Duvall's character escapes in a police car, his comrade steals the black Lola right beside it and promptly crashes. Hemmings says this was a Mark II spyder modified into a coupe, but our research could only confirm the purchase of the James Garner Lola T70. FiberFab, a kitcar company, is listed in the end credits, meaning the black Lola could have been a fiberglass replica.

However, if you caught this flick for the first time after 2004, you might remember even more Lolas during the chase scene. Those were CGI models inserted into the remastered Director's Cut. Frankly, they didn't look great, which you might've already expected if you aren't fond of the remastered Star Wars original trilogy. 

The important thing is that you'll only find maybe two authentic Lola T70s in "THX 1138," with just one that's absolutely certain to be real. After the movie was filmed, one of the cars was given to the stunt driver, John Ward, as payment, which is definitely one way to keep costs down.