Photo: Barrett-Jackson
Optimus Prime from the Transformers live-action saga just found a new home in the garage of Rick Hendrick. The owner of Hendrick Motorsports paid no less than $110,000 for the truck you can admire in the gallery below, which is top dollar for an old semi.
High pricing aside, what boggles the mind even more is that Hendrick bought Optimus Prime for $110,000 after he previously paid $1.2 million for the first-ever 2017 Acura NSX and $1.65 million for three vintage Corvettes at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction.
While the NSX is a technological showcase on wheels and the three Corvettes are a welcome addition to any collector’s garage, the 1992 Peterbilt 379 semi truck has the upper hand in terms of wow factor. Just look at it and revel in the sheer size of this leviathan.
Arguably the best characterization of Optimus Prime, the semi bought by Hendrick was used as a stunt truck in the first three films directed by Michael Bay. This may not come as a surprise to you, but this Peterbilt doesn’t transform into Optimus Prime as it did in the movies. The robotic form of Optimus Prime is just the typical CGI wizardry done in a studio. Boo and hiss!
Nevertheless, you’re looking at a functional tractor that comes with a VIN, title, and a 14.6-liter straight-six turbo diesel behemoth under the hood. Imagine seeing that custom grille capped off with the Autobots emblem in your rearview mirror. Now stop imagining it because it won’t happen. Why’s that? According to the lot’s description, the blue & red-painted Peterbilt 379 truck is “not currently street legal.”
But at the end of the day, Hendrick didn’t buy this truck to do “donuts at 70 miles per hour,” as Michael Bay described on the auction block in Scottsdale. The 66-year-old motorsport heavyweight bought it for the hell of it all. As the winning bidder, Hendrick also earned a walk-on spot in the upcoming Transformers movie. For the fifth Transformers live-action movie, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he would return as the leading actor.
While the NSX is a technological showcase on wheels and the three Corvettes are a welcome addition to any collector’s garage, the 1992 Peterbilt 379 semi truck has the upper hand in terms of wow factor. Just look at it and revel in the sheer size of this leviathan.
Arguably the best characterization of Optimus Prime, the semi bought by Hendrick was used as a stunt truck in the first three films directed by Michael Bay. This may not come as a surprise to you, but this Peterbilt doesn’t transform into Optimus Prime as it did in the movies. The robotic form of Optimus Prime is just the typical CGI wizardry done in a studio. Boo and hiss!
Nevertheless, you’re looking at a functional tractor that comes with a VIN, title, and a 14.6-liter straight-six turbo diesel behemoth under the hood. Imagine seeing that custom grille capped off with the Autobots emblem in your rearview mirror. Now stop imagining it because it won’t happen. Why’s that? According to the lot’s description, the blue & red-painted Peterbilt 379 truck is “not currently street legal.”
But at the end of the day, Hendrick didn’t buy this truck to do “donuts at 70 miles per hour,” as Michael Bay described on the auction block in Scottsdale. The 66-year-old motorsport heavyweight bought it for the hell of it all. As the winning bidder, Hendrick also earned a walk-on spot in the upcoming Transformers movie. For the fifth Transformers live-action movie, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he would return as the leading actor.
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