Alongside Raoul Duke and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, one of the most enduring ‘characters’ of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the Great Red Shark: a rented Chevrolet Impala convertible serving as a blunt, 4,000-pound symbol of American capitalist culture.
Thompson’s personal connection to the legend manifested later in this 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Convertible acquired in 1990. It was gifted to Thompson by the notorious Mitchell brothers, pornographic film pioneers whom Thompson had befriended while working as the night manager at their O’Farrell Theatre in San Francisco. Thompson nicknamed this machine the “Red Shark” as a tribute to the original beast that tore through the Nevada desert in a drug-fueled haze.
When Thompson faced drug and explosives charges that same year, the Mitchells restored the Caprice and led a “convoy of well-wishers” to Colorado to present it to him on the eve of his preliminary hearing. The car even arrived with a three-foot-tall stuffed buffalo head in the back seat, a surreal nod to the film and book Where the Buffalo Roam.
When Thompson’s novel was adapted into the 1998 cult classic film, a 1971 Impala was used for exterior shots for continuity to the origional story, however the “Red Shark” Caprice was used for many of the interior shots. To ensure continuity, the Caprice’s steering wheel was swapped for an Impala version, most notably seen during the hallucinatory opening scenes and the police chase outside Baker, California.
Other modifications include a polished walnut drinks tray from a Rolls-Royce, designed to hold a wide glass of scotch and a Heineken.
Ralph Steadman, who famously illustrated the original novel, described the car as “liquid,” emerging like a “smear of red cellulose” against the high-altitude light of the Rockies.
This 1973 Caprice represents peak Americana and the “last of the analogue” land yachts. As Thompson famously wrote, “Old elephants limp off to the hills to die; old Americans go out to the highway and drive themselves to death with huge cars”.
Auction estimates are $100,000 – $150,000 USD: Christie’s Auction Lot 6573423
| Photography: | Provided by CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2025 and used in connection with Christie’s sale. |
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