Rush: The real thing

Wherever possible Ron Howard used genuine 1976 Formula 1 cars to make the Rush story come alive, but his team also had to create replicas for the trickier action scenes, and to use when local noise restrictions meant it wasn’t possible to run a DFV or Ferrari flat-12.

Two replica McLaren M23s and three Ferrari 312T/312T2s were built, while there was also the option to swap bodies to create rarer beasts such as the Ligier JS5 and Brabham BT45, since original examples weren’t available. Two BRM P160s were also created for the film.

Much of the footage, however, involves real cars sourced from the Historic Formula One series, including James Hunt’s M23-8 championship winner. In some cases cars required temporary bodywork mods – for example the two Tyrrell P34s had to be converted from their usual 1977-spec, and the real Ferraris had to serve as both 312Ts and T2s. Others required tall airboxes for the early-season races, before the rules changed at May’s Spanish GP.

Also on set and playing bit parts were examples of the Lotus 77, Tyrrell 007, March 761, Shadow DN5, Hesketh 308D, Surtees TS19, Penske PC3 and Wolf-Williams FW05. Howard sourced genuine Lotus and Tyrrell transporters to add to the authenticity of paddock scenes.

Rush’s association with the HF1 organisation began at the Nürburgring in August 2011, when Howard conducted some exploratory filming, six months before the main shoot began. Having covered the race weekend he invited some owners to do a little running on the Nordschleife on the Monday. The experiment worked so well that it became apparent he would be able to do more in camera with real cars than he’d anticipated, and there would be a corresponding reduction in the need for CGI.

The heart of the Rush shoot was at Blackbushe Airfield in Hampshire, where a pit and paddock area was constructed, complete with grid and grandstands. The pit buildings were cleverly designed so that they could be converted overnight to represent different circuits, with appropriate brick or concrete facias.

The production also went to Brands Hatch and the Nürburgring, where Niki Lauda’s accident was faithfully recreated at Bergwerk. It was impossible to visit any other original 1976 venues – few are still recognisable, and for commercial reasons filming had to be focused in the UK and Germany – so Donington, Snetterton and Cadwell Park were used instead, sometimes with cars running in the reverse direction in order to replicate real corners. The schedule was incredibly tight, but weather delays were never a problem – when it rained, the action immediately became Fuji…

Niki Faulkner and his Driving Wizards organisation were responsible for choreographing the cut and thrust action with the replicas, while the original cars were always driven by their owners, or someone designated by them. In a nice touch, a visiting Jochen Mass was reunited with an M23 for a couple of days while Sean Edwards did some running in the Penthouse-liveried Hesketh raced by father Guy.