The only thing more epic than the saga of MacGruber might be the fate of his cherry red Mazda Miata. Will Forte has revealed what became of his SNL character’s ride, and it sounds like the kind of unpredictable turn of events that could only happen to the world’s favorite wannabe MacGyver.
Forte recounted the vehicle’s journey on the latest episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, which was a “MacGruber Takeover” event with Forte and the character’s sketch co-writers, John Solomon and Jorma Taccone.
The SNL alum put the car on the auction block back in October 2023, with proceeds going to The Pangea Network, a charity that provides educational and financial resources to women and youth in Kenya and the United States.
Originating on SNL in 2006, the success of the MacGruber sketches spawned a 2010 feature film, a sequel series on Peacock, and even a series of Super Bowl ads featuring MacGyver star Richard Dean Anderson (as MacGruber’s father).
The car—a 1996 Mazda Miata convertible with more than 145,000 miles on it—was used in both the movie and the show. Forte purchased the car from the production in 2009. It sat in his garage until it was again used for filming in the 2021 series. After two more years of sitting on the studio lot, Forte decided to auction it off.
Forte didn’t have high expectations for what the 27-year-old car would fetch at auction. It had a stick shift, torn seats, a torn convertible top, no stereo, and was covered in phallic drawings and graffiti from production with phrases like “Just Married” and “Sex Rules.”
Given all that, the actor preemptively threw in some bonuses to sweeten the pot. “In the unlikely event that this car goes for over $15,000, I will give you a page from the KFBR392 notebook of my choosing,” he wrote in the auction listing, referring to a prop from the film. For an “unlikelier” final bid of $30,000, the winner would get a page of their choosing.
For an “unlikeliest” $50,000, Forte offered to personally deliver the car anywhere in the contiguous United States and take the winner out to dinner.
Just in case, Forte threw in an option for a bid of $100,000 or more: a flight to Albuquerque, a MacGruber locations tour led by Forte, and the opportunity to wear the original MacGruber wig and costume. Forte also vowed to teach any winner how to drive a stick shift.
After five days and 16 bids, the unlikeliest happened.
“This guy bought it for $55,000,” Forte revealed on the podcast.
Forte, of course, made good on his promises—and then some.
“They live outside Dallas and I flew out there and actually spent the whole weekend with them. Had a really fun time,” Forte recalled of the winner. “And we taught his son to drive a stick shift in the Miata that weekend.”
As if learning to drive from one half of Jon Bovi isn’t legendary enough, it gets better.
“I brought the MacGruber outfit, and we made him wear the clothes,” Forte added. “He was such a good sport. He had the clothes on and the freaking wig, and he’s just driving around.”
Forte also shared that, in the process of getting the Miata in working order for the auction, he was forced to drive it around Los Angeles himself a few times.
“It’s a little bit like seeing Adam West in the Batmobile,” Seth Meyers pointed out. “If you’re in L.A. and you see a dude in their car from their show, your first thought isn’t, ‘They’re crushing it.’”