For the past six years, drivers on Czech highways have been encountering a car known as the “Phantom.” Since 2019, this Formula-style race car has been flying up and down major motorways without lights, a license plate, or any other sort of equipment to make it road legal.
Somehow, the driver has managed to evade capture by police, escaping before they could find him, despite numerous sightings and countless video recordings from roadside onlookers and other motorists… until now. The Czech Republic police force said on Monday morning that it had finally captured the alleged driver.
The police said on X that officers followed the car to the town of Buk, a small village about 90 miles south of the capital city of Prague. And judging by the response, they weren’t messing around. From The Telegraph:
The police response was heavy: along with several patrol cars, a helicopter was also dispatched to the house where the man, a 51-year-old, emerged from the car in a helmet and full race gear, but refused to cooperate.
[…]
The driver’s son, identified as Lukáš, complained that police presence was disproportionate to what he called a “traffic violation” and denied being connected to the car that was seen speeding earlier Sunday morning.He and his father have been posting videos of the racing car on TrackZone, their YouTube channel, as a hobby.
Looking through that channel’s videos, it seems as if the driver and his son have been posting clips of the car driving on the road for the past year. How the police weren’t able to put those two things together remains a mystery. The channel even published footage of the police encounter on Sunday, showing the driver putting his hands up and being escorted into the back of a squad car, still in full racing gear. You can even see the helicopter in the sky:
While the car in question wears a Ferrari badge on the nose, it’s not actually a Formula 1 car. According to Road & Track, it’s a Dallara GP2/08 made to look like a prancing horse, wearing a bright red paint job along with Shell and Marlboro branding. With a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 revving to 10,500 RPM, I’d argue it’s a bit more interesting than today’s F1 cars, at least sound-wise.
According to the driver’s son, the car never truly stretched its legs while out on its extra-legal adventures. From The Telegraph:
“The events have always gone without any problems. Everyone knows very well that Formula One has been running on the highway in the Czech Republic since 2019 and people will have to get used to it,” he told Czech news site Idnes.cz.
[…]
Racing cars are not road legal as they do not have licence plates, lights, blinkers or safety equipment. But Lukáš denied the car ever exceeded 200 kmh (124 mph). The top speed limit in the Czech Republic is 130 kmh (81 mph).
“It always drove at a maximum of 180 to 200 kmh and did not endanger anyone. It just drove and did not make dangerous manoeuvres. Other people drive much more dangerously today,” he said.
“If you had a car like that at home, you wouldn’t just want to look at it. For me, just because a car isn’t built for the highway doesn’t mean it can’t be driven on it. Not by a long shot. Drivers who drive at 30 mph on country roads are far more dangerous.”
Fair point, but there’s also a reason why all of those laws exist. Letting one person break them by driving a literal race car, with no safety equipment or lights, on the road with normal, unsuspecting drivers just can’t fly (as cool as the act itself may be).
In another post on X, Czech police said the driver refused to comment on the situation. The agency says he’ll face “a fine in the order of several thousand crowns and a driving ban.” At the time of this writing, 1 Czech Crown is equal to around $0.05 USD.
While we’re sad to see the mystery of a legendary internet legend exposed, it’s probably best police shut down the “Phantom’s” behavior. Sooner or later, it would’ve ended badly. If he ever gets his license back, we suggest the driver buy something like a BAC Mono. This way, he can get that same sort of race car feeling, but with the added freedom of legality.
Top graphic images: TrackZone / YouTube
So, the Phantom is a Fauxrari… and it’s now impounded and up for sale. Cost wise, I guess that makes it a Dallara capture? (I’ll see myself out.)
I wonder if Ferrari’s legal team will demand a repaint before the sales transaction can be completed. They tend to be a bit obsessive about protecting their IP that way.
I do find it a bit surprising it’s up for sale so quickly, but then again what little I know about the Czech legal system comes from episodes of FBI International. (So, nothing, really.)
Scuderia Ferrari should bid on this so their engineers can learn a thing or two about making racecars.
Rent it out and it’d fetch at least a Dallara day.
This reminds me of the old Ghostrider videos from back in the day with the motorcycle rider who ran from the cops. They finally caught the guy but he had a hell of a ride. As a lame college student, I loved getting my hands on a bootleg of them.
@autopian staff. Honestly you guys should do a piece on that story. What a wild time to be alive. I might even have one of the original bootlegs stored on my server some where.
IIRC there was also a guy (in Montreal?) who was doing the same thing in a shifter kart.
Yeah the Ghostrider guy was somewhere in Europe, like Sweden or something. He also had a snowmobile he put wheels on and cruised around antagonizing the cops. Dude never got caught in a chase but finally someone ratted him out years after the fact.
OK first off, this sounds like an episode of CHiPs.
But also, a 4.0-liter V8 Dallara sounds to me like an IRL car from the Oldsmobile era. IF that’s what this is, then putting Enzo’s name on it borders on heresy and should be punished in some sort of Old-Testament way.
How cool is it that this happened in Europe with an Oldsmobile?
Wow, you’re right, I can totally see this as a CHiPs chase. Picture it happening on a weirdly empty freeway with only a handful of other cars, some of which seem to magically teleport into the background of multiple shots
Baker and Ponch will getcha though
Baker & Ponch woulda yanked him outta that thing before his gibberish-laden rant.
Right before Ponch makes a date for tonight with a hot woman in traffic.
If it was in the UK, it would look suspiciously like this stretch of cancelled road, (where lots of things are filmed when they need a ‘normal looking’ stretch of dual-carriageway without the expense of closing a real road)
So that’s why every English car chase looks like it takes place on the same road.
Same phenomenon as when every Star Trek planet looks like SoCal, and every BSG planet looks like BC.
And every Doctor Who/Red Dwarf/Hitchhiker’s Guide alien planet looks like a quarry in Wales
And every X-Files episode also looks like BC, until part way through, when everything starts looking like southern California
The car will be impounded and listed for sale; it might be hard to find a buyer for a car with such a Czech’ered past.
Was slightly amused until I read the quotes from the rich, entitled asswipes. I don’t believe his claims about the speed (that is still well above the limit) at all. I understand the statement about having something and the difficulty in resisting using it, but the easy answer there is to only own what you can legally use. Of course, that answer doesn’t work for them, because they’re entitled asswipes.
Or they could take it to a track or something. Lots of options that aren’t illegal and dangeous.
They were only able to catch him because he had to slow when a Czech engine light illuminated.
Angry upvote. Now go away
How long have you been sitting on that, waiting for just the right article?
Years. My son really wants to buy a Tatra someday. (The things that happen when you let kids visit the Lane Museum!) I’ve told him that I will be making Czech engine light jokes if he does.
Those jokes had better include ” *opens hood,* yup, it’s still in there.” or similar.
Good luck to your son. I hope he makes steady Prague-ress towards his goal!
Take your upvote but don’t expect me to open my Czech book to reward you.
OT my favorite Czech book is “The Good Soldier Svejk”.
COTD
I’m surprised Ferrari didn’t come knocking first.
The driver received a black flag, not a Czechered one.
Take your star and the rest of the day off!
Florida needs to step up its game.
I got passed on the highway yesterday by someone going at least 110 in ratty, rusted mid 2000s sedan, with a worrisome lean and half the lights out. I’m not saying the F1 guy should get a free pass, but maybe the police could crack down on the other 999 people doing terrible things in Altimas.
Big Altima energy has become a household name for us. My lovely spose actually said: “a case of mistaken identity” the other day, and it took me a minute to understand she was referring to the dumbass in the Kia who was making all kinds of stupid moves on the highway, yet always ended up behind us somehow.
Funny this has moved from the 9th gen Bonneville to the Altima. Used to be the only cars passing college kids on the “reasonable and prudent” Montana freeways were old ranchers and their wives in supercharged Bonnevilles.
Going for the dad-joke gold medal here:
He definitely made a lot of mistakes before.
It’s all part of his Czech erred past.
God dammit.
On YouTube he was like Czech this out I’m in an F1 car on the road! Then the police came and Czechmate…
I have to think that publicly accessible off-track circuits were more available, accessible, affordable, and promoted that it would give some people an outlet.
Sure, but they wouldn’t be able to be content creators that way.
It was inevitable. Gotta Czech yourself before you wreck yourself.
Will it get wrapped before passing to the next rider?
“If you had a car like that at home, you wouldn’t just want to look at it. For me, just because a car isn’t built for the highway doesn’t mean it can’t be driven on it. Not by a long shot. Drivers who drive at 30 mph on country roads are far more dangerous.”
Czech your privilege buddy.
If I could afford a car like that at home, I could afford to trailer it to track days.
So if they would have just had lights and a license plate it would have been fine??? Just a snarky question. No need for pedantic detailed answers.
Probably, actually
“Yes.” – Montana DMV.
and it’s fine if the lights are decals.
If it works like in 99% of the world, no.
Cars have to be registered. You need to provide a VIN and probably meet a LOT more requirements such as having airbags, catalytic converter, etc. and since this car doesn’t meet pedestrian crash safety laws, even if it had a VIN and all required safety devices, it would still be denied of a road permit.
There was a guy here that built his own “plane car”, which was essentially a GM frame with a home-made WWII-like aircraft fuselage on top (no wings of course). It was taken off the road after a few years of successfully evading the law.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTtoDd31eCzXhg8nBbKOlPsmPyyGlp79VmaxA&s
You don’t need a VIN for kit cars (generally, jurisdiction dependant), which is the avenue you’d have to take if you were making a thing like this road legal.
I’d bet it could be licensed here.
I was wondering what his insurance company thought about this.
Of course, if he had insurance.
Seriously? If??
“Hi (Czech) Nationwide, I’d like to get a quote for my non-road legal ‘car’ for when I do crimes. If I agree not to go beyond 70kph over the legal limit, can I qualify for the safe driver discount?”
I am torn.
I know it’s my own automotive bias that makes me LOVE seeing the vids of the formula car on the roads while I despise seeing Carolina squatters or those spike-wheeled slabs.
I am who I am, I guess. Free the Ferrari!
Meh, it’s a GP2 car, chassis made by Dollara and engine a Renault badged Mechachrome. Nothing Ferrari about it. You can pick up the current version for about $400K, so not cheap, but pretty cheap for what it is.
I know it’s not an F1 car, but I still love seeing an open-wheel racecar on the streets. I’d be more excited about spotting this than nearly any Lamborghini short of a Miura.
I get that perspective. As long as he’s not endangering others, I wouldn’t have a problem with him dailying it.
It’s the cos-play racing suit that really sells it. He paid good money to pretend Marlboro was paying him.
Actually, Michael Schumacher didn’t get hurt after all. He just went off the grid and moved to the Czech Republic.
Lemans unlimited sports cars and racing carts have been street licensed.
There are a lot of race cars street licensed, mostly more subtle.
In the south, there are street race cars that are trailered to races.
Considering vehicles with over 1000 hp aren’t unheard of in daily drivers, that’s a different level.
How hard is this?
I found a complete NASCAR survivor as a roller for 4500 asking price.
Parts on it were worth more.
A mustang built around an engine plate that looked stock, down to the interior and crappy radio that worked, just window dressing. Did have a full cage.
A 240Z with a V8 conversion, so race tuned it was nearly undrivable at less than 10/10ths.
Test driving it, it tried to snatch into a ditch at low speed.
Went back and told the owner.
He laughed and said you have to hammer it.
O to 100 to 0 in a block felt easy.
Amazing setup.
These were all affordable cars.
All were tagged, except the ex NASCAR.
The one I got even passed smog testing.
Lots of options out there.
Some are louder than others.
Officer: Do you know why I pulled you over?
Phantom Driver: Because I let you.
Username Czechs out….?
I’ll see myself out.
LOL what a clown, trying to order the police around and intimidate them about their “performance bonus”. And claim he was only being towed and did nothing wrong. The son also sounds delusional.
Ever since this car started popping up in videos I assumed one of two things:
The owner was a mad car guy who was so immersed into being an F1 driver that he couldn’t help having the closest thing to one nor the itch to drive it (like those guys who dress like Batmam and drive Batmobiles).
The owner was a rich, entitled asshole who thought was above the law and was an attention whore.
I guess now we know.
It’s refreshing to see the commentariat is already full of *czechs notes* puns 🙂
NIce! your comment Czechs out!
Only four comments in, and I’ve already wandered every aisle of the Dad Joke Mart.
Then I guess you’re ready for the Czech-out line
When he Czech’d his mirrors, he immediately knew he was Buk’d.
Pass the Buk?
No, the Buk stops here.
Bucket List: Drive Formula One car on highway. Czech.
Buk-et list?
When he pays his fine, I recommend they not take his personal Czech.