Even in death, James Hunt would not be denied a good time. When he passed away from a heart attack in 1993 at age 45, Hunt’s will stipulated that £5,000 be set aside so that his friends could give him a proper send-off. Loved ones received invitations that read, “It is James’ wish that you get pissed.”
And so they did.
Most Americans have likely never heard of Hunt, the charismatic British Formula One champion whose off-track exploits earned him nearly as much press as those on-track. But that’s set to change Friday with the release of “Rush,” a new movie from director Ron Howard based on Hunt’s life.
Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) plays Hunt, while German actor Daniel Brühl (“Inglourious Basterds”) plays Austrian rival Niki Lauda, and the film centers on the their neck-and-neck pursuit of the 1976 world championship.
Hunt was like the David Beckham of his day — handsome, with blond hair and a chiseled face, rich and world-famous. But he also had a bit of Steven Tyler in him, indulging in copious amounts of booze, drugs and women.
The stories about Hunt are so numerous and outlandish, they sound like folklore. There was the time he supposedly went on a cocaine bender for two weeks before an important race. Or the time he was having a threesome and kept bugging his p.r. person to bring him orange juice. Or the time he showed up at a black-tie function for British royalty dressed in a dirty T-shirt and jeans.
“James behaved badly throughout his career but managed to turn it into an asset rather than a deficit,” Formula One commentator Nick Brittan says in the new book “Memories of James Hunt.”
The wilder side of Hunt’s life is mostly glossed over in “Rush,” and the movie arguably focuses more on Lauda. Howard says the omission was intentional.
“Hunt was defined by so, so much more as a competitor,” the director tells The Post. “People . . . love to paint James with that brush primarily, and it’s an entertaining way to look at him. But this is a movie that was trying to be dimensionalized about him, as well.”
The late race-car driver was indeed a complicated person. He came from a privileged background — his father was a stockbroker. When Hunt saw his first race at 18, he decided that he wanted to become a world champion. He supposedly went to his father, who preferred Hunt go to medical school, and offered to make a deal: Medical school costs $5,000. I’ll save you half that if you give me $2,500 to buy a car right now.
His father refused, and Hunt was forced to cobble together cars from wrecks and spare parts. One of his early racers was disqualified because he fashioned the driver’s seat out of an old lawn chair.
Hunt found a benefactor in Lord Hesketh, a young English nobleman. Their team entered the Formula One ranks in 1973, and Hunt quickly built a reputation for speed and sometimes reckless driving. Rivals called him “Hunt the Shunt” (“shunt” being an English term that means “crash”).
In 1976, Hunt left Hesketh and joined McLaren’s team. By then, he was already becoming one of the most popular personalities in the sport, fueled by his headlinegrabbing antics — such as the time he urinated on the track as spectators applauded. After Hunt crashed during a 1977 contest, a volunteer race marshal appeared to guide him to safety and was shocked when a frustrated Hunt suddenly punched him in the face.
That moment of anger appears to be the exception.
“James had so much charisma and was utterly charming,” says Helen Dyson, a London artist engaged to Hunt when he died. “He had a great sense of humor.”
The driver certainly enjoyed practical jokes — a quality Howard also appreciates.
“One time, [James] was talking to a new engineer on the team about adjustments [the engineer] was going to make on the car,” Howard says. “The engineer was trying to be very technical, and at a certain point, James reached down and he said, ‘Hey, you know what I really want to know if you can fix? This.’ And he dropped a buzzing vibrator on the table.”
Not all of Hunt’s fun was harmless, however. He reportedly drank to excess. At a 1979 Grand Prix, a sauced Hunt threw up on the shoes of sponsor Phillip Morris’ president. After retiring from the sport, Hunt became a BBC commentator and downed two bottles of wine on the air while calling his first race.
And then there were the women. Legend has it he bagged some 5,000 babes in his lifetime — occasionally two or three at a time. He wore a patch on his racing coveralls that read “Sex: Breakfast of Champions.”
“James’ view would have been ‘It’s the quantity rather than the quality,’ ” driver Chris Witty says in “Memories of James Hunt.” “I think it was important for his personal ego rather than for what the world thought of him.”
In Japan, Hunt reportedly loved staying at the Tokyo Hilton because that’s where all the British Airways flight attendants were housed. He would meet them at the reception desk and invite them up to his room for a party.
Seconds before the Japanese Grand Prix got under way, he was said to have been busted with a woman in the garage. Driver Jochen Mass claims Hunt once propositioned a Spanish TV reporter with, “Do you f – – k?”
At a 1976 Canadian Grand Prix test session, Hunt spotted a woman who was visiting with her trackworker boyfriend. The Lothario lured her into an ambulance parked behind his pit, where the woman’s oblivious boyfriend was watching Hunt’s car be prepared.
“Horrified at James’ audacity, [Hunt’s] men quickly engaged the unknowing bystander in deep conversation, while in the background the ambulance rocked vigorously,” says Gerald Donaldson, a friend of the driver’s and author of “James Hunt: The Biography.”
A love of women didn’t keep Hunt from walking down the aisle, though. He proposed to model Suzy Miller in 1974 after two weeks of dating, but both quickly felt they’d made a mistake. Miller ran off with Richard Burton after meeting the actor while skiing. Hunt was reportedly delighted and agreed to let Miller go in exchange for $1 million from Burton.
Hunt married his second wife, Sarah Lomax, in 1982; they had two sons. The couple split in 1988, but remained on friendly terms.
By then, Hunt had lost much of his money in bad business deals. He spent his free time raising hundreds of parakeets and tending a garden. He met Dyson, who was half his age, when she was waiting tables at a nearby restaurant.
“He changed after I met him,” she says. “He was sort of ashamed of his partying lifestyle. He did not want me exposed to that.”
She knew a sweeter Hunt — someone who would insert code words into his BBC commentary for her to pick up watching at home.
Dyson says she doesn’t want to criticize “Rush,” but she thinks it doesn’t capture her late love’s charm and sense of humor.
“The film seemed very Hollywood,” she says.
In fact, the movie’s main narrative element — the bitter rivalry between Hunt and Lauda — was exaggerated for dramatic purposes. In life, the two men were good friends and shared an apartment in their youth. But when has Hollywood ever let the truth get in the way of a good story?