Robert Redford once pranked Paul Newman with a Porsche only for it to completely backfire with actor's response

Did you know that Robert Redford once pranked Paul Newman with a Porsche, only for it to completely backfire when the actor responded?

Redford and Newman played one of the most iconic on-screen duos ever as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and they were as close off-screen as they were on the silver screen.

They had a running gag where they would gift each other wrecked Porsches in various states of disrepair stemming from their friendship and their friendly rivalry about their shared passion for the supercars.

On Newman’s 50th birthday, Redford had a beaten-up Porsche shell quietly delivered to Newman’s house, and when he retaliated, it became pretty clear that the prank would probably have to stop for everyone’s safety.

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A star-studded friendship built on the love of cars

When you think of the most iconic celebrity pairings, many can’t avoid the on-screen and off-screen best friends Robert Redford and Paul Newman, who dazzled the world playing the real-life outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Because their on-screen chemistry continued off-screen, the two friends had a lot of running jokes, including one that was particularly dramatic and destructive.

A recurring part of the two actors’ friendship was a playful rivalry they had, especially when it came to their shared passion for supercars, particularly their love for the Porsche.

Newman developed a passion for racing and talked about cars a lot, to the point it was almost annoying for his friend and co-star Robert Redford, so the latter decided to playfully prank the former.

Robert Redford once pranked Paul Newman with a Porsche

On the day Paul Newman turned 50, Redford had a beaten-up Porsche shell delivered to Newman’s house with a gigantic gift bow stuck right on the top of it.

When both celebs retell the story, it’s unclear which model or year it was.

Instead of letting it go, Newman retaliated in a wild way and had a crate containing molten metal shipped into Redford’s rented house.

The crate went crashing into the floor in a seriously destructive way.

The molten metal was then transformed into a grotesque sculpture, which was then dropped into Redford’s garden.

It seemed that both of the actors decided that their prank ended there, and it was never publicly revisited, but after Paul Newman died, Redford lamented that he would ‘miss the fun [they] had’ pranking each other.

While it was quite an expensive and destructive prank to play on each other, it could also be seen as a sweet way for the old friends to stay in touch over many years of friendship.