Steve McQueen’s Porsche 917 from “Le Mans” film up on the market
The 1971 film “Le Mans” is important viewing for anybody with gasoline of their veins. It is a turgid, plot-less nightmare for everybody else, but when there’s one factor we are able to all agree on, it is that Steve McQueen, the Tag Heuer Monaco watch he wears, and the Porsche 917 he drives are all effortlessly cool.
McQueen and his crew had three 917s for filming, every instance being the 917K short-tail model completed within the well-known Gulf Oil livery. The vehicles bore chassis numbers 013, 022, and 024. Further 917s additionally featured within the movie, although these have been examples that have been filmed whereas they raced within the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans and the footage used for the film.
Chassis no. 022 was the automobile bought from Porsche by Steve McQueen’s Photo voltaic Productions, and pushed probably the most by McQueen in entrance of the digicam. It additionally options the actor’s signature on the door and a notice from him that reads, “Completed – Thanks for staying collectively.”
Now it is headed to public sale. Mecum plans to put it beneath the hammer at its public sale in Kissimmee, Florida, working Jan. 7-9, 2025.
Mecum hasn’t offered particulars on the automobile although it is thought to have been owned by comic Jerry Seinfeld at one level. The automobile can be identified to retain its authentic flat-12 engine.
After the automobile’s filming was carried out, it was bought to German racing driver Willi Kauhsen and later loved a comparatively profitable motorsports profession. Among the occasions it competed in included 1,000-kilometer races in Buenos Aires (crashed), Manufacturers Hatch (sixth), Monza (seventh), the Nürburgring (sixth), and Spa-Francorchamps (fourth).
Fairly except for the very fact the 917 is already a priceless racer and the Gulf livery is among the many most iconic in racing, the McQueen affiliation implies that somebody, someplace can pay a very good sum of money for it, after having battled off a number of different bidders every providing different huge sums for the privilege of possession, in fact. There is no estimate, however the 917 bearing chassis no. 024 used throughout filming bought in 2017 for $14 million. Contemplating chassis no. 022 is the hero automobile of the movie and options McQueen’s signature, it would probably go for far more.
As McQueen is not with us to speak, and the Porsche is anticipated to fetch a cushty eight-figure sum, if you need a dose of Le Mans cool, you may must scrape collectively just a few thousand bucks for a Monaco watch. Or, come to consider it, just a few hundred for a duplicate Gulf leather-based jacket.
