THE ULTIMATE STEVE McQUEEN COLLECTION

[diecast essentials]
by bill bennett
the ultimate
steve McQueen
collection
McQueen played race car
driver Michael Delaney in
his movie Le Mans. It is
said; "Men wanted to be
him; women wanted to be
with him."
McQueen’s aura of cool was not something he
picked up in an actor’s workshop; he came by it the
hard way. In his colorful early years, he had been a
street gang member, reform school graduate, circus
roustabout, lumberjack, professional motorcycle
racer and U.S. Marine. You could say he had been
around.
He was born in 1930 to a stunt pilot father, who
abandoned his family to work in a flying circus
when Steve was just six months old, and a rowdy,
alcoholic mother. McQueen spent his early years
bouncing among various family members and in and
out of trouble. He joined the Marines in 1947, was
honorably discharged in 1950 and used the money
from his GI Bill to take acting lessons.
He starred on Broadway, in the movies and on
TV. His first lead film role was in the B-movie classic
The Blob. But his early fame came from playing
bounty hunter Josh Randall in the western TV
series Wanted: Dead or Alive. His first big screen
role was with Frank Sinatra in Never So Few. He
earned an Academy Award for Best Male Actor and
was nominated for his role in The Sand Pebbles.
Moviegoers loved him and the characters he played.
By 1974, he was the highest-paid actor in the world.
His movie Le Mans about the running of the 24-hour
endurance race stands shoulder to shoulder with
Grand Prix as the best movies of the genre.
McQueen was passionate about owning
unique and exotic cars and motorcycles. Over
the years, he owned Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars,
Harley-Davidsons, Indians, BSAs, Triumphs and
a Husquvarna. But he wasn’t just a collector; he
demonstrated his driving and riding skills in many of
his movies including The Great Escape, Bullitt, The
Thomas Crown Affair, Le Mans, The Getaway and On
Any Sunday. He raced on both two and four wheels.
In 1970, he co-drove with Revlon heir Peter Revson
to win the Under 3-liter Prototype class and second
overall at the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 908/2.
To celebrate this ultimate of car guys, AUTOart
collaborated with the McQueen family to offer a
series of 1:18 diecasts of some of his most significant
and interesting cars. Presently, the series includes
the Gulf-liveried Porsche 917 that he used in the
movie LeMans, a Jaguar XK-SS McQueen owned
twice (with Bill Harrah’s Automobile Collection in
between), the 1968 390 Ford Mustang used in Bullitt,
getty images
Even by Hollywood standards, Steve McQueen was cool ...
really cool. And his taste for anything with an engine was just as cool. He was
a true motorhead with a passion for driving and racing his collection of cars
and bikes. AUTOart’s Steve McQueen Collection provides an opportunity to
get to know him and his cars better and, at the same time, add some stunning
models to any collection.
AUTOart has
built the Porsche
917K in many iterations, but none is more iconic
than the Gulf-liveried star of LeMans.
Beautifully finished in baby blue and orange, it
stands proud among cars twice its price.
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and two versions of his Porsche 908/2 “Flounder” as
he raced it at Holtville and Sebring. This probably
isn’t the end to the collection: AUTOart’s new
Porsche 356 Speedster issued in both white and silver
looks way too much like McQueen’s black Speedster
not to suspect that there may be a “bathtub”
also joining the collection sometime in the future.
Porsche 917 from Le Mans movie. Built
expressly for winning the 24-hour race at Le Mans,
the Porsche 917 was the first “big bore” endurance
racer
to
come
from
Porsche. Using experience
gleaned from its smaller
displacement cars, the
first prototype 917 was
slippery and about 20mph
faster than anything Porsche had ever built, but
it was prone to get very light and unstable on the
high-speed circuits such as the Le Mans Mulsanne
Straight. Porsche realized that trading a little speed
for more downforce and stability made sense. For
homologation, 25 917s were initially built using
an aluminum-tube, space-frame chassis. A 630hp,
Hans Metzger-designed Type 912 air-cooled, dual
overhead cam, flat 12-cylinder engine powered the
car. Drivers found the powerful car a real handful to
drive and potentially deadly. Because of the length
of the engine, the driver was pushed forward with
his feet beyond the front axle centerline, putting
the driver in real peril. But the car was incredibly
successful and dominated endurance racing,
especially the high-speed circuits during the 1970
and 1971 seasons. Unfortunately, an FIA rules
change made the car ineligible for the ’72 season. McQueen took a big gamble when he chose the
unproven 917 to be his co-star in Le Mans, filmed at
and loosely based on the 1970 24-hour race, but was
vindicated when a 917 actually won in 1970. The
Gulf-liveried no. 20 917 co-driven by Michael Delaney
(McQueen’s character) was actually co-driven in the
real race by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman. (It DNF’d
after 156 laps.)
Made using an 11-yearold mold, AUTOart’s
no. 20 917 is a beautiful
car, with exceptional
paint and graphics, even
though it lacks many
engine,
cockpit
and
chassis details seen on
more recent AUTOart
releases.
However,
what’s there is nicely
done, and it looks great sitting amongst far more
detailed cars. It would be nice to see AUTOart come
out with limited edition “elite-like” versions of some
of their key 917s featuring detailing comparable to
their Mazda 787B. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of
McQueen, Porsches, or Le Mans, owning a Gulfliveried 917 is mandatory.
Although the ultimate winner of the real 1970
race was the red and white, no. 23 917, it’s a tossup
whether to get the iconic Gulf-liveried McQueen car
or the real winner. Ah, what the heck, get ’em both.
The Bullitt 1968 Mustang
is subtle yet purposeful
in its de-badged state.
American Racing Equipment Torq Thrust 5-spokes
complete the package.
While not overly detailed,
the engine bay completes
the car quite capably.
1968 Mustang 390 from Bullitt. Ford built
two identical 1968 390 Mustangs with sequential
serial numbers for the
movie Bullitt. The cars
were painted Highland
Green Metallic and were
toned down by removing
or painting over much
of the chrome trim and
badging. Max Balchowsky of Old Yeller fame modified
and strengthened the chassis and suspensions
to withstand the rigors these cars were about to
endure. Each was fitted with Koni shocks, American
Racing Torq-Thrust five-spoke wheels and Shelby
steering wheels, leather-wrapped by Tony Nancy.
Both cars were 390 cubic inch, 4-speed cars. Only
one car exists today, the other having been totaled
during the filming. Bullitt’s chase scene through the
streets of San Francisco with McQueen doing a lot
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[diecast essentials]
behind
the
scenes
For the filming of
Le Mans, the 908/2
was painted black
and fitted with three
cameras, one in a
special fairing on
the nose and two
rear-mounted. Two
Porsche factory drivers, Herbert Linge
and Jonathan
Williams, handled the
driving duties. Even
with all the stops to
reload the cameras,
the car was the second-highest finisher
in the Under 3-Liter
Prototype class and
finished ninth overall.
of his own driving is a real tour de force and almost
universally considered the best automotive chase
scene ever seen in a movie.
AUTOart’s Bullitt Mustang looks as understated
and purposeful as the real car. As you would expect
from AUTOart, the paint finish and chrome trim are
on the high end of the industry’s standards. Shut
lines are tight and crisp. The stance is dead-on. The
only complaint may be that the green paint doesn’t
seem to have the level of metallic content found on
the real car.
The interior features molded-plastic seats, a fauxwood-trimmed dash, fabric seat belts and flocked
carpeting, all competently done when compared
with other manufacturers in AUTOart’s price range.
A large chrome air cleaner and a set of chrome steel
valve covers dominate the engine compartment.
Spark plug wires and factory stickers on the air
cleaner, radiator cap, fan shroud and the battery
caps add to the realism.
This is a nicely done but not detail-laden model of
an iconic car and is probably the best ’68 Mustang
you’ll find anywhere. Like the other cars in this
collection, there are more reasons to add this to
your collection than just it being a nice rendition of a
Mustang. The connection to McQueen and the Bullitt
movie adds panache to this understated beauty.
Porsche 908/2 “Flounder” 1970 12 Hours
of Sebring. The Porsche 908/2 is the second
generation of the famed
race car. The 908 was
developed in the late ’60s
as a flat, 3-liter, 8-cylinder
coupe to race in the World
Championship for Marques
endurance series. For 1969, Porsche substantially
changed and lightened the car by removing the top
and bobbing its long tail. In this configuration, it was
designated 908/2. Making about 350 horsepower
and weighing only 1,400 pounds, it was a potent
combination, particularly on short, twisty courses.
Solar Productions, McQueen’s production company,
purchased its car after Brian Redman and Jo Siffert
had run it at Le Mans in 1969. McQueen intended to
use it to teach himself how to drive high-powered
endurance Porsches and ultimately use it as the
main camera car for Le Mans.
To get a feel for the car, McQueen entered it in
three West Coast SCCA races in A/Sports Racer. At
Holtville he dominated the field and set a new lap
record. He then went to Riverside, where he won a
preliminary race and then failed to finish the final
race when his transmission failed. His next race
was in Phoenix, and he again dominated the field.
Although he was leading his SCCA class and could
have likely become the SCCA regional champion,
he had bigger fish to fry and set his sights on the
upcoming 12-hour endurance race in Sebring, FL.
With retired racer Richie Ginther managing the
car and team and Peter Revson as his co-driver, the
team entered the 12 Hours of Sebring. But McQueen
had a problem: In a motorcycle racing accident at
the Elsinore Grand Prix a few weeks earlier, he had
broken his left foot in six places. He convinced race
officials that he could adequately drive the car with a
modified cast, and with Revson doing the majority of
the driving, the car finished the race 1st in class and
2nd overall. And this was only after Mario Andretti,
in a last-minute dash in a borrowed 5-liter Ferrari,
passed the little 3-liter Porsche and finished with a
22-second lead.
The 3-liter 908/2 was essentially an 8-cylinder gokart. Particularly suited for
tight, twisty courses and
a capable partner to be
matched with the uber-fast
917s, the 908/2 helped
bring Porsche the world
championship.
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[diecast essentials]
The Jaguar XK-SS was the
street-configured version
of the purpose-built D-Type
Jaguar race car. Although
keeping the flowing curves
of the D-Jag's body, the
afterthought windscreen
with its chrome frame was
demanded by law enforcement but stole some of
the XK-SS's inherited
sensuality.
AUTOart’s 908/2 is an excellent re-creation of the
real car and is painted a flawless solid white with
racing stripes, numbers and Von Dutch pinstriping in
black. Gulf and Goodyear sponsorship decals are the
only other adornment. The shape and stance closely
replicate the real car. Shut lines and build quality are
excellent.
There is a lot of amazing detail that AUTOart
put into this model in some surprising places: little
things like the screen filters inside the injector
plenums, or the photo-etch aircraft fuel filler in the
passenger’s side door sill. Even the driver’s side
fuel filler cap has a miniscule photo-etch opening
bar with lightening holes. The engine cover lifts
up and is supported by a nicely done over-center
support. The engine has spark plug wires and
fuel lines running to the injectors. These details
show the fussiness they’ve shown toward this car.
Matt Stone's McQueen's
Machines—The Cars and
Bikes of a Hollywood Icon
is a great read and is filled
with pictures of many of
McQueen's favorite rides.
If you're really into this era,
another fascinating read
is Pat Ganahl's Von Dutch
—The Art, The Myth, The
Legend.
Jaguar XK-SS. Based on their three-time LeManswinning D-type, Jaguar built the XK-SS in 1956
when they found they
were coming to the end of
the production life for their
D-type race cars and still
had 25 chassis remaining
and no purchasers. To
make the XK-SS, the D-type chassis was modified to
be marginally street-able by adding a passenger door
and seat, muffler, rudimentary top and side curtains,
bumper and bumperettes, luggage rack and a full
glass windshield. Sixteen XK-SSs were built with the
remaining nine D-type chassis being destroyed in a
fire at the Covington works. In 1958, McQueen paid $5,000 to become the
third owner of XK-SS number 713. He had the
white car re-sprayed in British Racing Green, had
Tony Nancy stitch up black leather seats in his
distinctive rectangular tufted style and hired Von
Dutch (Kenny Howard) to construct a door to seal
the glove box where McQueen kept his shades.
The car came equipped with the 3.4-liter Jaguar
XK DOHC engine sporting three Weber side-draft
carburetors. McQueen had the engine tweaked a
little, and in this configuration, it produced between
250 and 300 horsepower and was backed up by an
all-synchromesh 4-speed Jaguar transmission. In
it he became the terror of LA’s famed Mulholland
Drive. Today, the car is part of the Peterson Museum
Collection and its multi-million-dollar worth the
matter of wild speculation given its provenance.
AUTOart’s XK-SS is truly a beautiful piece. The
model is painted flawlessly in a dark British Racing
Green (almost black with just a hint of green). The
only badging is a chrome-plated “Jaguar XK-SS”
appliqué on the leading edge of the bonnet’s power
bulge. The bonnet and front fenders tilt forward as
a single piece to reveal the engine, those wonderful
Webers, the headers and the battery. At the rear of
the car, a narrow horizontal door opens downward
to reveal a mail-slot-like home for the spare under
the rear deck.
AUTOart’s ability to capture the subtle nuances
of the textures that make up the car is amazing.
When you compare the chrome of the bumpers or the
windshield frame to the finish of the wheels, or the
leather seats to the texture and wrinkles of the vinyl
top material found on the tonneau cover, you can
see that the repertoire of finishes and textures goes
a long way to bring realism to the piece. AUTOart
also does a remarkable job of molding delicate trim
pieces without showing a lot of parting lines and
flash. An example is the luggage rack that looks to
be fabricated from very delicate chrome tubing but
in reality is a delicately molded piece that’s fairly
robust. AUTOart quite accurately captures the
stance and shape of this sensuous British cat.
Steve McQueen is joined only by Paul Newman as
elite Hollywood actors who were also top competitive
race car drivers. Both wheeled cars on and off
screen with amazing skill. But Steve McQueen’s
pure automotive passion sets him apart. AUTOart’s
McQueen Collection is truly a set of diecast cars that
are historic in nature and famous via ownership. n
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