Spoiler alert: If you have not seen the Steve McQueen’s film Le Mans and do not wish to know the way it ends, may we curiosity you in clicking to a different Autoblog put up?
Monterey Automobile Week gathers the right viewers for a bauble corresponding to this, the 1970 Porsche 917K hero automotive from the 1971 film Le Mans. Steve McQueen’s Photo voltaic Productions purchased chassis 917-022 from Porsche to be the #20 automotive his character within the movie, Michael Delaney, makes an attempt to pilot to cinematic victory at La Sarthe. In accordance with behind-the-scenes tales, after Delaney crashed the #20 past repair within the movie (really a Lola wearing 917 bodywork), the crew repainted the automotive because the #21 917 that Delaney took over for the ultimate stint and drove to second place. That is a key level right here: Second place. The profitable automotive in Le Mans is a distinct chassis. The lure of this automotive is that it is the one McQueen purchased for the movie and drove, and the one he signed afterward with, “‘Completed.’ Thanks for staying collectively.”
So far as we will inform, this chassis final hit the auction block on the RM Monterey Sports activities Automobile Public sale in 2000, altering palms for $1,320,000 after charges. A Hagerty piece reveals that Jerry Seinfeld bought the car in 2001. Mecum hasn’t supplied the possession historical past and does not say if Seinfeld nonetheless owns the 917K, however claims a “full and recognized possession historical past.”
There might be loads of sleuthing into that and different points over the following 5 months, although, because the Porsche is not going up for public sale till Mecum’s Kisssimmee 2025 auctions working from January 7-19, 2025. We do not have a pre-sale estimate, both. The latest 917K affiliated with Le Mans to promote at public sale earned $10,080,000 after charges at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach Auction. That is still a document quantity for the 917 and the whole Porsche model.
We all know the place public sale costs have gone since then, and this instance might be aided by having simply been restored to 1970 as-new spec. As McQueen’s aura has grown — a nutty truth contemplating the man was known as “The King of Cool” when he was alive — and 917K values have climbed, it takes extra investigation than one would anticipate to determine which Le Mans automotive deserves which accolade, although. The parsing is made harder by groups working eight 917s within the 1970 race, Porsche rebuilding wrecked chassis’ with prolonged chassis numbers, and Photo voltaic Productions utilizing three 917s for filming, all painted with liveries from the 1970 race.
For example, in 2021, RM Sotheby’s Monterey Public sale offered a 1970 917K that raced in Le Mans and appeared within the film Le Mans, saying 917-031/026 was “Immortalised because the profitable automotive in Steve McQueen’s 1971 Photo voltaic Productions movie Le Mans.” Nonetheless, this automotive appeared within the 1971 movie solely in racing footage that the movie’s manufacturing crew shot in the course of the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans. In actuality, Mike Hailwood wrecked chassis 917-026 on the best way again to the pits on lap 49 of the 1970 race, Porsche rebuilt it as chassis 917-031/026, and it wasn’t used for film filming in 1971.
Earlier than that, Gooding & Co. added chassis 917-024-2 to the catalog of its Pebble Beach Public sale in 2014. This had been a works group take a look at automotive that racing driver Jo Siffert bought in 1971 and rented to Photo voltaic Productions for the movie. This was the profitable automotive within the movie, the #22 pushed by Larry Wilson, performed by actor Christopher Waite. Gooding pulled the car from sale earlier than the public sale with out rationalization, and we won’t discover document of a public sale since. Racing driver David Piper crashed the third 917K throughout filming, an actual Porsche loaned by JW Automotive. Its whereabouts are unknown.
For the detailed rundown of what is what, take a look at Gianni Cabiglia’s breakdown at Flat Sixes.
Porsche 917K examples not affiliated with Le Mans have not crossed the $5,000,000 mark in public auctions. This could possibly be the one to surpass $20 million subsequent 12 months. Let the hype start.