From the dune buggy featured in The Thomas Crown Affair to the 1968 Ford Mustang GT shown in Bullitt to the Husqvarna 400 Cross he was photographed riding for the cover of the August ’71 issue of Sports Illustrated, Steve McQueen is famously tied to a slew of iconic vehicles, though the ride that the King of Cool is most closely associated with would have to be the 1969 Porsche 917K that was used as the hero car in McQueen’s legendary film Le Mans.
Sporting a Gulf livery, the 917K piloted by McQueen in the 1971 flick is now widely considered an invaluable piece of both film and motorsport history, which is why it’s such a big deal that the Le Mans hero car will soon be going under the hammer at an upcoming auction.
The History
Originally built in 1969 for FIA-Homologation as a regular 917 before later being upgraded to K-specification and converted to short tail specification by the factory in 1970 — the same year it was purchased new by McQueen’s production company Solar Productions. From there, it was lightly modified for use in the film, being outfitted with various camera brackets among a host of other minor tweaks and additions.
The Car
Sporting chassis number 917-022, the Le Mans hero car is a short tail Porsche 917K that is powered by a mid-mounted 4.5-liter V12 engine bolted to a four-speed manual transmission. Earlier this summer, 917-022 completed an extensive restoration carried out by Cavaglieri Restorations of Van Nuys, California that saw the hero car returned to the exact specifications of the car when Le Mans was filmed. What’s more, the vehicle wears an iconic blue and orange Gulf Oil No. 20 livery which was recently repainted and bestowed with all new graphics and sponsor logos.
Ownership History
After McQueen and Solar Productions were done with the 917K hero car it was bought by Reinhold Joest of Team Auto Usdau and campaigned in the 1971 race. Roughly half-a-decade-later in 1975, the 917K was sold to Porsche factory driver Brian Redman, who kept the car for around two years before selling it off to Richard Attwood in 1977. Attwood retained possession of the Porsche until 1999, when it was picked up by renowned historic Porsche collector Frank Gallogly. Not too long after, the 917K was purchased by Jerry Seinfeld in 2001 and is still owned by the comedy legend to this day — though that’s about to change.
Spec Sheet
Model Year: 1969
Brand: Porsche
Model: 917K
Featured In: 1971’s Le Mans
Engine: 4.5L V12
Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
Pricing & Availability
Steve McQueen’s 1969 Porsche 917K Le Mans Hero Car is scheduled to cross the auction block at Mecum’s upcoming Kissimmee sale event on January 18, 2025. And while Mecum hasn’t cited an estimated value, another 917K also used in Le Mans fetched a cool $14,080,000 at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach auction in 2017, which should give you some sense of how much this car will bring in when it goes under the hammer.
Steve McQueen’s Le Mans 1969 Porsche 917K Hero Car
The iconic Gulf Oil-liveried 1969 Porsche 917K that was used by Steve McQueen as the hero car in his 1971 flick Le Mans is headed to auction for the first time in over 20 years where it’s expected to fetch an eight-figure sum.
