Steve McQueen's GT40 @ Monterey Auction

[Don]

Steve McQueen Le Mans 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage – 2012
July 10, 2012 by Justin Mastine-Frost

" From that magic era where Ford and Ferrari were fighting toe-to-toe in the racing world, this stellar Gulf/Mirage Lightweight Racing Car, chassis P/1074 is ready to roll onto the auction block at Monterey in August ".


Steve McQueen Le Mans 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage

[FUNFER2]

What a fantastic car.

[1985 CCX]

Looks like Dave's car? Nice!

[FUNFER2]

Who's Dave ? I would like to see it.

[bmwdb10]

That would be me!

[my427cobra]

This is going to be BIG bucks!!!!!!!

[FUNFER2]

Originally Posted by bmwdb10

That would be me!

Very nice CAV !

[Don]

" This $11 million price tag now holds the record for most expensive American car ever sold, beating out last year’s big name Duesenberg Model-J Long Wheelbase Coupe that rang in at $10.34 million (€8.4 million) at the same event. "


Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage Used by Steve McQueen Fetches Record $11 Million in Pebble Beach - Carscoop

[decooney]

That must have been with fees. I saw as sold for $10,000,000. I will post a photo of it on the board when it sold.

[FUNFER2]

The way it sits, makes it Bad-Ass !
Low and fat,....tires !

Love the entire car, although the powder blue is not my favorite, no issue with this GT-40 or any others.

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by decooney

That must have been with fees. I saw as sold for $10,000,000. I will post a photo of it on the board when it sold.

From "Car Scoop."

"After a fallout of many bidders due to an inflated price tag, two bidders continued on raising the price from $9 million (€7.3 million) to the final $11 million (€8.9 million) purchase, not including auction house fees."

[decooney]

I was there and we went next door to eat right before lot 139 GT40 came up. The pub had the live auction playing. It started out right at $4m. Then it took a while to get to 7m. Then it went back and forth quickly to 9m. Then it sort of slowly worked its way up to 10m. Sorry for the horrible phone photo of the TV, but if you can see it, it reads $10,000,000 and SOLD on the bottom. So was it sold at $10m, $11m or $10m+ fees?

[twobjshelbys]

The video I saw had the final hammer price at $10M, with a 10% buyer's fee of $11M.

[Mark IV]

Saying this was "Steve McQueens" car is slightly disingenuous. It was purchased by Solar Productions, McQueens film company and Steve may or may not have ever even sat in or driven it during the filming of "LeMans" while Solar owned it. Obviously the McQueen connection brings panache to the chassis but I am a big believer in the car is the value, not the owner.

Would a Nash Metropolitan owned by Humphrey Bogart be worth a million more than any other Metro?

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by OAKIE'S REVENGE

better ways to blow 11 mil if ya got it imo

Well, there were more than two up to about $7M and two between there and just before 10M. They thought it was worth it but only one thought 10.

[bkozlow]

Actually, Steve McQueen was quite invloved with the sale of this car. Dave Brown and I were on a three way conversation with Steve McQueen over the condition of the car. You would have had to know Dave Brown to appreciate him. We had Steve McQueen's very private CA phone number and in our conversation, Dave, and there are somethings you never forget, said, "Stevey if this car isn't everything you say it is, I am coming out there and punching you out". This was to the biggest macho guy in Hollywood at the time. Dave and I had a great laugh after getting of the phone. The car was shipped to Miami by boat from France and we went down to the docks to pick it up. I just looked at some old photos I have of it without the top. This car has a Gurney-Weslake head setup. It was purchased from Solar Productions for $7,500. The week after purchasing it, Autoweek did a big spread on the car being cut down to a convertible and Steve McQueen called back and said he would give $15,000 if we didn't take delivery of the car. Dave said NO and the car was shipped to Florida. At 175 on I =4 through downtown Tampa it was pretty stable.

BillK

[CowtownCobra]

Originally Posted by Don

" This $11 million price tag now holds the record for most expensive American car ever sold, beating out last year’s big name Duesenberg Model-J Long Wheelbase Coupe that rang in at $10.34 million (€8.4 million) at the same event. "

Just wondering why do they keep calling this an "American car". The chassis (as I understand it) was fabricated in England, sold to John Wyer (an Englishman), OK the engine is from the US. It spent most of its glory years in Europe. Just curious....

[Don]

Originally Posted by CowtownCobra

Just wondering why do they keep calling this an "American car". The chassis (as I understand it) was fabricated in England, sold to John Wyer (an Englishman), OK the engine is from the US. It spent most of its glory years in Europe. Just curious....

Dave......might be due more for publicity reasons rather than technical, i.e., use of Ford brand, Dan Gurney, Steve McQueen, etc., just a guess

[Don]

RM Auctions Monterey 2012 – Auction Results

" 1968 Ford GT40 sold for a world-record $11,000,000 "

" Top sale went to the 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage that sold for $11,000,000, a new world record for an American automobile sold at auction "

RM Auctions Monterey 2012 - Auction Results

[FUNFER2]

(I will sneek this in)

15. 1965 Shelby 427 Competition Cobra – $1,485,000
16. 1964 Shelby 289 Competition Cobra – $1,320,000