1970 Porsche 917K from Steve McQueen’s ‘Le Mans’ headed to public sale

Spoiler alert: If you have not seen the Steve McQueen’s film Le Mans and do not need to know the way it ends, would possibly we curiosity you in clicking to a different Autoblog submit?

Monterey Automotive Week gathers the proper viewers for a bauble comparable to this, the 1970 Porsche 917K hero automobile from the 1971 film Le Mans. Steve McQueen’s Photo voltaic Productions purchased chassis 917-022 from Porsche to be the #20 automobile his character within the movie, Michael Delaney, makes an attempt to pilot to cinematic victory at La Sarthe. Based on behind-the-scenes tales, after Delaney crashed the #20 past restore within the movie (really a Lola sporting 917 bodywork), the crew repainted the automobile 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 automobile in Le Mans is a unique chassis. The lure of this automobile 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 are able to inform, this chassis final hit the public sale block on the RM Monterey Sports activities Automotive Public sale in 2000, altering fingers for $1,320,000 after charges. A Hagerty piece reveals that Jerry Seinfeld purchased the automobile in 2001. Mecum hasn’t offered the possession historical past and does not say if Seinfeld nonetheless owns the 917K, however claims a “full and identified possession historical past.”

There shall 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 & Firm’s Pebble Seaside Public sale. That is still a document quantity for the 917 and your complete Porsche model. 

We all know the place public sale costs have gone since then, and this instance shall 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 referred to as “The King of Cool” when he was alive — and 917K values have climbed, it takes extra investigation than one would count on to determine which Le Mans automobile 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 supplied a 1970 917K that raced in Le Mans and appeared within the film Le Mans, saying 917-031/026 was “Immortalised because the profitable automobile in Steve McQueen’s 1971 Photo voltaic Productions movie Le Mans.” Nonetheless, this automobile 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 way in which 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 Seaside Public sale in 2014. This had been a works group take a look at automobile that racing driver Jo Siffert purchased in 1971 and rented to Photo voltaic Productions for the movie. This was the profitable automobile within the movie, the #22 pushed by Larry Wilson, performed by actor Christopher Waite. Gooding pulled the automobile from sale earlier than the public sale with out rationalization, and we will not 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 might be the one to surpass $20 million subsequent yr. Let the hype start.