Steve McQueen: actor, pilot and collector

After a restless adolescence, Steve McQueen attended Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio in New York and in the 50s he successfully debuted in action cinema, where he covered roles particularly suited to his temperament. We point out the western "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). Steve McQueen played in many adventurous and dramatic movies, such as "Papillon" (1973). He was also a skilled car and motorbike racer, in which he showed himself heedless of the danger, an attitude he maintained even when he led motorcycles and powerful cars in some films. Among these, in 1971, he played in a movie, that is entirely dedicated to the most famous car race of those years, the 24HOURS of LE MANS. This movie directed by Lee H.Katzin, was filmed in a few days after the true Le Mans race of 1970. The authentic scenes of the competition were filmed during the race with cameras installed on Porsche 908/2. In the movie, which was very expensive and demanding, professional pilots and about thirty racing cars were used, the Porsche 911S, the Porsche 917 and the Ferrari 512S.
 
RIVALS
The Porsche917K was the winning car in the 1970s of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the World Championship category of Sport Prototypes. He won the title in 1971. The Ferrari 512S was built to achieve the performance of the Porsche 917. Mauro Forghieri, designer of the Reds, wrote: "It was a prototype ordered by Enzo Ferrari in a hurry at the end of 1969, with the need to move in a real race against time". Three cars of the 512S series were used during the shooting of the movie for Steve McQueen.
 
THE COLLECTOR
As a motorcyclist, McQueen owned an exceptional collection of large-displacement motorcycles. As a motorist his passion was the Porsche, 908, 911, 917, 356. He didn’t miss the Ferrari, 512S, 250 Lusso Berlinetta, which was auctioned by Christie's California in August 2007 for 2.3 million dollars. Also a Jaguar D-Type xKss and the Mercedes W109 300 SEL 6.3.