The King of Cool – Steve McQueen
February 13, 2025
It’s no secret that Steve McQueen loved his cars. A keen amateur racing driver, off-road motorcyclist, habitual tinkerer and even a one-time magazine road tester, the Hollywood star was a bona fide petrolhead both on and off the big screen.
At the height of his acting heyday, McQueen still found time to compete in (and win) a wide range of motorsport events. He notably placed third in a one-off outing at Brands Hatch in the 1961 British Saloon Car Championship and won his class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1970, not to mention a raft of trials and enduro-style events on two wheels. The man had skills.
Cars, motorcycles and racing are integral components of the McQueen legend. The widespread fascination with his lifestyle, dress sense and the vehicles he drove rivalled and, in some cases, even surpassed his onscreen performances. McQueen often gave the impression that he’d rather be behind the wheel of a Le Mans-prepped Porsche or riding a Triumph TR6 Trophy than he would act in front of the camera. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for his on-screen commitments, it’s certain McQueen would have raced (and likely won) a great deal more as he was forever arguing with production companies over the potential risk of serious injury behind the wheel. He once quipped: “I’m not sure whether I’m an actor who races or a racer who acts.”
McQueen is, of course, remembered for driving great cars in films, namely the Highland Green Mustang GT 390 Fastback in ‘Bullitt’ (1968), Porsche 911S and 917 in ‘Le Mans’ (1971) and a Corvair-engined beach buggy in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ (1968). But as a true petrolhead, the cars on his driveway were just as cool, if not cooler, than the ones he drove on the silver screen so we thought we’d highlight some of our favourites:
1958 Porsche 356 A 1600 Super Speedster
“Here I was skidding around the circuit between cars, going as deep into the turns as possible before braking, on the ragged edge all the way, and I thought, ‘Man what are you doing out there?’ But I hung on and won.” – McQueen on his first race win, Sports Car Club of America, Santa Barbara
McQueen’s first brand-new car, he purchased this black-on-black Speedster from a Porsche main dealer in Alhambra, California, using the money he’d earned appearing on the hit western series ‘Tales of Wells Fargo’ (1958). The car was optioned with lightweight Rudge “knock-off” wheels like those found on a 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ He also specced a cigarette lighter; McQueen smoked two packs a day for much of his life.
The 1950s was the first decade American road racing really took off, a period when the likes of Carol Shelby, Dan Gurney and British driver Phil Hill rose to prominence. Steve McQueen would join that set, alongside fellow actors Paul Newman and James Dean. In May 1959, McQueen entered his new Porsche into his first ever Sports Car Club of America weekend race in Santa Barbara, California. He’d place first amidst a 48-car field of novice drivers – not bad for a first go.
To stay competitive during this period of rapid innovation in sports car design, drivers would change cars quickly, and McQueen soon bought a Lotus Eleven to see out the 1959 season. He kept the Porsche, though, and was often seen with it throughout the 1960s. It was eventually sold to real estate Magnate Bruce Meyer at the the end of the decade, an act McQueen clearly regretted as he bought the car back in 1974.
1956 Jaguar XKSS – ‘Green Rat’
“Sometimes when I come home from work and I’m uptight I work on the XK-SS. Bushing the front end is my therapy.” – McQueen writing in ‘Sports Illustrated’, August 1966, assisted by Ken Rudeen
The majority of accounts paint the Jaguar XKSS as McQueen’s favourite car – it’s certainly the vehicle he’s most strongly identified with. Like his 356, he’d sell it during the early ‘70s, only to later repurchase it in 1977. The Jag now resides in the Peterson Museum.
The XKSS came about as a means to dispose of surplus D-Types after Jaguar’s factory team withdrew from racing in 1956. Hoping to recoup some money spent on the racing program, unsold D-Types were rebuilt to road car specifications by the factory. Twenty-five cars were planned, but the infamous February 1957 Browns Lane factory fire claimed all but sixteen. XKSS chassis ‘XKD569’was bought new by American Television gameshow host Bill Leyden, and it caught McQueen’s eye when he appeared on Leyden’s show, ‘It Could Be You’ in 1958. A deal was done, and the two stars shook hands at 5,000 dollars.
The car gave McQueen something to play with between film takes, and he’s frequently photographed making apparent adjustments to the Jag’s 3.4-litre DOHC straight-six. He also changed the colour to a darker shade of ‘British Racing Green’, added black leather upholstery, and installed a lockable glovebox (hand-crafted by Von Dutch, no less)—all of which the car retains to this day.
It’s rumoured that LAPD Officers were challenged by their Sherrif to catch McQueen on his late-night speed runs. It’s said they never did – all except once, when driving his pregnant Wife Neile Adams who he claimed had gone into labour, thus earning him a Police escort to the maternity ward rather than the slap on the wrist he no doubt deserved. Other accounts suggest he’d accrued so many speeding tickets, he came close to losing his license.
1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L Lusso Berlinetta
“My wife, Neile, bought me the Ferrari, a 3-liter Berlinetta Lusso. It is dark brown and has 15-inch Borrani wire wheels on it, and it’s kind of a keen car. It would take a lot of persuading to convince me that Enzo Ferrari could do anything wrong. To me, he is one of the finest engineers in the world.” – ‘Sports Illustrated’, August 1966
1963 was one heck of a year for Steve McQueen. It was the year he starred in ‘The Great Escape’ amidst a star-studded cast that included James Garner, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough and Donald Pleasance. The high-octane motorcycle chase and legendary jump scene, performed by McQueen’s long-time friend, Motorcycle dealer and stuntman Bud Edkins, have become some of the most celebrated sequences in the history of cinema, propelling McQueen’s stardom to new heights, not to mention putting a great deal of money in his pocket. It was that year he and his wife, Neile Adams, strolled into Otto Zipper’s showroom in Santa Monica to buy a brand-new Ferrari 250 GT/L Lusso Berlinetta.
The final and perhaps most elegant model in the 250 Series, the Lusso, was designed by Pininfarina and built by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. McQueen’s was chassis number 4891 – one of just 350 ever made (excluding prototypes). He owned it for around four years, and it too is still in existence, having undergone a 4,000-hour restoration by subsequent owner, Michael Regalia.
Accounts given by his friends reveal that McQueen drove the Ferrari hard, often embarking on high-speed jaunts along the California coastline, exercising every one of its 250 horses. He complained of high oil consumption and a propensity to smoke under hard acceleration, a problem diagnosed as worn valve guides—a common weakness of the Columbo V12 if you’ve got a heavy right foot. By 1967, the Ferrari was in the classifieds, offered at 12,900 dollars.
It’s reported that Steve owned four Ferraris in his lifetime, including one of the ten 275 GTS/4 NART Spiders after one briefly appeared alongside Steve in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ (1968), owned by Faye Dunaway’s character. A rear-end shunt on the Pacific Coast Highway put his Spider out of action on what was almost its maiden drive, prompting the purchase of a Scaglietti-bodied 275 GTB/4. But the 250 GT/L Lusso was his first Ferrari, the car that spawned a lifelong obsession with Maranello’s finest and that’s why this one makes our list.
1952 Hudson Wasp
“My dad drove that Hudson everywhere for years. I remember him picking me up from school in it. He loved that thing.” – Chad McQueen, ‘McQueen’s Machines’, Matt Stone (2007)
Photo by Matt Stone
The Wasp was something of an anomaly in Steve McQueen’s collection. He owned two ‘Step-down’ Hudsons, not to mention a string of old Lincolns, Packards and Cadillacs. So while he went on the record as saying he disliked “cars that won’t go fast and stop well and corner a little”, it’s clear McQueen would come to enjoy ‘50s American land barges during his later years.
The Wasp was the less potent sibling of the well-known Hudson Hornet, featuring a ‘Twin-H Power’ six-cylinder engine and, unusually for the model (and even more unusually for a car in McQueen’s garage), an automatic gearbox. Like the XKSS, the Hudson was later bought by the Peterson Museum. Steve’s third wife Barbara Minty would jokingly call it his “Sunday-go-to-church car”.
1969 Porsche 911 S
“I was curious to see how much the 911 had changed since I raced my Super, which had the four-cylinder engine. Boy, it’s changed.” – McQueen on the then new 911, ‘Sports Illustrated’, August 1966
You can’t complete a whistle-stop tour of the Steve McQueen collection and only mention one Porsche. Steve had a lifelong passion for the German marque and is documented as owning three 911s in addition to his aforementioned 356 Speedster, as well as 908 and 917 racing cars. His last new 911 was a 930 Turbo, but the model he’s best known for has to be the 2.0-litre 911S, the range-topping model he drove around sleepy French villages on-screen in ‘Le Mans’ (1971), and a near-identical example sat on his driveway alongside his wife Neile’s 1968 911L Sportomatic.
Steve McQueen made a good choice with his Slate Grey 1969 911S. It was one of the first of the ‘long-wheelbase’ 911s, addressing a handling trait that earned these cars a fearsome reputation. As the flagship S model, it was the most powerful, with 190 horsepower in factory tune. McQueen ordered his 911 without air conditioning or fog lamps, although he did tick the boxes for additional exterior trim, including the seldom-seen exhaust valance, as well as a factory sunroof. His son, Chad, later said that his father drove the car a lot. It had been the replacement for his three consecutive Ferraris; the 911S became Steve’s main high-performance car for the last decade of his life.
McQueen would never sell the Porsche. It was willed to his daughter Terry and passed to her brother Chad in 1998, reunited with their father’s Speedster in his garage. Chad died in September 2024.
Honourable mentions
Steve McQueen owned dozens of exotic, classic and collectable cars throughout his lifetime, not to mention literally hundreds of motorcycles. We’ve picked five that we think paint a picture of his automotive tastes. Other notable McQueen cars included a Series II Land Rover, Jeep, US Army half-track (with Von Dutch pinstriping), Volkswagen Beetle, Mini and Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3.
Journalist and author Matt Stone (whose 2007 book ‘McQueen’s Machines’ proved invaluable in writing this article) described Steve McQueen as “pop culture’s most legitimate car guy”. We find it hard not to agree.
