McQueen's Wheels Up for a Spin

Steve McQueen's cachet will be tested when Christie's auctions off his Ferrari
By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 15, 2007 5:45 PM CDT
McQueen's Wheels Up for a Spin
%u2019s International Motor Cars 2007 auction on August 16, 2007, at the Monterey, Calif., Jet Center. It should sell for an estimated $800,000 to $1.2 million. (AP Photo/William Claxton, Demont Photo Management)   (Associated Press)

Growling exhaust and a thumping V-12 engine doesn't usually garner $2 million at luxury auctions, but then this speedster was once owned by a movie star “synonymous with cars, horsepower, racing.” It's Steve McQueen who used to cruise in this ’63 Ferrari, a classic so polished that even the door trim screws are handpicked to perfection. But is McQueen’s name still strong enough to make this baby sell like a Bullitt

Experts say McQueen’s cachet is blazing hot in the auto world, where major manufacturers are digitally painting him behind the wheel in their TV ads. Even his sunglasses sold for more than $70,000. Now the Los Angeles Times reports that it's up to a hedge-fund millionaire to price McQueen’s chestnut-colored classic when it goes up for auction tomorrow in Monterey, California. (More Steve McQueen stories.)

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