Amongst the motorsports legends of the 20th century, the name Steve McQueen stands up there with the very best of them, as a passionate racer and actor who more than earned his nickname, the “King of Cool’. Steve McQueen was also an enthusiastic car collector and was once the proud owner of this remarkably well-restored Ferrari 275 GTB/4, which arrives at auction via RM Sotheby’s.
Among the cars McQueen owned, this 275 GTB/4 Berlinetta from 1967 was one of four classic Ferraris he enjoyed over the years, as well as the sumptuously curved Jaguar XKSS. One of the Ferraris that he owned and loved was an extremely rare 275 GTS/4 NART Spider, but after it was rear-ended waiting at a stoplight in Malibu, McQueen wasn’t keen on waiting for what would be a long and costly repair process and purchased this Ferrari 275 GTB/4 as a replacement.
After buying the Ferrari from Hollywood Sport Cars in December 1967, he took several of his favourite elements from the NART to be added to his new 275 GTB/4 including a new dark maroon lick of paint he called Chianti Red, Borrani wire wheels and the elegantly integrated side-view mirror on the driver-side fender. McQueen is understood to have used the Ferrari as his commuter to the set of the now-legendary Bullitt, before eventually selling it in 1971 to fellow actor Guy Williams.
McQueen’s Ferrari changed hands half a dozen times in the decades that followed, before arriving into the collection of Australian ex-Porsche factory driver and 1983 Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan, who returned the car to McQueen’s original specifications. Schuppan himself is an important figure in the history of Australian motorsports, as a personal friend of Bernie Ecclestone and a key person in bringing Formula 1 to Australia in the mid-1980s.
The 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 once owned by Steve McQueen will be sold by RM Sotheby’s at its upcoming auction in Monterey from the 18th-19th of August.
