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Steve McQueen's Le Mans Porsche 917 Sells for $14M
Road and Track/yahoo ^ | 21 Aug, 2017 | Brian Silvestro

Posted on 08/22/2017 7:21:14 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Steve McQueen's Le Mans Porsche 917 Sells for $14M Road & Track Brian Silvestro,Road & Track Mon, Aug 21 7:49 AM PDT Reactions Like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet Email Photo credit: Gooding & Company

From Road & Track

During Monterey Car Week this August, perhaps the most famous Porsche 917 in the world will cross the auction block. This 1970 Gulf-liveried 917K was used as a test car for Le Mans before becoming the star car in Steve McQueen's legendary racing movie legendary racing movie Le Mans film. After being sold and left to sit in a barn for over two decades, it emerged in 2001, and now after a full restoration, it's been sold for $14 million, making it the most expensive Porsche ever.

If you're not familiar with the 917K, it was the first Porsche to win Le Mans outright, and features a stunning design and a lovely-sounding flat-12 engine. Thanks to its on-screen presence, and its famous orange and blue Gulf livery, this is arguably the most iconic 917 of all time. And now, it's also the most expensive. Fitting.

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: mcqueen; porsche
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To: MtnClimber

Steve drove some Fantastic Machines.


21 posted on 08/22/2017 8:19:45 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: MtnClimber

When I was 12 years old I went to a car show and got to sit in an original Ford GT40, a real race car!


22 posted on 08/22/2017 8:22:49 PM PDT by W. (What's crackin', bitch? Har!)
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To: ETL

Nice.


23 posted on 08/22/2017 8:28:04 PM PDT by Disambiguator (Keepin' it analog.)
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To: Jonty30

14 million is a lot of cash. Cheap money and the numerous classic car television shows have increased values enormously.


24 posted on 08/22/2017 8:53:20 PM PDT by caltaxed (ui)
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To: MtnClimber

962 still holds back straight record at Watkins Glen. 212 mph


25 posted on 08/22/2017 8:55:44 PM PDT by printhead (I need a new tagline. Happy days are here again.)
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To: MtnClimber

I had a poster of the car on my wall as a kid. Truly iconic.


26 posted on 08/22/2017 8:57:13 PM PDT by dirtboy
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To: ETL

Is that an actual 12 cylinder motor, or did they just mate two 6’s together?


27 posted on 08/22/2017 9:09:15 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Chode

Ping-a-ling..,..as previously discuss


28 posted on 08/22/2017 9:13:21 PM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand....never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: ETL

It was a hell of a car in its time!


29 posted on 08/22/2017 9:17:44 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: smokingfrog

I have no idea. love cars, but not too knowledgeable on stuff like that.


30 posted on 08/22/2017 9:21:33 PM PDT by ETL (See my FR Home page for a closer look at today's Communist/Anarchist protest groups)
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To: MtnClimber

https://youtu.be/FIdbXsvPZrU


31 posted on 08/22/2017 9:21:34 PM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand....never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: ETL

I’ve always been a Mustang guy but I loved that Charger. Had a friend who had one. Sweet ride.


32 posted on 08/22/2017 9:22:04 PM PDT by Terry Mross (Liver spots And blood thinners.)
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To: MtnClimber

I have saved this as one of my favorites on YT....https://youtu.be/FkP5Svl16Qg


33 posted on 08/22/2017 9:36:48 PM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand....never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: HonkyTonkMan

....for that time, the slow motion destruction, of McQueen’s car was an eye opener...*smiles*


34 posted on 08/22/2017 9:39:45 PM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand....never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful car but I love the 1969 Lemans winner more.The GT-40


35 posted on 08/22/2017 10:39:17 PM PDT by HANG THE EXPENSE (Life's tough.It's tougher when you're stupid.)
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To: Disambiguator

Estimated to be worth $30 million and Jay drove it around crazy LA.


36 posted on 08/22/2017 10:41:39 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: caltaxed

Yes, because of nostalgia. Baby boomers by the millions might be willing to see McQueen’s car at a car show because they saw the movie first time in the theatre.

However, I just can’t see the value of the car beyond it’s model, which will still have some value for the car itself, once the baby boomers move on.


37 posted on 08/22/2017 10:44:10 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: All

McQueen’s 1971 “LeMans” never stood a chance at the box office because it was a poor cousin to Frankenheimer’s 1966 “Grand Prix.” Grand Prix had both cinematographic brilliance and chick appeal (love stories). LeMans had neither. Hell, there wasn’t a word spoken for the first ~20 minutes of LeMans, just scenes of McQueen (mutely) driving around in his Porsche 911.

917-024 was a customer car that originally sold for 140,000 DM (~$38,000 USD). The early 917s were death traps, horribly unstable at high speeds, ... until they added the tails to them. The ‘K’ in 917K refers to the short or “kurz” tail (kurzheck), which wasn’t intended for the high speed circuits like LeMans. 917-024 was normally aspirated, in the ballpark of 560 bhp (from 305 cubes), but it was built to run balls to the wall for 24 hours. Top speed, in its prime, was ~220. The later long-tailed & turbocharged 917/30 could manage 1500 bhp in qualifying trim, 1100 for race day, ans straightaway speeds of near 250.

McQueen butchered another Porsche (a 908) and a Ford GT40 to use them for camera cars for the film. They used the GT40 with a camera mounted on the roof to film action on the track at speeds of up to 150 mph. About five years ago that was sold at auction $11 million, despite the butchery. Such is the value of provenance.

To: smokingfrog
“Is that an actual 12 cylinder motor, or did they just mate two 6’s together?”

Porsche’s 6-cylinders were boxer engines (opposing pairs of cylinders shared a crank journal). The 917’s 12-pot isn’t a boxer, it’s a 180° V (each rod has it’s own journal). So no, the Porsche 12s were not based on the 6s.

FWIW, all of Ferrari’s flat-12s are 180° Vees, too, ironically, including the 5-liter engine in the 512 Berlinetta Boxer. It’s god’s own mystery why they chose to use “boxer” in the name when it isn’t a boxer engine, but that’s the Iteys for you.


38 posted on 08/22/2017 10:48:08 PM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: MtnClimber

Greg Laurie wrote book about Steve. Am happy to learn he found Jesus.


39 posted on 08/23/2017 2:44:27 AM PDT by FES0844 (G)
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To: Doogle


40 posted on 08/23/2017 4:05:43 AM PDT by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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