At the Santa Paula Airport, Steve McQueen was a pilot, not a celebrity

LAT ^ | November 30, 2008 | Steve Chawkins

[Daffynition]

McQueen Jag.

So what happened to McQueen’s XKSS? In the early ‘70s, the actor was big into circuit racing, but felt his Jaguar too rare to risk. He sold it to casino owner Bill Harrah to join his 1,400-car collection in Reno, Nevada, but only on condition the car was never driven, or sold, and that McQueen could buy it back at the original price.

Following Harrah’s death, McQueen asked for the car back under the original agreement, but the new management refused to co-operate. Only after a lengthy legal battle did he reclaim the Jaguar, which kept until his death in 1980, willing it to his children, Chad and Terry. In November 1984, the car was auctioned off at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas for just $150,000, and bought by McQueen’s friend, Richard Freshman who had the car refurbished by Jaguar experts, Lynx Engineering in England.

“I know I was probably crazy to sell it,” Chad McQueen told us. “But when my dad died, he had 133 motor bikes and 35 cars. With the inheritance tax laws at the time, we knew we were going to have a big hit. So the XKSS had to go.”

These days, McQueen’s XKSS is owned by Margie and Robert Petersen, founders of the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles.

As for the $150,000 price paid by Richard Freshman back in ‘84, it was a steal. Today, any one of the 16 original XKSS cars will fetch over $1 million. But for those lucky enough to own one of the 16 original XKSS’s the thrill of simply driving these machines is worth far more than $1 million. It’s priceless."

[Monterrosa-24]

Those are great pics. Thanks!