Steve McQueen is forever associated with Porsche thanks to that little movie Le Mans. Now, anytime something comes up for sale associated with the “King of Cool”, especially something Porsche related, it gets lots of attention. Case-in-point, this 1971 911T used in the production of Le Mans.
Now, don’t get confused, this isn’t the same car that McQueen’s character drove in the opening sequence. Instead, this is one of a group of Porsche’s bought by CBS Solar Film Studios, McQueen’s personal production company, directly from the garages of legendary racer Jo ‘Seppi’ Siffert (Siffert provided the Porsche 908 and 917 seen on the race track as well as four Porsche 911s and one Porsche 914). This is one of those four 911s.
What makes this 911T even more unique is that after the filming of Le Mans wrapped, McQueen is said to have gifted it to his mistress, Elga Andersen. In fact, Christie’s description of the car notes this fact front and center when they say, “McQueen and Elga Andersen had an affair in Le Mans, which was well documented by tabloid newspaper.”
When Anderson died in 1994 the Porsche was left to her best friend. That friend went on to sell it to the current owner who is not offering it for sale, via The Exceptional Sale on November 4th at Christie’s Paris. The 911T is said to be fully serviced by the same Swiss garage since 2000 and comes accompanied by a scan of the original contract from Jo Siffert to Elga Andersen, and a copy of a photograph of Steve McQueen’s son, Chad, in front of the car.
Is it worth it? Hard to tell. Anything even remotely related to McQueen and Le Mans carries a hefty premium (look how much his 930 sold for at auction recently). Christie’s has an estimate of €250,000-350,000 on the Porsche. Will let you know how it does. Steve
