Merged: Ex-Steve McQueen Lusso up for auction | FerrariChat

Merged: Ex-Steve McQueen Lusso up for auction

Discussion in 'Vintage Ferrari Market' started by TG, Apr 27, 2007.

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  1. TG

    TG F1 Veteran

    Oct 26, 2004
    6,290
    Newport Beach, CA
    Full Name:
    Taylor
    #1 TG, Apr 27, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070427/en_nm/mcqueen_ferrari_dc;_ylt=AqMQTi.nAqyjrZc125_LrDhxFb8C

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 1963 Ferrari once owned and driven by the late film star Steve McQueen is expected to fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million at an auction in August, Christie's said.


    Christie's unveiled the car on Friday: a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso with a medium-brown metallic paint and beige leather interior.

    McQueen, nicknamed "The King of Cool" for his portrayals of nonchalant, in-control heroes in such films as "The Great Escape," about a mass escape from a World War Two POW camp, was a car collector. He special ordered the car in 1963 and owned it for about 10 years, according to Christie's.

    "It's probably the best example of a Ferrari Lusso that's out there on the marketplace," said Christopher Sanger, vice president and head of Christie's car sales in the Americas.

    "It was McQueen's first Ferrari and was his everyday, run-around car, not a movie prop," he said.

    McQueen, who died in 1980, also enjoyed auto racing and reportedly performed some of his own driving stunts in his films. One of his most famous car chase scenes was in the 1968 film "Bullitt."

    The car is being sold by Michael Regalia, who bought the car in 1997 and had it restored to its original condition, a process that took 4,000 hours of work, according to Christie's.

    The car will be sold on August 16 at Christie's International Motor Cars 2007 flagship auction in the Monterey Jet Center in California.
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  2. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    Would be nice if someone here bought it. :)
     
  3. ArtS

    ArtS F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 11, 2003
    8,880
    Central NJ
    They should repaint it resale red, they will get more money for it that way :D :D :D ;)

    Regards,

    Art S.
     
  4. krasnavian

    krasnavian Formula 3

    Dec 24, 2003
    2,187
    Los Angeles/Paris
    It was parked outside the Chez club the night I met him. I owned a Lusso at the time, but it was very cool knowing that '007' out at the curb was his. When we weren't listening to Buddy Rich playing we were talking about Lussos and the fact that we both had installed Firestone Indy tires only to find that the stiff sidewall construction tended to loosen up the rear end.
     
  5. open roads

    open roads F1 Rookie

    Jan 28, 2007
    3,798
    Sarasota, Fl.
    Full Name:
    Stan
    Always cool.

    A fully restored Lusso is defenitely in the right venue. I can't help but wonder how much the association with Steve McQueen will be worth.

    I remember seeing his XKSS at Amelia last year and the I think the car really benefitted by it. I just had a real strong sense of "thats cool".
     
  6. ZINGARA 250GTL

    ZINGARA 250GTL F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Jun 21, 2002
    17,499
    PA
    Full Name:
    Ken
    Curious. What year was that? I used to talk with Bob Carradine about our Lussos. He was kind enough to give me a source of headliner material I needed for restoration. I didn't know Steve McQueen had one also.


     
  7. ArtS

    ArtS F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 11, 2003
    8,880
    Central NJ
    Stan,

    I suspect that the McQueen provenance will add more value than almost anyone else but I'll be amazed if it adds $500,000 to the value of the car.

    We'll see...

    Regards,

    Art S.
     
  8. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,845
    Southern Md
    Full Name:
    Robbie
    If only I had an extra million bucks laying around..
     
  9. Kds

    Kds F1 World Champ

    GAWD........anything but brown.
     
  10. skyhigh

    skyhigh Formula 3

    Jun 28, 2004
    1,027
    SoCal
  11. dm_n_stuff

    dm_n_stuff Four Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    they auctioned a bunch of his motorcycles and memorabilia recently, it went for WAY OVER THE ESTIMATES. On almost every single item.

    I was amazed.

    I can't remember the number, but his sunglasses fetched an amazing price. So did his bikes, even if they had passed through three or four owner's hands since he'd had them.

    I will not be at all surprised to see this go for 2X what it should, maybe more.

    Wasn't the car featured in Forza, maybe cavallino or something like that. Guy restored it, took it to McQueen's son and they went driving together?

    DM
     
  12. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,845
    Southern Md
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    Robbie
    I would give me left testicle for that car---brown or not...
     
  13. dm_n_stuff

    dm_n_stuff Four Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner


    your left testicle is brown??? Yech...

    That's more info than we needed.
     
  14. t walgamuth

    t walgamuth Formula Junior

    Mar 13, 2005
    850

    i think it was $60k for his shades!

    ridiculous!

    it makes a mil for his lusso seem like a bargain. at least the lusso is a tremendously desirable car on its own.

    tom w
     
  15. t walgamuth

    t walgamuth Formula Junior

    Mar 13, 2005
    850
    me too.

    he(( i don't need both of them anymore, i have enough kids!

    tom w
     
  16. krasnavian

    krasnavian Formula 3

    Dec 24, 2003
    2,187
    Los Angeles/Paris
    It would have been 1966-67. We were there to see Buddy Rich perform and what he played that night at the Chez in West Hollywood ended up on his album 'Big Swing Face' which was released in 1967. Though people refer to McQueen's Lusso as brown, I always saw it as a cross between brown and burgundy. Haskell Wexler, who was the DP on McQueen's original 'Thomas Crown' also drove a Lusso. His was dark blue. I almost bought it from him.

    On another occasion, I crossed paths with Steve on Sunset Blvd. He was driving his XK-SS; I was in the GTO. We stopped and stared at each other, he blocking traffic having stopped in the middle of the intersection to get a good look. He flashed the trademark McQueen smile and we were off again.
     
  17. REMIX

    REMIX Two Time F1 World Champ

    Wonder what the Mustang is worth...

    Wikipedia:

    ---

    To his dismay, McQueen was never able to own the legendary Ford Mustang GT that he drove in Bullitt, which featured a highly-modified drivetrain (including a NASCAR-style racing engine), which suited McQueen's driving style. There were two cars used for filming. Director Peter Yates recently stated in a radio interview that both vehicles are still in existence (BBC Radio 4, 7 January 2006) (see [1]), one of which is resting in a barn in Kentucky, the owner refusing to sell at any price.

    ---

    RMX
     
  18. bobleb

    bobleb Formula 3

    Mar 9, 2004
    1,258
    Las Vegas, NV
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    Bob Lebenson
    To further support that opinion, the original "Thomas Crown Affair" NART Spider was sold at Goodings Monterey in 2005 for about $4 million. I suspect that's twice what the price would have been without the McQueen connection. I don't think any other celebrity adds as much as he does.
     
  19. donv

    donv Two Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jan 5, 2002
    23,988
    Portland, Oregon
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    Don
    The 275 NART (9437) has so much going for it that I'd say any connection with McQueen is pretty minor. Let's see, extremely rare and desirable car, competition history, magazine cover car, first of the series, movie history, etc. etc. I wouldn't predict much based on any sales result for that car.

    I think 9437 is my favorite Ferrari of all, and I suspect I'm not the only one who feels that way. When even a neophyte like myself can identify it by serial number, that's an extraordinary car.

     
  20. Ed Niles

    Ed Niles Formula 3
    Honorary

    Sep 7, 2004
    2,493
    West Hills, CA
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    Edwin K. Niles
    I helped judge Regalia's Lusso, and can tell anyone who cares that it is outstanding. One of the best restos ever, IMO. And the color is correct, almost burgundy.
     
  21. bernardo66

    bernardo66 The Crazy Cat Man
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Dec 14, 2003
    26,281
    Montreal Canada
    Full Name:
    Bernie
    Why not?

    I find that the 60's (road car) Ferraris are much nicer in any other colour but red.
     
  22. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Six Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 22, 2004
    69,049
    Moot Pointe
    I've seen the car twice and can testify that it looks gorgeous in marrone. I'm partial to "surprising" colors, though.

    Jack
     
  23. skyhigh

    skyhigh Formula 3

    Jun 28, 2004
    1,027
    SoCal
  24. Tad Cody

    Tad Cody Formula 3

    Sep 9, 2006
    1,094
    Over here!
    Full Name:
    Take a guess...

    I was fortunate enough to be at the '05 Monterey Gooding auction to see 9437 in person, and in fact, was sitting with Denise McCluggage both before and after the sale (she and Coco Chinetti quite appropriately drove the car across the block). Her insight into the history of the car, including details of her Sebring race with Marianne 'Pinky' Rollo indicated that there was much more to it than the McQueen association, despite David Gooding's heavy emphasis of that point (though I'm sure the connection didn't hurt its value either).

    Hammer bid was $3.6m, which came to $3.96m after fees. One of only ten, and worth every penny. A humorous side note: 9437 was Bruce Lustman's, and Lawrence Auriana picked it up, thereby making it a ~6000 mile trip just to get from one Connecticut home to another...

    I have a couple of great pictures from the auction, including a nice clean shot of 9437 during the preview, and a great close up of Coco and Denise both grinning ear to ear as the car whizzed passed $3m, but for some reason the 'manage attachments' button isn't working for me... PM me if you want me to email them, Don (or anyone else).

    Although in truth... photos don't really do giallo solare justice anyway.

    -Tad
     
  25. t walgamuth

    t walgamuth Formula Junior

    Mar 13, 2005
    850
    the car was used as a road test vehicle for car and driver and was on the cover too in 67, too.

    and a few years back they were writing about it and part of the identity process included finding that the spare tire cover which was wood or masonite had been used as a pit board at sebring and still had stuff written on it. (folks were pretty casual about serial numbers back in that more innocent age).

    who would have thought the car would be worth millions someday?

    how would you like to have that car with that spare cover with its historic doodlings on it?

    just part of the history of a very special car.

    tom w
     

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