Steve McQueen’s Ferrari heads to auction in Monterey

A 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 once owned by actor Steve McQueen is one of several iconic models set to head under the hammer at auction later this month.

Originally owned by the ‘King of Cool’, the Ferrari has been fully restored to McQueen’s specifications by specialists Ferrari Classiche under the ownership of racing driver Vern Schuppan.

Originally finished in a hazelnut exterior colour when it was first delivered to McQueen, the Ferrari was immediately repainted in a shade of dark maroon that specialist Lee Brown called ‘Chianti Red’. Two modifications were made – Borrani wire wheels and a sideview mirror were both mounted, taken from a Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART Spider that McQueen owned and had been involved in a low-speed prang in.

Auction house RM Sotheby’s – who is listing the Ferrari as part of its upcoming Monterey sale on August 17-19 – says that McQueen used the 275 to commute to the set of the iconic movie Bullitt, too.

The car has passed through multiple owners, with one – Robert Panella – converting the Ferrari into a Spider model in 1980. He then kept it for 17 years, after which it was purchased by a string of owners before coming into the possession of ex-Porsche factory driver and Le Mans winner Vern Schuppan, who returned the car to its original specification. He even tracked down some of the components that were removed in the car’s modification into a Spider.

It now comes accompanied by an estimate of between $5m and $7m (around £3.9m to £5.4m). A number of other iconic models will also head to auction, including a Ferrari 250 LM by Scaglietti which could fetch up to $20m and a 1957 Jaguar XKSS which could head as high as $14m.