Cars in Movies
See also : Duesenberg Cars 1930-33 Cars 1960s Cars 1960-61 Cars 1964-65 Cars 1966-67 Cars 1970s 1980s LWB to GTO California Spider Ford and Shelby Porsche Aston Martin
Chronology : 1970
Chronology : 1970
1928-(1935) Mercedes-Benz 680S
2011 SOLD for $ 3.74M by Gooding
When they were not busy on movies, the stars of Hollywood were looking for the best tips to keep the attention on them. The car could be a good excuse.
In 1932, Zeppo Marx and Phil Berg had a challenge to $ 10,000 on a dry lake in East Los Angeles: who has the fastest car? This race managed for both sport and news has been won by the Duesenberg Model J of the agent of Clark Gable and Gary Cooper against the Mercedes-Benz of the youngest of the Marx Brothers.
This Mercedes is a 680 S made in 1928 and bodyworked as a Boattail Speedster by Murphy, the supplier of the Hollywood stars. Designed for speed and pleasure, it has a rear hood shaped like an overturned canoe, more effective for speed than for elegance. It was also featured in 1935 in the movie Sylvia Scarlett starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
The car has never left California and is very close to its original condition. It was sold for $ 3.74M by Gooding on 14/15 August, 2010., lot 127.
In 1932, Zeppo Marx and Phil Berg had a challenge to $ 10,000 on a dry lake in East Los Angeles: who has the fastest car? This race managed for both sport and news has been won by the Duesenberg Model J of the agent of Clark Gable and Gary Cooper against the Mercedes-Benz of the youngest of the Marx Brothers.
This Mercedes is a 680 S made in 1928 and bodyworked as a Boattail Speedster by Murphy, the supplier of the Hollywood stars. Designed for speed and pleasure, it has a rear hood shaped like an overturned canoe, more effective for speed than for elegance. It was also featured in 1935 in the movie Sylvia Scarlett starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
The car has never left California and is very close to its original condition. It was sold for $ 3.74M by Gooding on 14/15 August, 2010., lot 127.
1930-(1931) (1962) Model J Convertible Coupe by Murphy
2023 SOLD for $ 4.3M by RM Sotheby's
Murphy did not offer his disappearing top for the Duesenberg factory stock coupes but only as a custom bespoke option.
In a first phase, the top folded down into a pile behind the driver's seat, as for most convertibles of the time. By 1931 the top folded down into a low well behind the seat and was covered by a leather tonneau and later by a metal lid. The folded top associated with the disappearing windows provided the best sporting look to the car, much enjoyed in Hollywood.
A Duesenberg Model J Disappearing top coupe by Murphy made in 1930 but titled 1931 was originally or slightly later finished in a primrose yellow with apple green fenders. It was once owned in that configuration by a son of Buster Keaton.
Still in that livery, this eccentric car of the 1930s had a later career in movies and in television series, beginning in 1962 with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane ?, the thriller film that narrated the long term consequences of a car accident in 1935.
The car retains its original chassis, engine and body, and even its matching number crankshaft. After a painstaking three year restoration that earned it a lot of best in class awards, it was sold by RM Sothebys for $ 3.5M on May 2, 2015, lot 244, and for $ 4.3M on March 4, 2023, lot 135.
In a first phase, the top folded down into a pile behind the driver's seat, as for most convertibles of the time. By 1931 the top folded down into a low well behind the seat and was covered by a leather tonneau and later by a metal lid. The folded top associated with the disappearing windows provided the best sporting look to the car, much enjoyed in Hollywood.
A Duesenberg Model J Disappearing top coupe by Murphy made in 1930 but titled 1931 was originally or slightly later finished in a primrose yellow with apple green fenders. It was once owned in that configuration by a son of Buster Keaton.
Still in that livery, this eccentric car of the 1930s had a later career in movies and in television series, beginning in 1962 with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane ?, the thriller film that narrated the long term consequences of a car accident in 1935.
The car retains its original chassis, engine and body, and even its matching number crankshaft. After a painstaking three year restoration that earned it a lot of best in class awards, it was sold by RM Sothebys for $ 3.5M on May 2, 2015, lot 244, and for $ 4.3M on March 4, 2023, lot 135.
Simply the best of the best. The top surviving Murphy “Disappearing Top” Convertible Coupe headlines the Private Collection offered at Amelia Island. https://t.co/yL0d9eD6Qa pic.twitter.com/w7jPet3mGC
— RM Sotheby's (@rmsothebys) February 4, 2023
Undoubtedly one of the best known and most beautiful Duesenbergs was the “Disappearing Top” Convertible Coupe. https://t.co/yL0d9eD6Qa pic.twitter.com/F9MRw7UPCe
— RM Sotheby's (@rmsothebys) February 22, 2023
1955-(1966) Back to the Futura
2013 SOLD 4.6 M$ including premium
We all wish to predict the future. The evolution of the car captures our imagination. For this reason, do not look on the roads for the most fabulous cars.
In 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show, Ford unveils the Lincoln Futura. This is a single specimen bodied by Ghia, low and wide with very long wings. It is designed for two seaters, protected as in a spacesuit by a double bubble-shaped windshield. It is white.
Painted in red, the Futura plays in a movie in 1959. In 1965, George Barris saves it from oblivion and from the risk of destruction by buying it to Ford for one symbolic dollar. Barris has an unprecedented job for which he created the wording 'Kustomizer': he is adapting cars to make the most extraordinary custom vehicles of television and film.
A few months later, there is an extreme urgency at the 20th Century Fox! Batman has an immediate need for a car worthy of his extravagance for the television series in preparation. The Futura is painted in black with horizontal psychedelic lines that symbolize audacity and speed. Thus was born the Batmobile.
This first Batmobile was retained by Barris. It is now coming to auction at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale on January 19.
The word 'iconic' has rarely been used as well than for describing this television vehicle. A website (1966batmobile.com) and a Wikipedia page (Lincoln Futura) are devoted to it.
I invite you to play the video shared by CNNMoney.
POST SALE COMMENT
It was a great time in the auction week of Arizona. In the presence of George Barris, the Batmobile was sold $ 4.2 million before fees, $ 4.62 million including premium. The specialized press was waiting for a price at such a level.
This is an outstanding result for a car designed exclusively for cinema or television. It equals James Bond's Aston Martin, sold £ 2.9 million including premium by RM Auctions on October 27, 2010.
The low resolution image of the car in its 1955 configuration is shared by Wikimedia for fair use.
The image of the car in its 1966 configuration is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : By Photo by Jennifer Graylock/Ford Motor Companyhttps://www.flickr.com/people/13524418@N07 Ford Motor Company from USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
In 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show, Ford unveils the Lincoln Futura. This is a single specimen bodied by Ghia, low and wide with very long wings. It is designed for two seaters, protected as in a spacesuit by a double bubble-shaped windshield. It is white.
Painted in red, the Futura plays in a movie in 1959. In 1965, George Barris saves it from oblivion and from the risk of destruction by buying it to Ford for one symbolic dollar. Barris has an unprecedented job for which he created the wording 'Kustomizer': he is adapting cars to make the most extraordinary custom vehicles of television and film.
A few months later, there is an extreme urgency at the 20th Century Fox! Batman has an immediate need for a car worthy of his extravagance for the television series in preparation. The Futura is painted in black with horizontal psychedelic lines that symbolize audacity and speed. Thus was born the Batmobile.
This first Batmobile was retained by Barris. It is now coming to auction at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale on January 19.
The word 'iconic' has rarely been used as well than for describing this television vehicle. A website (1966batmobile.com) and a Wikipedia page (Lincoln Futura) are devoted to it.
I invite you to play the video shared by CNNMoney.
POST SALE COMMENT
It was a great time in the auction week of Arizona. In the presence of George Barris, the Batmobile was sold $ 4.2 million before fees, $ 4.62 million including premium. The specialized press was waiting for a price at such a level.
This is an outstanding result for a car designed exclusively for cinema or television. It equals James Bond's Aston Martin, sold £ 2.9 million including premium by RM Auctions on October 27, 2010.
The low resolution image of the car in its 1955 configuration is shared by Wikimedia for fair use.
The image of the car in its 1966 configuration is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : By Photo by Jennifer Graylock/Ford Motor Companyhttps://www.flickr.com/people/13524418@N07 Ford Motor Company from USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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1956-(1966) Gran Turismo by Ferrari
2012 SOLD 6.7 M$ including premium
At the time of my writing, it is night in Monterey. The first auction day of RM Auctions has been a great success. I introduce now one of the favorite cars of RM for the second session of sales, on today evening August 18.
The creation of a Grand Touring (Gran Turismo) class in competition is one of the consequences of the disaster at Le Mans in 1955. Ferrari has launched in the previous year the 250GT chassis, equipped as a berlinetta for the road.
For the often tortuous roads of the Tour de France Automobile, Ferrari designs the 250GT TdF. The name is well chosen: in 1957, Gendebien and Bianchi actually won the competition with a TdF.
The car for sale tonight was bodied by Scaglietti in 1956, with the rare 14 louvers variant describing the parallel slits that decorate the side panels.
This car both elegant and efficient later received a casting tribute. This unit was chosen by Walt Disney Studios to symbolize Ferrari for co-starring with Volkswagen in The Love Bug, one of the most successful films of that time.
It is a great achievement for the art of Scaglietti when considering that the film was prepared in 1966. The 14 louvers TdF has been chosen by the Disney team despite ten years of age, in competition with the California Spyder and the GTO, those two later models better known today whose production was also already a thing of the past.
I invite you to play the video shared by RM Auctions on YouTube.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is $ 6.1 million excluding fees, 6.7 million including premium. This is a Ferrari of high class, without being among the most outstanding models.
The creation of a Grand Touring (Gran Turismo) class in competition is one of the consequences of the disaster at Le Mans in 1955. Ferrari has launched in the previous year the 250GT chassis, equipped as a berlinetta for the road.
For the often tortuous roads of the Tour de France Automobile, Ferrari designs the 250GT TdF. The name is well chosen: in 1957, Gendebien and Bianchi actually won the competition with a TdF.
The car for sale tonight was bodied by Scaglietti in 1956, with the rare 14 louvers variant describing the parallel slits that decorate the side panels.
This car both elegant and efficient later received a casting tribute. This unit was chosen by Walt Disney Studios to symbolize Ferrari for co-starring with Volkswagen in The Love Bug, one of the most successful films of that time.
It is a great achievement for the art of Scaglietti when considering that the film was prepared in 1966. The 14 louvers TdF has been chosen by the Disney team despite ten years of age, in competition with the California Spyder and the GTO, those two later models better known today whose production was also already a thing of the past.
I invite you to play the video shared by RM Auctions on YouTube.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is $ 6.1 million excluding fees, 6.7 million including premium. This is a Ferrari of high class, without being among the most outstanding models.
1961-(1963) Oggi the Ferrari
2016 SOLD for $ 17.2M including premium
On March 11 in Amelia Island, Gooding sells a California Spider. Such event is not unusual but this specific example has many qualities that make it one of the most desirable Ferrari cars. It is estimated $ 15M, lot 069. Here is the link to the press release.
This car built in 1961 has the two outstanding aesthetic achievements by Scaglietti : the bodywork on the shorter frame and the covered headlights. Its color is the best symbol of the brand: it is painted in red and the leathers are black.
It had only three owners from new who carefully maintained and serviced it without modification and it so remains one of the most original from that model. It had probably never left Italy.
This California Spider is the dream car in the film Ieri, Oggi, Domani released in 1963. The movie is composed of three episodes of the Italian life unconnected in location or time, whose only common point is the leading couple, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
The central story, Oggi, was inspired from a short novel by Moravia whose title Troppo Ricca demonstrates the intention of social criticism. The woman drives with her lover the Rolls-Rolls of her husband and suddenly considers that she must make a choice between man and car. Relationships become nervous and Sophia crashes the Rolls.
The woman leaves on the road both car and lover and makes hitchhiking. They are near to Milan and the car that boards Sophia is our Ferrari, lent by its owner of that time to the film producer. Italy did not need to rely on concept cars to show on screen the ideal car : they had the 250 GT SWB California Spider.
This car built in 1961 has the two outstanding aesthetic achievements by Scaglietti : the bodywork on the shorter frame and the covered headlights. Its color is the best symbol of the brand: it is painted in red and the leathers are black.
It had only three owners from new who carefully maintained and serviced it without modification and it so remains one of the most original from that model. It had probably never left Italy.
This California Spider is the dream car in the film Ieri, Oggi, Domani released in 1963. The movie is composed of three episodes of the Italian life unconnected in location or time, whose only common point is the leading couple, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
The central story, Oggi, was inspired from a short novel by Moravia whose title Troppo Ricca demonstrates the intention of social criticism. The woman drives with her lover the Rolls-Rolls of her husband and suddenly considers that she must make a choice between man and car. Relationships become nervous and Sophia crashes the Rolls.
The woman leaves on the road both car and lover and makes hitchhiking. They are near to Milan and the car that boards Sophia is our Ferrari, lent by its owner of that time to the film producer. Italy did not need to rely on concept cars to show on screen the ideal car : they had the 250 GT SWB California Spider.
1965 Aston Martin DB5 for James Bond
2019 SOLD for $ 6.4M by RM Sotheby's
The third James Bond film was based on Goldfinger, a novel published by Ian Fleming in 1959. In the book, 007 was driving an Aston Martin DB3. A delegation from the production team decides that the most recent model, the DB5 coupe, will suit the new movie. With its bodywork designed by Touring, this English car has an Italian elegance.
In the previous film, From Russia with Love, the special effects were concentrated in a faked briefcase. The Goldfinger DB5 will accommodate the gadgets for the perfect spy, for example the emission of a smoke screen, the ejector seat, the retractable roof. Everyone added his idea. The rotating license plate operated from the dashboard comes from a participant's dream of leaving a parking lot without paying.
The team in charge of the scenario retains thirteen gadgets powered by a board located in the armrest. The nail ejector is abandoned to avoid giving bad ideas to car users. Two DB5 are purchased. One of them incorporates all the gadgets. The other, intended for scenes of fast driving, will be equipped later.
Released in 1964, Goldfinger is an immediate success. Both cars are collectively referred to as The Most Famous Car in the World. The sales of the DB5 exceed all expectations and its model by Corgi Toys is a huge success.
Thunderball, released in 1965, is using the same cars. The first Bond car mysteriously disappeared in 1997. The other, preserved by a collector in its original condition, was sold for £ 2.9M by RM Auctions on October 27, 2010.
To promote Thunderball by touring the United States, the production team buys two additional cars. This time the gadgets are built by Aston Martin, the repetition of the demonstrations requiring a robustness that was not necessary for the shooting. They are identified as DB5 James Bond Works Replica in the Aston Martin archives.
One of them is in a Dutch museum. The other was sold for $ 2.1M by RM on January 20, 2006. After a meticulous restoration including the full operation of the thirteen gadgets, it was sold for $ 6.4M by RM Sotheby's on August 15, 2019, lot 111. Please watch the video shared by the auction house, with a journalist named Florence in the role of 007.
In the previous film, From Russia with Love, the special effects were concentrated in a faked briefcase. The Goldfinger DB5 will accommodate the gadgets for the perfect spy, for example the emission of a smoke screen, the ejector seat, the retractable roof. Everyone added his idea. The rotating license plate operated from the dashboard comes from a participant's dream of leaving a parking lot without paying.
The team in charge of the scenario retains thirteen gadgets powered by a board located in the armrest. The nail ejector is abandoned to avoid giving bad ideas to car users. Two DB5 are purchased. One of them incorporates all the gadgets. The other, intended for scenes of fast driving, will be equipped later.
Released in 1964, Goldfinger is an immediate success. Both cars are collectively referred to as The Most Famous Car in the World. The sales of the DB5 exceed all expectations and its model by Corgi Toys is a huge success.
Thunderball, released in 1965, is using the same cars. The first Bond car mysteriously disappeared in 1997. The other, preserved by a collector in its original condition, was sold for £ 2.9M by RM Auctions on October 27, 2010.
To promote Thunderball by touring the United States, the production team buys two additional cars. This time the gadgets are built by Aston Martin, the repetition of the demonstrations requiring a robustness that was not necessary for the shooting. They are identified as DB5 James Bond Works Replica in the Aston Martin archives.
One of them is in a Dutch museum. The other was sold for $ 2.1M by RM on January 20, 2006. After a meticulous restoration including the full operation of the thirteen gadgets, it was sold for $ 6.4M by RM Sotheby's on August 15, 2019, lot 111. Please watch the video shared by the auction house, with a journalist named Florence in the role of 007.
(1967-1968)-1970 A Ford behind Steve McQueen
2012 SOLD 11 M$ including premium
There were only 133 copies of Ford GT40, including all body variants. Fans of this legendary model are delighted: some exceptional cars are presented in three auctions to be held next month in California.
The model was developed in the United States but the cars were manufactured by an English department of Ford called Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV). When Ford left the series in 1967, the former head of FAV tried to continue the operation by creating John Wyer Automotive (JWA).
One of these GT40, for sale by RM Auctions in Monterey on August 17, is related to this last phase of the model.
It successfully started its career by winning at Spa in May 1967 in a Mirage M configuration. Due to one of these changes in race regulations which we so often discuss in this group, it was rebuilt in the following year by Wyer under a configuration identified as 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf / Mirage Lightweight Racing Car.
It is one of two survivors from three lightweight GT40, and one of the earliest racing cars to use carbon fiber.
It then went to the movies industry, but not in the star role which its supreme elegance would have earned. In 1970, its roof was cut to allow the use of a 35mm camera by an operator on the passenger seat, and it was launched in the pursuit of the Porsche 917 of Steve McQueen as a camera car for the preparation of the film Le Mans.
This magnificent car is illustrated on the blog post shared by Road and Track.
I invite you to play the video shared by RM Auctions on YouTube.
POST SALE COMMENT
This wonderful Ford is one of the most desirable cars in the world. It was sold $ 10M hammer price, 11M including premium.
The model was developed in the United States but the cars were manufactured by an English department of Ford called Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV). When Ford left the series in 1967, the former head of FAV tried to continue the operation by creating John Wyer Automotive (JWA).
One of these GT40, for sale by RM Auctions in Monterey on August 17, is related to this last phase of the model.
It successfully started its career by winning at Spa in May 1967 in a Mirage M configuration. Due to one of these changes in race regulations which we so often discuss in this group, it was rebuilt in the following year by Wyer under a configuration identified as 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf / Mirage Lightweight Racing Car.
It is one of two survivors from three lightweight GT40, and one of the earliest racing cars to use carbon fiber.
It then went to the movies industry, but not in the star role which its supreme elegance would have earned. In 1970, its roof was cut to allow the use of a 35mm camera by an operator on the passenger seat, and it was launched in the pursuit of the Porsche 917 of Steve McQueen as a camera car for the preparation of the film Le Mans.
This magnificent car is illustrated on the blog post shared by Road and Track.
I invite you to play the video shared by RM Auctions on YouTube.
POST SALE COMMENT
This wonderful Ford is one of the most desirable cars in the world. It was sold $ 10M hammer price, 11M including premium.
1968 A High Speed Chase
2020 SOLD for $ 3.74M including premium
Steve McQueen is out of the range. Extremely individualistic, he begins his career at the right time, when moviegoers demand modern expressions of liberty. He is also passionate about motorsport. After the first successes, Bullitt is his personal masterpiece.
Prepared in 1968, Bullitt is co-produced by Solar Productions, which is owned by McQueen, and by Warner Bros. It is not a simple successor to the countless films opposing the police to a gang of murderers. It is above all the pretext for a car chase entirely conceived by McQueen.
Lt. Bullitt, played by McQueen, drives a green Ford Mustang against a team of two killers in a black Dodge Charger in the winding streets of San Francisco. The King of Cool is never talkative. For ten minutes, no words are spoken, highlighting the extreme conditions of this driving.
In this scene, the driving of the Mustang is ensured by McQueen, doubled by a stuntman in the most dangerous actions. The cameras are cleverly distributed, so that the spectator has the impression of experiencing the action behind the pilot's back, or of observing from the passenger seat his state of concentration and his handling of the steering wheel, and sometimes from the front through the windshield.
For this role, Ford loaned two Mustang GT Fastbacks with 390 CI V8 engines. One of them was used extensively during the three weeks of filming the sequence, after an adaptation of the engine, of the brakes and of the suspension to the extreme conditions of the chase.
This car was bought on a classified ad in 1974 by a connoisseur who refused to hand it over to Steve McQueen. An insistent and emotional letter mailed in 1977 by the actor was kept.
This supposedly lost car resurfaced in the same family in 2018, with 65,000 miles on the clock. It still has the camera mounts welded behind the seats and the Bondo used to reinforce the door after the scheduled final accident of the scenario. It will be sold without reserve price by Mecum in Kissimmee on January 10, lot F150. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Prepared in 1968, Bullitt is co-produced by Solar Productions, which is owned by McQueen, and by Warner Bros. It is not a simple successor to the countless films opposing the police to a gang of murderers. It is above all the pretext for a car chase entirely conceived by McQueen.
Lt. Bullitt, played by McQueen, drives a green Ford Mustang against a team of two killers in a black Dodge Charger in the winding streets of San Francisco. The King of Cool is never talkative. For ten minutes, no words are spoken, highlighting the extreme conditions of this driving.
In this scene, the driving of the Mustang is ensured by McQueen, doubled by a stuntman in the most dangerous actions. The cameras are cleverly distributed, so that the spectator has the impression of experiencing the action behind the pilot's back, or of observing from the passenger seat his state of concentration and his handling of the steering wheel, and sometimes from the front through the windshield.
For this role, Ford loaned two Mustang GT Fastbacks with 390 CI V8 engines. One of them was used extensively during the three weeks of filming the sequence, after an adaptation of the engine, of the brakes and of the suspension to the extreme conditions of the chase.
This car was bought on a classified ad in 1974 by a connoisseur who refused to hand it over to Steve McQueen. An insistent and emotional letter mailed in 1977 by the actor was kept.
This supposedly lost car resurfaced in the same family in 2018, with 65,000 miles on the clock. It still has the camera mounts welded behind the seats and the Bondo used to reinforce the door after the scheduled final accident of the scenario. It will be sold without reserve price by Mecum in Kissimmee on January 10, lot F150. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1970 The Preferred Car of Jo Siffert
2017 SOLD for $ 14M including premium
Porsche had never won the 24 hours of Le Mans. A change in regulations announced after the 1968 season by the ACO for the two classes 3 liters and 5 liters is seized as an opportunity. Porsche creates in parallel the models 908 and 917.
The rule for the 5 liter homologation requires that the model is produced in 25 identical units. Porsche's motivation is so intense that they line up their twenty-five 917 in the yard of the factory as early as April 1969. Success is still questionable because the 917 is very difficult to drive. None of them finished the 24 hours of Le Mans 1969 and a driver died during that race.
Porsche immediately conceived the necessary improvements, resulting in two variants of the chassis for each of the two models : K for Kurz Heck and LH for Lang Heck. The short variant is faster in top speed but less stable. Many drivers will prefer the LH.
On August 18 at Pebble Beach, Gooding sells a historically important 917K, lot 44 estimated $ 13M. Here is the link to the press release.
This car assembled in 1970 was immediately entered in the training and test sessions at Le Mans, Nürburgring and Ehra-Lessien in April and May, demonstrating the exceptional speed achieved by the 917K model.
It is purchased in June 1970 by Jo Siffert who does not use it in competition but leases it for the preparation of the film Le Mans. It is one of three 917K starring in this movie for which they also served as camera cars for shooting at full speed. This 917K was Siffert's favorite car and led his funeral procession in October 1971.
The car was found 30 years later in a Parisian suburb, covered with dust but untouched except for the absence of the engine. The next owner bought an original engine from the same series. The complete restoration was supervised by a former Porsche engineer who still had access to the factory archives of the 917 program.
Please watch the video shared by Gooding.
The rule for the 5 liter homologation requires that the model is produced in 25 identical units. Porsche's motivation is so intense that they line up their twenty-five 917 in the yard of the factory as early as April 1969. Success is still questionable because the 917 is very difficult to drive. None of them finished the 24 hours of Le Mans 1969 and a driver died during that race.
Porsche immediately conceived the necessary improvements, resulting in two variants of the chassis for each of the two models : K for Kurz Heck and LH for Lang Heck. The short variant is faster in top speed but less stable. Many drivers will prefer the LH.
On August 18 at Pebble Beach, Gooding sells a historically important 917K, lot 44 estimated $ 13M. Here is the link to the press release.
This car assembled in 1970 was immediately entered in the training and test sessions at Le Mans, Nürburgring and Ehra-Lessien in April and May, demonstrating the exceptional speed achieved by the 917K model.
It is purchased in June 1970 by Jo Siffert who does not use it in competition but leases it for the preparation of the film Le Mans. It is one of three 917K starring in this movie for which they also served as camera cars for shooting at full speed. This 917K was Siffert's favorite car and led his funeral procession in October 1971.
The car was found 30 years later in a Parisian suburb, covered with dust but untouched except for the absence of the engine. The next owner bought an original engine from the same series. The complete restoration was supervised by a former Porsche engineer who still had access to the factory archives of the 917 program.
Please watch the video shared by Gooding.
1970 Porsche 917K / 917 Spyder
2010 SOLD for $ 4M by Bonhams
Winning at Le Mans was for many years the ultimate dream for Porsche. In 1969, they missed it when a 908 was not powerful enough to overcome a veteran Ford GT40 Mk I in the last lap. The Ford was operated by John Wyer Automotive.
In 1970 the new coupes 917K and 917LH were highly promising and John Wyer left Ford for Porsche, including a full factory support. The race was won by another works 917K ahead of a 917LH and a 908.
None of the three 917K entered by John Wyer Automotive Gulf finished that race. One of them crashed under heavy rain. It had been specially filmed in the race by a 908 equipped for the preparation of Le Mans film, which will be released in 1971. It is this car which is featured in its resplendent Gulf-Porsche blue and orange livery as the winning car starred by Steve McQueen.
The chassis was repaired and renumbered in 1971 by the factory. It was re-bodied at that time as a spyder according to the new 917/10 design prepared for the CanAm. It was then raced for three seasons in the Interserie.
Still as a spyder, it was sold for $ 4M by Bonhams on August 12, 2010, lot 236, without a reference to its movie fame as a coupe.
It was later restored to its original 1970 Le Mans racing configuration as a coupe with the Gulf livery. It passed at RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 14, 2021, lot 328. It is still accompanied by its former spyder body and still retains the engine from its factory rebuild. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In 1970 the new coupes 917K and 917LH were highly promising and John Wyer left Ford for Porsche, including a full factory support. The race was won by another works 917K ahead of a 917LH and a 908.
None of the three 917K entered by John Wyer Automotive Gulf finished that race. One of them crashed under heavy rain. It had been specially filmed in the race by a 908 equipped for the preparation of Le Mans film, which will be released in 1971. It is this car which is featured in its resplendent Gulf-Porsche blue and orange livery as the winning car starred by Steve McQueen.
The chassis was repaired and renumbered in 1971 by the factory. It was re-bodied at that time as a spyder according to the new 917/10 design prepared for the CanAm. It was then raced for three seasons in the Interserie.
Still as a spyder, it was sold for $ 4M by Bonhams on August 12, 2010, lot 236, without a reference to its movie fame as a coupe.
It was later restored to its original 1970 Le Mans racing configuration as a coupe with the Gulf livery. It passed at RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 14, 2021, lot 328. It is still accompanied by its former spyder body and still retains the engine from its factory rebuild. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
