The Steve McQueen Porsche 917K made famous in the 1971 film Le Mans is due to be auctioned at Mecum’s next Kissimmee sale, in January 2025. The news was announced during Mecum’s Monterey Car Week 2024 sale. The Porsche, chassis 917-022, has had a litany of famous owners: Reinhold Joest, Brian Redman, Richard Attwood and, most recently, comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
Chassis 917-022 was purchased directly from Porsche by McQueen’s production company, Solar Productions. It had been one of 25 examples presented to FIA inspectors on April 21, 1969, and it was only partly assembled at the time. It would be kept at the factory in this state until May 1970, when it was built to Kurzheck specification and sold for use in the Le Mans film.
Upon the completion of filming in November, the car was sold to Porsche test driver Willi Kauhsen. He would race the Porsche with Team Auto Usdau, although a bout of flu before his first race at the 1971 Buenos Aires 1000km instead saw Reinhold Joest partner with Engel Monguzzi; the car retired with engine problems after lap 85.
After skipping Daytona and Sebring, the Porsche 917K returned to action in Europe sporting a new livery, with Joest and Kauhsen behind the wheel. It took sixth overall at the Brands Hatch 1000km, followed by seventh at the Monza 1000km, fourth at the Spa 1000km and sixth at the Nürburgring 1000km, where it won the 5.0-litre Sport class. Jo Siffert then got behind the wheel for the non-championship Repubblica GP in Italy, and finished second behind the Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 512 M of Mike Parkes. Kauhsen then entered round two of the Interserie championship at Zolder, but the engine expired in practice – this brought to an end the car’s racing career.
The Porsche 917K was then sold to Reinhold Joest in 1972, who kept it until 1975, at which point it was acquired by fellow racer Brian Redman for $15,000, much to the apparent displeasure of his wife. It was then sold to another racer, Richard Attwood, who had the car painted with Salzburg livery to match the 917 in which he’d won the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Attwood kept the Porsche 917K until 2000, when it was offered for sale at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction. The sale price of $1.32m broke the record for a 917; by this point it had been repainted in Gulf colours. It ended up in the collection of Frank Gallogly, who would keep the car for just eight months before selling it to Symbolic International, which had assisted Attwood in bringing the car to RM’s Monterey sale.
Symbolic had already offered the Porsche 917K to Jerry Seinfeld at the time of the RM sale, but returned again in 2001. This time Seinfeld committed to the purchase, even though he expressed doubts as to whether he “deserved” to own the car.
Fello television personality Spike Feresten convinced the comedian to purchase the car with the line: “I think Steve McQueen is about to get really hot,” – something that was later proven correct, with McQueen-linked cars rising in value. Seinfeld then got to see the Porsche 917K running at Willow Springs with McQueen’s son Chad driving it – although not overly successfully. One of the car’s front wheels fell off mid-turn. Undeterred, Seinfeld bought the Porsche in 2002.
The 917K is now due to be auctioned at Mecum’s Kissimmee sale, which takes place between January 7-19, 2025. No estimate has been released at the time of writing for the Steve McQueen Porsche 917K, but the previous 917K to be offered for sale with Le Mans connections failed to sell at RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale in 2021 with an estimate of $16m-$18m. Prior to that, Gooding & Co. sold another car from that film, chassis 024 – the ex-Jo Siffert machine – for $14.08m in 2017.
Other cars announced for Mecum’s 2025 Kissimmee sale include the Porsche 934 driven to class victory at the 1976 Le Mans 24 Hours, the 1983 Porsche 935/84 taken to fifth place at the 1985 Daytona 24 Hours and the 1966 Lola T90 driven by Jackie Stewart to sixth place at the Indianapolis 500.
More details on the Mecum sale can be found via this link.
