PARIS.- Christie’s will offer the Steve McQueen Porsche in The Exceptional Sale. This sale concept is the first one organised in Paris after its launch in London in 2008. After the success of five Exceptional sales in London, totaling more than £100 million and after the launch of the Exceptional sale in New York totaling $40 million, Christie’s France is delighted to present its first edition in Paris this November. International collectors will be able to acquire rare and unique objects from different specialties such as furniture, antiquities, modern art or even cars, like the 911T Porsche which will highlight the sale on November 4th (estimate: €250.000-350.000).
This car was used in the famous film Le Mans, released in 1971 and which remains without doubt one of the most important racing car movies of all time. It was shot at the track of the famous 24-hour-race between June and November of 1970 and was credited for its realistic rendition of contemporary racing as well as the outstanding acting performance of the main character. To this day many fixtures and details are acknowledged groundbreaking in style.
Steve McQueen and "Le Mans"
Steve McQueen is the American race driver Michael Delaney, who competes for Porsche in the eponymous race. At the beginning of the movie he is seen exploring the city of Le Mans in his Porsche 911 when he sees the widow of his former Ferrari competitor, who had a fatal crash on that very circuit the previous year, buying flowers at a road side flower market. He also goes to pay his respects at the scene of the crash in which he himself was injured. Without any dialogue, this opening sequence sets the tone of the story: competition, speed and risk, love and danger, Porsche and Elga Andersen.
Elga Andersen, the female Co-Star
The female lead is played by the German actress Elga Andersen, who was living in Paris at the time – in the former studio of Henri Matisse. She was invited by CBS Solar to Le Mans after all other proposed actresses such as Diana Rigg, Maud Adams and Twiggy had been rejected. Andersen had already made a name for herself, especially with her breakthrough role in "L'ascenseur pour l'échafaud" (“Elevator to the Gallows”), in which she played side by side with Jeanne Moreau. After an affair with McQueen in Le Mans (well documented by contemporary tabloids), she later went on to marry the owner of the department store Saks 5th Avenue, Peter Gimpel.
Jo Siffert, a Swiss race car legend
Josef "Jo" Siffert was one of the most successful drivers of the 1960’s and at the time of shooting, he was an international star: Apart from countless Formula 1 races, driving his Porsche 907 he had also won the long distance race in Le Mans (1966 and 1967 in the Index scores), Daytona and Sebring (1968). In actual fact Siffert drove the race car of the main character as McQueen was prohibited to do so due to insurance reasons. He was not only an exceptional racing driver, but also a smart business man. Siffert sold Porsche sports cars alongside his race driving carrier and his garage in Fribourg (Switzerland) turned into an important technical outfitter for the film project. Siffert, not only provided the Porsche 908 and 917, which can be seen on the race track, but also a fleet of street sports cars (which included four Porsche 911 and one Porsche 914), which were used by the crew at the shoot. The weekly rental of these demonstration cars was lucrative business of over 100.000 US Dollar for Siffert, especially as the shooting was postponed during the summer months to finally be concluded in late autumn. McQueen’s Porsche 911S is the only street car that appears in the movie; after wrapping up the movie and dissolving the production camp “Solar Village” in December 1970 the star was able to keep the car and transfer it to the US.
The Co-Star also receives a Porsche
After the resumption of work after the summer break the production company also promised Elga Andersen a Porsche from Jo Siffert – the final invoice dates this promise from CBS Solar to 6.10.1970. This means Ms Andersen was given a current 911T, which had been produced after the Stuttgart summer break with the specifications of the 1971 model year. This car was later registered in Switzerland under her name and Elga Andersen had to merely pay the luxurious extras, such as the still installed original cassette player. The invoice of Siffert’s garage dated 16.1.1971 not only lists the payment details from CBS Solar (discussed and arranged during production) and the settlement of the contract of sale, but also the extra wishes of the new owner.
