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08-15-2019, 07:00 PM | #1 |
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Steve McQueen's "Bullitt" Mustang is heading for auction
Expect this faded, rusty 1968 fastback to be the most expensive Mustang ever sold by JIL MCINTOSH https://driving.ca/ford/mustang/auto...ng-for-auction What’s likely to be the most expensive Mustang ever sold, the green 1968 GT fastback Steve McQueen drove in the movie Bullitt, is scheduled to cross the auction block next January. Owner Sean Kiernan announced on Instagram that the car will make five public appearances before headlining Mecum Auctions event in Kissimmee, Florida. No auction estimates have been given, but it’s expected to be in the millions. The car was one of two identical Mustangs used in the movie. One was destroyed in the jump scenes and was later discovered in a scrapyard in Mexico; the other was sold by the studio, since old movie cars had little value at the time. In 1974, the person who’d bought it placed a for-sale advertisement in Road & Track. Bob Kiernan, Sean’s father, bought it as a daily driver to replace his MGB/GT. Steve McQueen offered to buy it in 1977, but Bob Kiernan turned him down. The family drove it until 1980, when it developed a clutch issue and was parked. Father and son later started a restoration project together on it, but the project stalled and Bob Kiernan died in 2014. Sean Kiernan went back to work on the Mustang a year after that, but kept the car a secret. Coincidentally, his boss, who didn’t know about the car, had a side partnership with a small movie company that wanted to make a fictional film about someone finding the Bullitt Mustang. Kiernan revealed his ownership, and eventually, Ford got involved — the car was revealed to the public at the 2018 North American Auto Show, alongside Ford’s all-new 2019 Mustang Bullitt and introduced by McQueen’s granddaughter. Kiernan kept the car as true as possible; it still has its original paint, upholstery, and holes in the body where cameras were mounted. No official reason was given for the decision, but Kiernan said on social media that “we have thought this through together and decided that this is the best decision for the family. I have accomplished what I set out to do with the car; tell my Dad’s story in the best way possible and share the car with the world … I will continue to be very active in the automotive/Mustang community. Also, I plan to take a much bigger role in Parkinson’s research and surrounding charities such as Drive Toward a Cure.” |
08-25-2019, 02:01 AM | #2 |
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Posts Drives: 2013 BMW 328i F30 Luxury Line Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Florida, United States
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Saw it in person at the Amelia Island Concours. Very cool.
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Grumpy Old Man6467.00 |
08-25-2019, 07:42 AM | #3 |
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The story of the Bullitt movie Mustang is such a great story. I read a in-depth article on the story about a year ago, very enjoyable. The best part was how Ford got involved with the movie car for the introduction of the 2018/2019 Bullitt Mustang.
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A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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Grumpy Old Man6467.00 |
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