A Porsche 911 that belonged to Hollywood actor and Le Mans legend Steve McQueen sold for an astonishing $1.25m on the hammer during the first day of RM's annual Monterey sale on 19-20 August.
The 1970 911S was delivered to the King of Cool while he was on the set for the epic race movie Le Mans and famously featured in the film's opening sequence with McQueen (alias Michael Delaney) behind the wheel.
Bidding on the Heron Grey coupe - which was part of an enviable stable of cars in McQueen's garage - started at $200,000, but rapidly raced towards the $1m mark as a phone bidder fought off interest from several buyers in the room.
The duel drew a round of applause when the bidding hit seven figures before a late bidder dived in at $1.15m. The tactic backfired as the phone bidder immediately stumped up another $100,000 to have the gavel brought down at $1.25m, with the result drawing another round of applause. Add in commission and the sale will post an amazing $1.37m - an incredible result for a model that routinely sells for around $100k.
Adding to the euphoria on the podium over the hammer price was the news that the result is RM Auctions' 200th $1m-plus result to date.
