The green Mustang Steve McQueen drove in the 1968 crime thriller Bullitt sold last Friday night for a record $US3.7m ($5.4m) with buyer's premium at Mecum's Kissimmee auction. Wearing a black Stetson and standing on top of the auction desk, Mecum's Matt Moraves took only seven minutes to take bidders from $US3500 to $US3.4m.
Before the thousands of petrolheads packed into the Silver Spurs Arena saw the owner, Tennessee farmer Sean Kiernan, drive the car into the stadium, they could hear the unmistakeable thunderous throaty roar of the heavily modified 6.4 litre V8 engine burbling out of a straight-through exhaust. Everyone stood up and cheered. This car is US automotive and movie royalty. When he parked in front of the podium, Sean took the microphone and told the crowd that he wanted bidding to start at $US3500, which was what the two previous owners (New Jersey detective Frank Marranca and Sean's father Bob) had both paid.
The $US3.7m an unknown phone bidder paid is $US1.54m more than the previous price record holder, the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake Mecum, sold for last year. The most expensive US auto sold at auction was Gary Cooper's 1935 Dusenberg, which went for $US22m in 2016. While a high number for an American car, the top of the list is dominated by Ferraris, with the highest price ever paid at auction being $US48.4m for a 1962 Ferrari GTO at RM Sotheby's Monterey 2018 auction.
Matt Moraves got $1.2m for a 1967 Ford Mustang "Eleanor", one of the original 11 cars built for the 2000 action heist classic, Gone in 60 Seconds, $700,000 for the 1966 Superformance Ford GT40 MKII from the Ford v Ferrari movie, and $812,000 for the 1968 Challenger 2 Streamliner, which is the fastest piston-powered vehicle in the world (722km/h).
My eldest son has just bought a Skoda Octavia. For reasons we will see later he has also just taken himself out of the will. Many of you still remember that the 125-year-old Czech automaker had a pretty crook reputation in the 70s. What do you call a Skoda with a sunroof? A skip. What do you call a Skoda with 200,000km on it? A: A lie. Anyway, VW bought the state-owned company and has turned the brand into an international bestseller.