2008 Friends of Steve McQueen Car Show

It was a terrific day, and all about what people still feel for McQueen, and in this case his cars, bikes, and racing. The Boys Republic, in Chino, California, was a most appropriate place for the first Friends of Steve McQueen Car Show, because he not only lived there as a teen, but there was plenty room for the 200 or so cars that showed up.

There were three ex-Steve cars on the field, and they were of course the crowd favorites. Chad McQueen brought the '58 Porsche Speedster 1600 Super that his father purchased new, and won his first SCCA race with in 1959. Jesse Rodriguez brought the 1970 Porsche 911S that appeared in Le Mans (who could ever forget that opening scene with Steve and the 911, cruising the French countryside?). The owner has just consigned this car to Bonhams & Butterfields auctioneers, and it will be sold in August in Carmel Valley, California, along with the Porsche 908 Spyder that McQueen and Peter Revson drove to second place at the Sebring 12 hour race in 1970. One of his many old trucks, a nicely patina'd early '50s GMC, rounded out the trio. An ex-Steve Indian, a Triumph, and a well done Great Escape Triumph replica represented the McQueen motorcycle contingent.

Bullitt Mustangs of every stripe were out in force. Dave Kunz brought his '68 Bullitt tribute car out; this is the one that appeared in the Ford Puma commercial about ten years ago, and also Sheryl Crow's "Steve McQueen" rock video in 2000. There was also another pair of Highland Green '68s on hand. 2001 Bullitt edition Mustangs outnumbered 2008 Bullitt 'Stangs, six cars to three, and the crowd enjoyed them all. From there, it was run what ya brung, with a lot of American muscle, several nice Shelby Mustangs (old and new), several fine Jaguars, and around 40 Porsches on hand - no surprise, as a Porsche 356 club put on the event.

Chad and his family were in attendance. He and author Matt Stone signed copies of McQueen's Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon, and when they ran out of books, McQueen hung out and signed whatever people brought him. Everyone seemed to enjoy, there was a respectable amount of money raised for the Boys Republic, and many commented that they would "come back next year, show my car next time, and bring a friend too." Let's hope all that happens.

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Ron, Matt and Chad
Ron Harris, Matt Stone and Chad McQueen

Matt, a guest and Chad
Matt Stone, a guest and Chad McQueen

1970 Porsche 911S	1970 Porsche 911S	'58 Porsche Speedster 1600 Super	Speedster & Mustang	The Kunz Bullitt
Chad on Triumph Great Escape replica	Chad with a McQueen fan	Steve's GMC Pickup Truck	Steve's Indian & Triumph	Bullitt replica
The 2001 Bullitt	The 2008 Bullitt	Bullitt License Frame	Mustangs	Cool Steve Pics
Photography by Kirk Gerbracht