I haven't seen anyone mention that McQueen drove a Sprite for Donald
Healey at Sebring in 1962. John Colgate was his co-driver, if I remember
correctly.
WST
Colin Cobb wrote:
>
> Hey Guys,
>
> Sorry that my previous post on the subject of "Bullitt" somehow got sent
> twice... Must have been an unknown draft copy hanging out somewhere.
>
> Also sorry to play the Grinch here but...
>
> The simple fact is that Steve McQueen did NOT do his own stunt driving in
> Bullitt, he did not even do a significant amount for the reasons stated in
> my previous post. This is well documented in the contemporaneous literature
> as in many interviews Steve himself credited the driving to others. Also
> many auto mags have run stories on the chase scene over the years, most
> notably Autoweek in the recent past. The best article I ever saw on it was
> in one of the "Supercar" mags many years ago.
>
> As I previously stated Steve was an accomplished competition driver. He once
> finished the Sebring 12 Hour first in class and second over all to Mario
> Andretti! (Well, it seems to me that Peter Revson had some small
> involvement...) And McQueen had one foot in a cast while he drove his
> Porsche 908. (He busted the foot racing a bike at Elsinore.)
>
> I believe (though I am not certain) that he did his own driving in LeMANS.
> (A movie I watched only once.) He also did his own motorcycle stunts in
> several movies (he was a big motorcycle racer and fan and owned over 150
> bikes at the time of his death). He was rumored to have done the bike stunts
> in THE GREAT ESCAPE but I have never seen that authenticated. (That bike, no
> matter what the Germans say, was a Triumph.) (It was disguised as a BMW.)
>
> In at least one case (late in the 70's) after he was already a big name he
> rode stunts in a cheapie motorcycle flick in which he did NOT act, just
> stunted for the hell of it.
>
> He also stunted aircraft though not (so far as I can recall) in the movies.
> He owned and flew a Stearman.
>
> He was an accomplished horseman and when he was made an "honorary member" of
> the stuntman's union it was on the basis of his horseback stunts.
>
> Incidentally, he became a "born again" Christian shortly before his death.
>
> His first new car, I have been told by folks who were there, was a Porsche.
> (I think the car he drove in LeMANS was a 917?) But his favorite ride and
> daily driver for many years was a Jaguar... An authentic SS, not a D-Type
> clone.
>
> I just finished watching VANISHING POINT for the first time in many, many
> years. I had completely forgotten the bit where the Challenger raced the
> E-Type which wrecked. A very, very good chase movie but I really got upset
> when they had the wrong type wheels on the Challenger they wrecked at the
> end. The Devil is in the details...
>
> Cheers!
>
> --Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
> '41 Chevrolet Coupe, '65 Sunbeam Tiger, '66 Morgan Plus Four, '89 Alfa Romeo
> Spider (FOR SALE)
>
> > From: owner-british-cars-digest@autox.team.net (british-cars-digest)
> > Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 13:36:04 -0700 (MST)
> > To: british-cars-digest@autox.team.net
> > Subject: british-cars-digest V1 #203
> >
> > a whole lot of books have it wrong
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