Steve McQueen's 1969 Chevrolet Baja Hickey race truck has headlined Mecum Auctions' Celebrity Items sale, held July 26-27 in Santa Monica.
 This was the first full-sized Chevrolet 4x4 built especially for the Baja 1000. It starred during the race's inaugural year |
The auction featured a range of celebrity-owned cars alongside an array of movie and racing memorabilia. McQueen's truck, the first full-sized Chevrolet 4x4 built for the Baja 1000 race, sold for $60,000.
The truck made its debut at the inaugural Baja 1000 in 1968 - a gruelling 1,000 mile off-road race on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. It was designed by "motoring visionary" Vic Hickey, who also helped create the Chevrolet Blazer, the Humvee, the Lunar Rover and the legendary Baja Boot.
Over the course of the truck's career it has been raced by legends such as Cliff Coleman, Bud Ekins, Johnny Dias, Mickey Thompson and Chuck Coye. It was in McQueen's possession for just two years, between 1970 and 1972.
Also selling was a California 250 GTO Ferrari replica, which was used in the 1991 film Delirious starring John Candy.
Using a 1975 Datsun 280Z as the platform, the car emulated the ever popular and for many, unaffordable, Ferrari. It sold for $35,000,
Faring well among the memorabilia on offer was Ringo Starr's 1976 "Power Ring", which was designed especially for him by his fiance Nancy Lee Andrews and features on the cover of Starr's 1977 album, Ringo the 4th. It sold for $28,000.
Also featuring was the script for the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, signed by Steve McQueen, Jack Weston and Gordon Parkes. Spurred by McQueen's enduring popularity among car collectors, it made $4,750.
See our feature, Steve McQueen - a career in collectible cars and motorbikes, to view the finest motors the actor ever drove.
We also have a superb range of racing memorabilia for sale, including signed Formula 1 items.
