It’s arguably the most famous movie car of all time – and now the original Bullitt Mustang is going to auction for the first time ever.
Yes, the actual Ford Mustang GT that Steve McQueen raced around the streets of San Francisco in legendary cop thriller Bullitt will be offered for sale at Mecum’s Kissimmee sale this Friday, 10 January.
What’s more, it will go under the hammer with no reserve – and there’s every chance it will make a fortune when it does so.
The Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback has lived a long and complicated life.
Two ’Stangs were used in the filming of Bullitt: a ‘hero’ car driven by McQueen throughout the movie, plus a ‘jump’ car used mainly for stunt sequences.
This car is the ‘hero’ car, which means it stars in one of the most memorable of all cinematic car chases, with McQueen tearing it up and down the hills of San Francisco for almost 10 minutes in pursuit of two mob hitmen.
Both vehicles were seemingly lost to history once filming ended, but the jump car was found in a Mexican junkyard in 2017. Then, in January 2018, the hero car also resurfaced.
So where had it been? Well, it was initially sold to a Hollywood studio executive and then to a New York detective. A few years later, in 1974, it was snapped up by New Jersey insurance executive Robert Kiernan for the princely sum of $6000.
