The Mcqueen Auction Ii
THE MCQUEEN AUCTION II
YOU CAN’T BUY COOL, but that didn’t stop bidders from trying at last November’s auction of Steve McQueen memorabilia.
“If McQueen drove it, rode it or wore it, it was cool said Mark Osborne of Bonhams & Butterfields, the auction house that organized the sale, held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. A standingroom-only crowd proved the point in a bidding frenzy that drove some of the 216 lots to 100 times their pre-sale estimates. Among those rumored to be bidding by proxy were Donald Trump and Bill Gates.
An early indicator that prices would go through the roof was the star’s longexpired Master Charge credit card, which was hammered down for a whopping $8500! Another hot item was a leather-bound presentation script for the movie Tom Horn, which went for $30,000. The next item, a pair of folding Persol sunglasses believed (but not confirmed) to be the ones McQueen wore in the artheist flick The Thomas Crown Affair, rocked the room with a top bid of $60,000! Factor in the 17 percent buyer’s premium and the total was
$70,200. Has to be a world record for a set of shades. At the time of his death in 1980, McQueen had amassed a collection of 130 motorcycles and 35 cars. Most went on the block at the Imperial Palace auction in 1984, but this new sale included three bikes, motorcycle memorabilia and a favorite pickup truck, all of which went for outrageous numbers (see www.cycleworld.com for a price list and photo gallery).
One shocker was a waxedcotton Belstaff riding jacket, which saw spirited bidding that took it all the way to $28,000. Another sought-after lot was a folding pocketknife with the inscription,
“To Steve from Dutch.” It had been given to McQueen
by his friend Von Dutch, the famed pinstriper, and went for a breathtaking $32,500.
Best example of the value of McQueen’s motoprovenance, though, was his 1934 Indian Sport Scout. Owned by anybody else, it might have fetched $20,000. Here, it went for an astounding $155,000!
Following the final lot, Barbara McQueen addressed the crowd. “Steve would have loved this,” she said. “He’d have dug the whole thing.”
All the way to the bank, baby!
David Edwards
