Porsche 917 Used in Steve McQueen Film 'Le Mans' to be Auctioned

The 1970 Porsche 917K used in the epic 1971 Steve McQueen film ‘Le Mans’ will be auctioned off by Gooding & Co. at its Pebble Beach sale this summer.

‘Le Mans’ starred legendary American actor Steve McQueen, who played a Porsche factory racing driver contesting the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. The movie forgoes a strong plot and dialogue in favor of focusing on the racing, so in other words, it’s pretty much perfect.

The filming process for Le Mans required the team to enter a car into the race so they could get footage of the car on track. Porsche factory driver Jo Siffert offered up his 1970 Porsche 917 for use, which was used as a test car for 1970’s edition of the race, while a Porsche 908 was used as a camera car. Some of the shots in which the 917 is seen racing Ferrari’s entry, the 512, were filmed at Circuit de la Sarthe after the race had finished, but certain bits of footage are of the actual race itself.

SEE ALSO: What It’s Like to Stay Awake for All 24 Hours of Le Mans

After filming had completed, the 917 was returned to Siffert, however it was lost for years following his death in 1971. It was then found in a warehouse in France in 2001 and underwent a complete restoration to return it to its former glory. The car was offered up for auction by Gooding & Co back in 2014, but it failed to find a new owner. If it sells this time around, the company is expecting it to fetch anywhere from $13 million to $16 million.