McQueen Cars Add Hollywood Glamor To RM's Highly Anticipated Monterey Sale

BLENHEIM, Ontario, Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- RM Auctions, the world's largest collector car auction house for investment-quality automobiles, will lift the gavel on an exciting series of celebrity vehicles at its highly anticipated Monterey, California sale this week ( August 17–18).

Headlining entries boasting celebrity provenance are no less than four vehicles linked to the "King of Cool," Steve McQueen, including a multi-million-dollar 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/ Mirage Lightweight Racing Car. Leased by McQueen's film company, Solar Productions, in 1970, the competition-bred GT40 was used extensively as the camera car in McQueen's epic Hollywood film Le Mans. Also featured in the same movie and set for RM's auction spotlight is a 1956 Fiat Series 306/2 Grand Prix Transporter. Commissioned by the Maserati Grand Prix team, it was subsequently used by both Lance Reventlow's and Carroll Shelby's race teams before earning a supporting role in Le Mans. The Fiat hauler played three roles in the movie: team transporter for Ferrari, Renault/Mirage, and Porsche.

Other auction lots boasting McQueen provenance include a 1961 Cooper T-56 Mark II Formula Junior Racing Car, owned and successfully raced by McQueen in California in 1962, and an unrestored, extremely well-documented 1953 Hudson Hornet Sedan, which was in McQueen's possession at the time of his passing in 1980.

Another "star" attraction with top-billing for the RM sale is a coveted 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta 14-Louver 'Tour de France' that enjoyed a memorable Hollywood turn in the 1960s. Exceptionally rare—it is the first 14-louver Tour de France of just nine examples built—the stunning Tour de France competed in some of the world's most prestigious events before coming into the possession of Walt Disney Studios. It then co-starred in the 1966 classic The Love Bug alongside "Herbie," the racing VW Beetle with a soul. The catalogue also includes a 1965 Shelby 427 Competition Cobra, which also enjoyed a brief Hollywood spin in the sixties. Rented by MGM British Studios in early-1966, it was used as a camera car and appeared in many scenes of the hit Formula One film Grand Prix, starring James Garner.

A tradition spanning more than 25 years, RM's Monterey sale is held during the famous Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance motoring week. In total, the two-day sale will lift the gavel on 120 blue-chip automobiles before a global audience. For full event details, including RM's digital Monterey catalogue and feature videos, visit www.rmauctions.com or call +1 519 352 4575.

SOURCE RM Auctions