Jerry Seinfeld's iconic Porsche 917, famously featured in the 1971 film 'Le Mans,' recently went up for auction. The high-performance race car met an interesting end, failing to reach its desired price after intense bidding.
Porsche recently unveiled a car that remains one of the fastest and most successful racing cars ever built. This iconic endurance racer boasts a history filled with major titles and, of course, a starring role in the 1971 cult classic film ' Le Mans ,' where it was piloted by the legendary Steve McQueen. Three separate 917 examples were used for filming, with the movie also incorporating additional footage of 917s competing in the actual 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Of the three official film cars—bearing chassis numbers 013, 022, and 024—the 024 example, owned by Jerry Seinfeld, was put up for sale at a Mecum auction on January 18 in Kissimmee, Florida. Bidding started at $15 million and quickly climbed to $21 million, though the climb to $25 million was much slower. The auctioneer then spent an agonizing three minutes attempting to drive the bids higher before ultimately deciding to pass in the sale. The 022 car, in addition to being the hero car during filming, was personally signed on its exterior by McQueen, although the car has been repainted in liveries other than the original Gulf Oil colors. After its time in the film, the car—retaining its original 4.5-liter flat-12 engine rated at approximately 580 hp—was sold to Reinhold Joest of Team Auto Usdau. It went on to enjoy a relatively successful motorsports career, with drivers such as Willi Kauhsen, Angel Monguzzi, and Jo Siffert taking turns behind the wheel. Some of the events it competed in included 1,000-kilometer races at Buenos Aires (where it crashed), Brands Hatch (sixth place), Monza (seventh), the Nürburgring (sixth), and Spa-Francorchamps (fourth). The 024 car changed hands several times in the following years. It was acquired by Peter Scheffer in 1975. He sold it to Le Mans-winning Porsche 917K driver Richard Attwood in 1977. Attwood changed the car's livery to the red-and-white scheme he had raced to victory in at the 1970 Le Mans and continued to use the car in European historic racing events before selling it in 2000. The buyer in 2000 was Porsche collector Frank Gallogly, though he kept the car for only one year before selling it to Seinfeld, reportedly for a price well below $2 million
Porsche 917 Le Mans Steve Mcqueen Jerry Seinfeld Auction Motorsports
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