Steve McQueen – How to Add Value to a Car in One Driver

Steve McQueen was famous for a lot of things, but his car collection was of course nothing short of iconic. Those in the auto-obsessed community will also know by now that when it comes to adding value to a car…any car…there haven’t been a great many people in history capable of bumping up a car’s price like Mr. McQueen. In fact, if you can prove that at any point in your car’s history it was at least briefly driven by Steve himself, you could end up a very rich individual indeed!

1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

Take for example the 1963 Ferrari 250 GT – a car that doesn’t really necessitate a great deal of explanation as to why you want one. Admittedly it wasn’t and isn’t the most affordable car in the first place – the list price for a decent specimen right now comes in at just over the $460,000 mark.

However, find one that’s been driven by Steve McQueen and you’re officially on your way to joining the world’s elite circle of millionaires. When the 1963 Ferrari 250 GT that used to be the property of the man himself went under the hammer at Christie’s in 2011, it sold for a whopping $2.3 million. And bear in mind it wasn’t in any way customized or unique from any other 1963 Ferrari 250 GT out there…it just had a slightly more famous past-owner!

1953 Hudson Hornet

Another car that’s probably in way higher demand now than it ever was half a century ago, the 1953 Hudson Hornet was built with stock car racing in mind. It became something of a cult vehicle after being picked up by Steve McQueen and also happened to be in his collection at the time of his death.

As such, while it’s far from the most desirable entry to the list of cars driven by the big screen icon, its value rocketed almost three fold. Pick up a standard 1953 Hudson Hornet right now and you’ll be looking at an investment of around $22,000 – take home the one owned by Mr. McQueen and it’s more likely to cost you $62,000.

1970 Porsche 911 S

One more example to add to the list is the 1970 Porsche 911 S, which McQueen or not is still a work of art. When it first went into production, it cost just over $8,300 which at the time was a small fortune. Now though, a good example of a 1970 Porsche 911 S will go for around $75,000 depending on its condition.

Find the example driven by Steve McQueen though and you better have at least $1.4 million in your pocket…ouch!

1971 Husqvarna 400 cross

Last but not least, it’s also worth taking a look at one of the most iconic bikes in McQueen’s past arsenal – the 1971 Husqvarna 400 cross. It’s not quite in the same leagues as the above Porsche in terms of overall value, but considering its standard value is just $6,000, the McQueen markup of $144,000 is quite something to behold.