Report and Photos by Victor Varela
The Friends of Steve McQueen held their “Thomas Crown Affair” themed car and motorcycle charity benefit on Saturday, June 7, 2014, at the Boys Republic in Chino Hills, California. The 7th annual event, which is co-chaired by Chad McQueen and Ron Harris, is held in support of the Boys Republic and in memory of the iconic actor and racing aficionado.
Established in 2008 by members and friends of the (Porsche) 356 Club of Southern California, the event has raised over $285,000 for the Boys Republic, a private, non-profit community established in 1907, for at-risk teens. Steve attended from 1947-49 and credited the school with pointing him on the path to success. McQueen never forgot his time there and he frequently visited the school, even after achieving fame as a Hollywood movie star. Chad and the McQueen family continue that involvement and are strong supporters of this event. This includes Steve’s grandson, Steven R. McQueen, star of the supernatural TV drama, “The Vampire Diaries”, who attended this year’s events.
McQueen was one of a very few actors who could stand on his own in the racing world. Many have tried and failed, but Steve was the real deal and has the respect and admiration from both the film and racing world. I became of fan of his in my early teens after staying up late one evening/morning and saw the classic racing movie, “Le Mans” for the first time.
With the show theme being “The Thomas Crown Affair” this year, the original 1967 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow two-door sedan and the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4S NART Spider were present and displayed prominently at the show.
This year’s show featured many notable entries. Motorcycles included Mike Begley’s 1951 Vincent Black Shadow; Tom Armstrong’s 1966 BMW R69S; Sean Teague’s 1969 Norton Commando; Tom & Diane Day’s 1938 Harley-Davidson WLD Solo Sport, once owned by Steve McQueen; the ex-Steve McQueen, Von Dutch, 1929 Scott 596cc Super Squirrel, restored in the 1980s by Von Dutch. Automotive entries included Tony Raynor’s 1936 Singer Le Mans; Don Murray’s 1970 Porsche 911-6 GT; Kerry Morse’s 1997 Porsche GT1 (chassis 101); 1993 Bugatti EB110 GT; Tom Leonard’s 1947 Triumph 1800 Roadster; Tony a2z Adamowicz’s 1968 Trans-Am Champion, Milestone Racing Porsche 911/912; The original “Mooneyes”, the “00” 24T Ford Roadster – owned and operated by the Alcala family since 1953; along with several Ford Mustang “Bullitt” editions.
Urban Outlaw and Porschephile, Magnus Walker displayed his custom 1972 Porsche 911 72STR. Long time show supporter and artist, Nicolas Hunziker, creator of the official show paintings/ posters, displayed his 1968 Porsche 911T Sports Purposes as well.
The most notable sports car on display was Steve McQueen’s 1956 Jaguar XKSS, D-Type, courtesy of the Peterson Museum. I spoke with Dana Williamson, the collection manager for The Peterson, who brought the car to this event, just weeks after Jay Leno took this iconic Jaguar out for a spin. Mr. Williamson confirmed its provenance as being one of the 16 D-type conversions by Jaguar and its ownership by Steve McQueen.
After having won Le Mans with the D-Type in 1955, 1956 and 1957, Jaguar temporarily retired from racing as a factory team and offered the remaining unfinished D-Types as XKSS versions. Their extra road-going equipment – which including a second seat, trimmed interior, side windows, passenger-side door, full-width framed windscreen and windscreen wipers, folding bonnet and bumpers – made them eligible for production sports car races in America. In 1957, Jaguar had 25 of these cars in various stages of completion when a factory fire destroyed nine of them.
McQueen’s XKSS is now owned and under the care of The Peterson Museum.
All proceeds from the 2014 Friends of Steve McQueen Car and Motorcycle Show, benefit the Boys Republic, 1907 Boys Republic Drive, Chino Hills, California. For more information, visit Friends of Steve McQueen.
Friends of Steve McQueen Car Show 2014 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
One of my all time favourite actors. Particularly loved The Magnificent Seven and Le Mans plus any movie Steve was in. On a much smaller stage I raced sports cars for ten years and know a bit of what a drug it is! The amount of high though is governed by your bank account. Mine was very small, but the passion huge! A car to drive and three hamburgers a day would have done me. As a matter of interest I raced a Cortina GT, Lotus Elan, Lotus Super 7,Tony Simmons built Hustler SC1 (My quickest car and one I would still love to have) Colin Weir built Welsor,
Racing is something most folks won’t understand unless they do it. It is a huge adrenaline rush with the challenge to be the fastest and to go for the victory, all the while pushing it to dangerous limits. This is why guys like Steve, Paul Newman and James Dean did it. I feel their acting careers were a means for them to fuel their passion for cars and racing.