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Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:49 am

I know that the 1970 911S he used in France during filming is often confused for the 1969 911S in the same color he already owned back home, but I never get tired of watching this film.

Fri Oct 05, 2018 1:02 am

Colors mean something.

My late father was a manager at a Porsche dealership in the '70s. Reuben Roth's Porsche-Audi store on Portland Road in Salem. I grew up around these cars. When I was 13, my late father taught me how to drive...in a brand-new 930 Turbo off the lot, one of the first ones in the country, with a dealer plate hanging off the back.

My father passed in 2015, and when I ordered my new 2016 Porsche late in 2015, I ordered in in Guard's Red, the same color as the 930 Turbo that he taught me to drive in 40 years prior.

Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:11 pm

That is a great movie, and the back story to it is fascinating as well because of McQueen's obsession with making the movie. The back story was made into a documentary. I think if you like Le Mans racing and don't want a lot of window dressing the movie and the documentary are just the ticket.

Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:56 pm

I read a book about it, and it was pretty interesting. It included photos of the "Porschola", the "Lolari", the Porsche 908 with the camera built into/onto it's nose, camera rigs, and stuff like that. Lots of stuff from his son Chad. McQueen reportedly owned the number 20 Porsche 917 in the film.

McQueen also bank-rolled Bruce Brown's 1971 documentary "On Any Sunday", which was a historically significant film in that it helped repair a false perspective that the general public had held on motorcycling for nearly 25 years, following some highly fictionalized media coverage of the Hollister riots back in '47.

Sat Oct 06, 2018 5:19 pm

An article pre-release in Motor Trend June 1971

Sat Oct 06, 2018 8:15 pm

Thanks for sharing. A lot of good information in that artiçle.

The "#20" car that crashed was not a Porsche 917, nor was it driven by Steve Mcqueen. It wasn't even a Porsche at all- it was a Lola, dressed up as the the real #20 917. The real #20 917 was owned by Mcqueen, and was was seen in other scenes. The "Porschola" was unmanned, with the throttle wired open, when it was intentionally crashed for the film. In the slo-mo sequence, you can clearly see the Lola's yellow paint and even part of the Lola's racing numbers, peeking out from under it's 917 disguise, as well as the rear tires that continue to spin and smoke after the crash, because there was no driver at the wheel to let off the throttle.

Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:15 pm

Here's a link to an article showing the "Porschola" after the crash. Note the rear tires blown out from tire spin, the Lola's different paint color, and the Lola's racing numbers peeking out from below the "#20 917" disguise.

https://www.welt.de/motor/article155292752/Mein-Freund-Steve-McQueen-und-das-weltbeste-Auto.html

Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:23 pm

The reason that Enzo Ferrari refused to loan any Ferrari race cars to Solar Productions, was because the script had Porsche winning the race ahead of the Ferraris.

Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:30 pm

Yup, second to last paragraph in column 1 of page 99 in the article.

Sun Oct 07, 2018 11:39 am

Too bad they forgot to make an actual movie around the racing footage...

Sun Oct 07, 2018 2:33 pm

I think it's a great film.

Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:15 pm

I think it's the best racing film (followed perhaps by Grand Prix), without question. With it's incidental plot, I'm not sure I'd call it a great film, but the racing and feel is so genuine it just doesn't matter. It's one several "flypaper" movies... even with Tivo, if I am channel flipping and it's on, I have to stop and watch it to the end!

Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:58 pm

I hear you, but I stand by my original comment- I think it's a great film.

It's also a fun one to show to people who've never seen it before, because it's nearly 40 minutes into the film before the first dialogue starts.

Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:40 pm

Coolest Porsche I ever saw was a `71 911 with flared fenders and "Dullies" all around. Avon tires (8 of them) rated 190 MPH. He said it could turn on a Dime at high speed and looked it.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:13 am

Starbucket wrote: Coolest Porsche I ever saw was a `71 911 with flared fenders and "Dullies" all around. Avon tires (8 of them) rated 190 MPH. He said it could turn on a Dime at high speed and looked it.

Are you drunk? :shock:

Thu Oct 18, 2018 6:30 pm

Singer 100th

Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:39 am

I wonder what the paint color was on this tremendous Singer. It shows off the curves beautifully.

Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:14 pm

Looks like metallic dark gray with Silver Morano in it and a LOT of clear coat.