As a true car enthusiast and professional race car driver McQueen wanted to drive a Porsche 917 with Jackie Stewart in the actual race. But the film backers threatened to pull their support if he did. So instead of driving the 917 for “only” 24 hours he decided to drive it for the entire summer making the film.

The film was made on location during the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in mid-June 1970. The real race was driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman. A Porsche 908, equipped with heavy movie cameras provided actual racing footage from the track. And while this Porsche, driven by Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams did not classify as it had not covered the required minimum distance (they had to stop many times to change film reels) they did finish 2^nd in the P3.0 class.

Porsche 917 Steve McQueen by Paul Chenard

Porsche 917 sculpture by Esteban Serrasio

The light blue and orange color scheme, associated with the Porsche 917 and the Ford GT40, is one of the most famous racing colors and was sponsored by Gulf Oil.

Porsche 917 Steve McQueen by Nicolas Hunziker

Porsche 917 Steve McQueen tapestry Keith Collins

Porsche 917 Night Juan Carlos Ferrigno

Porsche 917 Steve McQueen by Bert Heemskerk

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