1968 Ford Bullitt Mustang GT390 Coupe
Steve McQueen didn't get turned down often. Yet the third owner of this, the "hero" car from Bullitt, declined to sell. That was December of 1977, three years after it was first purchased from a classified ad in Road and Track. It was used daily until 1980 when the clutch went out with just 65,000 miles on the odometer. It's since been in the care of Sean Kiernan, the son of the late owner, who commissioned Mecum to auction the car McQueen so desperately wanted. Almost entirely original down to the camera mounts and hand-signed letter from McQueen begging to buy it back, it was featured in Uncrate Issue 05 last year, and just set the record for most expensive Mustang ever sold. An unknown buyer — only Fred Mecum himself, who took the call, knows his/her identity — just shelled out $3.4 million for the artifact at auction.
Photos: Casey Maxon / Historic Vehicle Association
