Steve McQueen's Le Mans Porsche 917 Hit $25 Million and Didn't Sell | Here's What Happened Next

A 56-year-old racing prototype. A legendary actor staking his career on absolute authenticity. A live auction room holding its breath at $25,000,000—and a seller who walked away without a deal. This is the forensic documentary history of Porsche 917-022, the iconic Gulf-liveried hero car behind Steve McQueen’s 1971 classic "Le Mans." Before it became cinema’s most recognized racing machine, chassis 022 was one line item in a frantic, high-stakes bluff. In April 1969, Ferdinand Piëch and Porsche faced a ruthless homologation deadline: build 25 complete Group 4 sports cars in ten months or miss the grid entirely. The factory lined up 25 cars for inspectors—some genuinely complete, others nudged forward just enough in first gear to pass review before being promptly disassembled. Chassis 022 was one of those bare chassis, waiting in storage for nearly a full year before being rebuilt into the race-winning Kurzheck (917K) short-tail configuration. In 1970, Steve McQueen’s Solar Productions bypassed leasing arrangements and bought 022 directly from the factory. McQueen intended to pilot the car competitively in the real 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Jackie Stewart. Studio insurers vetoed the bid, setting off a grueling, perfectionist film production. On camera, 022 lived two separate lives: starting as Delaney’s Car #20 before a catastrophic crash was staged using a disguised Lola T70, prompting a repaint into Car #21 to take the runner-up podium. Along the way, McQueen inscribed a personal note directly onto the door paint: "Finished, thanks for staying together." After production wrapped, chassis 022 entered an unbroken, 50-year relay across motorsport and collector history: • 1971: Campaigned internationally by Reinhold Joest, taking second at Vallelunga with Jo Siffert. • 1975: Rescued from a bank lien for roughly $15,000 by factory driver Brian Redman, hauled home on an open trailer behind a Land Rover. • 1977–2000: Cherished and vintage-raced by 1970 Le Mans winner Richard Attwood, who briefly wore his winning Salzburg livery before restoring its iconic Gulf colors. • 2001–2025: Preserved for 24 years in the private collection of Jerry Seinfeld, culminating in a meticulous, forensic ground-up restoration to exact 1970 filming specifications. On January 18, 2025, chassis 022 crossed the auction block at Mecum Kissimmee. Bidding roared to $25,000,000—the highest bid ever recorded for a Porsche at public auction. It went unsold. Weeks later, it vanished quietly into an anonymous private collection on terms never released to the public. Explore authentic automotive collectibles, scale models, and apparel: 👉 Visit https://retroreelrides.media/shop/ to browse diecast and merchandise! 0:00 The $25 Million Ghost 2:00 The Rule That Should Not Have Existed 5:39 The Great Inspection Bluff 10:14 The Widowmaker's Fatal Flaw 14:32 McQueen's Obsession 19:48 The Two Lives of Chassis 022 30:09 Seinfeld's Longest Ownership Subscribe to Retro Reel Rides for deep-dive documentary investigations into the real engineering, provenance, and lost fates behind cinema’s greatest automotive icons.