For a bit of year-end nostalgia, it would be hard to beat reading Steve McQueen reviewing eight grand tourers in the August, 1966 issue of
Sports Illustrated. The cars that get the nod from the man behind
Bullitt and
Le Mans are the Jaguar E-type 2+2, Aston-Martin DB6, Ferrari 275 GTS, Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, Porsche 911, Mercedes 230 SL, Corvette Sting Ray, and 427 Cobra.
And, of course, he starts off just as you would expect, saying that having only two American cars is about right in a field of eight, because American makers "have been a little backward about building sports and Grand Touring cars." He also talks about a lot of the cars he's owned, as well as his time racing. He doesn't choose a particular favorite among the cars he drives -- none of them appears to make him as happy as the Jaguar XK-SS he has in his own garage.
Our two favorite quotes: on the Alfa Romeo Duetto, "McQueen also admired its looks but would have liked more power from a $4,000 car"; and on the Porsche 911, "The Porsche 911 delighted McQueen with predictable handling in furious cornering, proving that Porsche has solved [the] oversteer problem Steve remembered from [his] racing days." And incredibly, the only car that Steve drives without a helmet: the 427 Cobra. Click the link to get the full story from The Cincinnati Kid himself.
[Source: McQueen Online via
Chuck Goolsbee]
