Few motorcycling images are as iconic as the late Steve McQueen astride a two-wheeler looking smolderingly cool as the star that men (and some women) want to be and who women (and some men) wanted to be ********** with [insert your…… own caption].
As his most famous motorcycle association, who doesn’t conjure that tune from The Great Escape when watching McQueen attempt his famous (albeit unsuccessful) fence jump aboard the Triumph TR6.
Indeed, while many will point to his Triumph as powering McQueen’s most famous movie moment, it is the Husqvarna 400 Cross that the man himself was more partial to, so much so that it was both his motorcycle of choice away from the cameras and the star of classic flick On Any Sunday.
Now, 42 years after McQueen’s death, his pride and joy is going up for auction at Bonhams in California with bids expected at around £200,000.
Described as ‘largely original, lovingly preserved as left by Steve McQueen’, we’ll hazard to guess this particular motorcycle is not pristine, though in a way it is somehow more exciting for us that any dents, scratches and bumps were caused by the man himself.
One of the first dirt-bikes to be refined for regular on-road use, the 400 Cross was loved by McQueen for its versatility as a motorcycle he could ride day-to-day or turn off the highway for some hijinks in the rough stuff.
It is actually a motorcycle that has been sold previously - most recently for $320,000 in 2018 - and has had five different owners since McQueen bequeathed it, which might explain its drop in value since.
Nevertheless, it isn’t the only motorcycle belonging to McQueen that would continue to fetch goof money today.
Within his collection stood a Metisse Desert Racer and an Indian Daytona Power Plus, McQueen also happened to own one of the incredibly rare 1915 Cyclone Boardtracker, of which only 33 were ever made.
It was the machine that basically turned bicycles into motorcycles with its V-Twin engine that hit previously unimaginable speeds for its era.
That status, together with how rare it is and the fact it belonged to McQueen makes it one of the most valuable motorcycles in the world. Indeed, having been sold at auction in 2015 for $775,000, a figure bettered by only one other motorcycle - a Vincent Black Lightning, worth $929,000.
