Was McQueens car fitted with gold parts?
–W.J., Chicago. A: No, but that world-record figure surprised everyone at the Christie’s auction. It was more than five times the approximately $400,000 a Ferrari Lusso without an international celebrity’s provenance would otherwise bring. Why so much? Probably because McQueen “was the quintessentially cool car guy” and Ferrari “is the ultimate symbol of car coolness,” Sports Car Market magazine says. (A collector, who owned McQueen’s Lusso for 25 years, paid $8,000 for it in 1972, when new Cadillacs cost less, and McQueen was still alive.) The Lusso, which translates to “Luxury,” was the last of Ferrari’s highly collectible “250” car series. One of the most beautiful Ferraris built, only 350 Lussos were made. McQueen’s car was ordered by his wife, actress Neile, before his 34th birthday. It was restored to concours condition long after McQueen, an extreme car buff, traded it to former auto racer and exotic car dealer Charles Hayes, in 1967 because the Lusso’s V-12 engine smoked a bit
