The 1971 film Le Mans is a must-see for anyone with petrol in their veins. For everyone else, it’s a bloated nightmare with no plot, but if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that Steve McQueen, the Tag Heuer Monaco watch he wears, and the Porsche 917 he drives are all effortlessly cool.

McQueen and his crew had three 917s for filming, each one a 917K short-tail version in the famous Gulf Oil livery. The cars bore the chassis numbers 013, 022 and 024. Other 917s also appeared in the film, but these were examples filmed at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans and the footage from these was used in the film.

Chassis No. 022 was the car that Steve McQueen’s Solar Productions bought from Porsche and the one that McQueen drove most often on camera. It also bears the actor’s signature on the door and a note from him that reads: “Done – thanks for sticking together.”

Now it’s up for auction. Mecum plans to put it under the hammer at its auction in Kissimmee, Florida, from January 7-9, 2025.

Mecum has not released any details about the car, but it is believed that it was once owned by comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The car is also known to have retained its original 12-cylinder boxer engine.

After filming was completed, the car was sold to German racing driver Willi Kauhsen and later had a relatively successful motorsport career. Races in which it participated included 1,000-kilometer races in Buenos Aires (accident), Brands Hatch (sixth place), Monza (seventh place), the Nürburgring (sixth place) and Spa-Francorchamps (fourth place).

Not to mention that the 917 is already a priceless race car and the Gulf livery is one of the most iconic in racing, the McQueen connection means that someone, somewhere, is going to pay a lot of money for it, having beaten out several other bidders who all offered huge sums for the privilege of ownership. There’s no estimate, but the 917 with chassis #024 used during filming sold for $14 million in 2017. Considering that chassis #022 is the film’s hero car and bears McQueen’s signature, it will likely sell for a lot more.

With McQueen no longer with us to chat, and the Porsche expected to fetch a comfortable eight figures, if you want a dose of Le Mans cool, you’ll need to scrape together a few thousand dollars for a Monaco watch. Or, come to think of it, a few hundred for a replica Gulf leather jacket.