Gratuitous McQueen Photo

[Gburner]

Gruen911 and Joe that about sums up my view of the guy too, thank you.
I enjoyed Speed Merchants on Speed Vision, that appeared as more of a documentary than Grand Prix or LeMans. I have not read Fench Kiss with Death yet.

911s911rs the only positive thing I've ever heard about Steve's driving and racing skills was though the movie On Any Sunday. The story line makes him look like the come back hero in the Lake Elsinore Enduro. Believe me I liked Sunday but is a Hollywood movie a good way to judge someone’s driving skills. If I’m wrong then you have to give props to the Charlie’s Angels too.
As a teenager I thought On Any Sunday was the motor head version of Endless Summer.

No denying he did make a couple of good movies; two of my favorites were Sand Pebbles and The Great Escape. Bullitt I can't remember as well, though I did take the Universal Studios tour when that movie first came out and the tour guiide said 17 Dodges and 15 Mustangs were totaled during the movie. As kid and a Mustang fan that must have meant Mustangs were better cars, right.

Not here to put harsh any ones McQueen mellow, thanks for discussing it.

[911s911rs]

Not here to put harsh any ones McQueen mellow

I can dig that groove man

James Garner. Are we really comparing Rockford to Bullitt???

Don't get me wrong, I love The Rockford Files, but all this hearsay about a guy who isn't around to defend himself is a bit much. And let's remember who we are talking about - an actor; not a race car driver, not st. peter... Some guy who was alive at a wild time, drove some cool cars, smoked some sh*t, didn't have the best family values (whatever that means), etc, etc.

I expect that from what I have heard and read about (insert name here) I would have thought the guy was a dick if I had met him in person. Not that he would have cared....

And isn't it the last part of that that we find so cool.

[swbsam]

[Paul Schooley]

Geez, lighten up here guys...they're only actors and those are only films. If the above judgements are true, then James Dean was a total putz too right?

[pwd72s]

Perhaps a bit of today's moral values being applied to those of decades ago? The late 60's were a pretty swinging time period...My bod of this century sure couldn't tolerate the things I did back then.

[gruen911]

Pwd72S,
If we were judging McQueen's lifestyle by the morals of the 60's, I expect that he would have faired even worse. Most of the crap he got away we'll never know about only due the fact that he luckily did not live during the days of big money shot Papparazzi, who are stalking film stars 24 hours a day, 7 days a week hoping to get one comprimising shot that they can sell for 6 figures and splash all over the world press.
I grew up in Michigan back in the 60's, and as I recall the swinging 60's were not that swinging for most of the people. Furthermore, the 60's could still be considered failry conservative in comparison to today's standards. I don't recall any hit songs back in the 60's even remotely as decadent as "I don't know what you heard about me, but I'm a mother ****ing P.I.M.P" (50 Cent). The most sexually provocative films to come out of Hollywood back in the 60's was Midnight Cowboy, Barbarella and Bob and Carol, Ted and Alice. Compare those films to some recent films such as Monster or even Monster's Ball which were only rated R despite the strong violence and sex scenes.
The 60's was a combination of many cultural forces that certainly included the sexual revolution, but this was not the only cultural force moving the country.
In looking at McQueen's life, I am not sure if this is a question of values, or perhaps a question of character?
Garner was a successful actor with plenty of money and a passion for racing. Yet somehow he managed to stay married to the same woman for 40 years and keep himself out of the free sex, free drug scene of the 60's. Similarly, Paul Newman who has also been married to the same woman for well over 40 years, and who as far as I am aware was never known to have been a paranoid, gun toting powder head, or egomaniac, managed to refrain from the temptations of celebrity. Somehow they both managed not to fall into the McQueen lifestyle, despite all of the money, glamour and temptation.
Don't get me wrong. I am a big fan of McQueen's films, especially Sand Pebbles, Papillon, Bullit and Le Mans.
I am also very thankful of the fact that thru his love of racing and Porsches that he spent almost all of his own money to shoot a great film featuring the Le Mans 24 race in 1969. It sent his production company into bankruptcy. If he hadn't, we would have only short film clips and still pic's from coffee table classic car books to pour over 917's when they dominated European tracks. That first scene of McQueen 911S driving thru the outside roads of Le Mans is simply beautifuland one of my favorites.
I think however that some of the worship a few of the guys have here for early 911's and Porsche race cars has mistakenly been attached to a film star who happened to own and drive them.
This begs the question, would an Aston Martin DB5 be worth as money today with collectors if Sean Connery had not driven it in the James Bond films? If so, then why is it worth much more than a DB4 or a DB6?

[911s911rs]

Herr Grün,

half of what you say I find to be dead on, and the other half to be a total crock.

Why do you spell Bremerhaven with an 'F'?

MfG,


Tim Laing

[gruen911]

Being located in Germany Tim, you will know that the letter "V" in german is pronounced like we pronounce the letter "F" in english. Sometimes I get a little confused switching between German and English all day and simply revert to phonetic spelling.
Where exactly do you live in Germany? Also, what part of what I wrote do you consider a crock?

[911s911rs]

I'm in München, which after more than two years I still cannot pronounce

I agree with the stuff you wrote that was right and disagree with the rest Suffice it to say I grew up in the 1970s and find most of today's Hollywood types to be total jerks, polluting movie screens with their garbage. I am sure if McQueen had been of my generation I might view his antics in a different light. As it stands, if he had made no other movie but Le Mans, and if the only scene in Le Mans was the opener with him driving through the French countryside, he would still be one of the greats... Call me shallow.

For the record, I think Paul Newman is a great actor and accomplished driver, Aston Martin never made a bad car, and 50 Cent never made a good song.

[pwd72s]

Gruen? Whatever...you have your memories of the late 60's, and so do I...well some of them, anyway? I doubt that I ever partied like McQueen..but the late sixties I was in my mid 20's, living on the left coast, and a lot of stuff was happening back then. Mr. moderator? How about bumping this one to off topic, and bringing my "cars not investments" thread from there to here?