Product Description

Steve Mcqueen is one of the truly great iconic legends racer, petrolhead, screen giant! His personal cars and motorbikes collected in one stunning volume the ones he owned, raced, drove, and appeared in films! The only book available on the original King of Cool and his cars and bikes Sure to appeal to the legions of McQueen s fans, and racing fans everywhere Reviews in trade and national press Guaranteed best-selling status! Steve McQueen is one of the iconic legends of Screen even 25 years after his death he is still a giant! He had a life-long love of fast vehicles, building his first hot-rod before he could legally drive, and in the army hopped up a tank s engines to make in go faster! He rode motorcycles as a student in Greenwich Village, New York, and was a member of the American Motorcycle Team, touring the world before going on to an impressive life of racing: nearly wining the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1970, driving a Porsche 908; racing buggies in Baja, ride motocross in the California desert, motorcycles across the world, producing the classic motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday, entering races under the pseudonym Henry Mushman to avoid favouritism, and bringing his stunt driving and racing expertise to the screen in Bullitt, Le Mans, The Thomas Crowne Affair, The Great Escape. Von Dutch, Tom Nancy, motorcycle champion Malcolm Smith, stunt driver Bud Ekins were in his inner circle, along with other racing stars James Dean, Paul Newman, James Garner, although none came close to this the greatest petrolhead star of all time who had so much influence he could tell a studio to produce a film of his favourite race Le Mans . This is not a Hollywood biography, it is a book full of what McQueen knew and loved: fast cars, fast bikes, racing, and off-roading, and will appeal to his legion of admirers and racing fans everywhere!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1930 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

Review
From the Ford Mustang GT Fastback he drove in Bullit, to the Triumph in The Great Escape, the cars and bikes that Steve McQueen made famous are all in Matt Stone's latest work. Beautifully illustrated with images of the great man himself and his cars, bikes, aircraft, etc, this 176-page hardback paints a fascinating picture of one man's oversized passion --Motorcycle Sports & Leisure--;On film and in real life, Steve Mcqueen was often at the wheel of a high-performance machine. This book carefully catalouges the cars, racers and motorbikes he owned and was associated with, such as the Porsche 917, Jaguar XK-SS and Mini Cooper. it is beautifully illustrated -wi th many rare period photogrpahs - and well written. --Auto Express--;The Cooler King of 'The Great Escape', Steve McQueen has carved out a name for himslef in the memories of many generations of movie goers and petrol heads, but he was tinkering with engines long before he started treading the baords, and some sense of that comes from the tale that he first met James Dean when spannering his bike in New York. Fame didn't change the fundamental bloke that anecdotally McQueen remained, and if anything his love of the internal combustion engine wheedled its way into the film roles he found himself in, rather than allowing his status as a Hollywood A-list star dictate what sort of car he was expected to be driving. The cars were typically speciality sportsters that were expertly driven as they were origionally intended, and modified to produce more power by the man himself, and this book tells the story of one man's wheels. The McQueen collection of bikes and cars is frequently in the limelight as chunks of it get sold of periodically , but it gives little away regarding his passion for Indians - born of a 1946 Chief with a sidecar that he bought after three years in the US Marines tank corps - or Triumphs, that he was introduced to ( as well as desert racing) by local Triumph dealer and later friend Bud Elkins, the man who made the jump in The Great Escape, never mind his engineering and sporting prowess. It was with Dub and Dave Elkins and Cliff Coleman that McQueen formed the 1964 American ISDT Team, the year after 'Escape': strike one for the Americans! On Triumphs...oh. Without giving the game away, McQueen's Machines is loaded with facts and observations, as well as some first hand experiences of McQueen's early cars, which are now worth fortunes, giving an insight not specifically into the man himself - there are plenty of autobiographies out there already - but into the way that his cars and bkes impacted on him, and he on them, and will make a welcome adittion to any self-respecting petrol-head's library. --American-V Magazine --Steve McQueen was the kind of guy who could say stuff and get away with it. Stuff like, 'this Mercedes is an outstanding lady's (sic) car, but it will also take some manhandling'. Basically, he's cool in an ever-so-slightly naff, 1970s sort of way. For reasons that are probably related - the environment, feminism etc - the very fast, mildly unsafe, deep throated rattling cars and motor-bikes he loved all through his life are also cool but quite non-PC. What better subject for a book than McQueen and his petrol-guzzling motors then? On a serious note, McQueen's association with cars and bikes is well known. Basically, this is his story told from every possible car or motorbike angle you can think of. That includes iconic moments like McQueen's character's motorbike jump over a wire fence in 'The Great Escape' and the legendary sequence from 1962's 'Bullitt' - the granddaddy of the modern car chase (and also the ancestor of the aesthetics and feel of the 'Grand Theft Auto' series). Obviously, given the rather narrow scope, this book also goes a little deeper than only doi --minusforty blogspot dot com

As Chad McQueen writes in the forward' some two dozen books have been written about mt dad's life and career...but none put the whole picture together: the cars and bikes he woned, the ones he worked into his films, and racing on two and four wheels'.And so here we have it: how the car chases were filmed, details of all the cars and (120) bikes he owned. Plus some great photos --Daily Telegraph, December, 2008

Hollywood has always had a relationship with speed, especially when some of the most iconic and popular stars have always had an affinity for great cars and bikes. In "McQueen's Machines" by Matt Stone, we see the inside of a legendary icon of speed and the machines that he rode. The description of the cars were detailed and accurate, something that regular gearheads would've expected from the Motor Trend author. His descriptions of the classic cars are technical as well as artistic. Stone's description of the Ford Mustang GT Fastback used in Bullit, is enough for a car connoisseur to drool about the modifications to the Stock 390 engine. While Stone's own description of his drive in a replica down the same streets the famous chase happened is entertaining in itself. The interesting aspect of the book is the film by film description of the famous movies that had a car or bike in it, giving the truth behind the stunts done in the films, and how McQueen had gotten around the studio's "no racing" clause that almost stopped him from racing for good. Despite the articles about the cars that McQueen drove (including this author's favorite McQueen Machines, the 58 Porsche Speedster and the 57 Jaguar XK SS), the big points came when Stone reviewed McQueen's bikes. Despite his reputation as being a car man, McQueen was an avid bike racer and had even considered becoming a professional racer instead of becoming an actor. Stone covers the Indian Sport Scout, the Triumph Bonneville, and the others that McQueen owned in amazing life. No matter what you ride, or what you race, all can agree that McQueen was the 'King of Cool' and that his dedication to beautiful machines of speed still commands awe and respect even today --minusforty blogspot dot com