Last month we told you that the Nomex suit worn by Steve McQueen during the filming of Le Mans was headed to the block in mid-December.
Pre-auction estimates provided by Profiles in History, the auctioneers, had his age-yellowed driver’s suit, stitched with his “Michael Delaney” character name, selling for as much as $300,000.
As is often the case with anything owned, used, or even touched by the King of Cool, the pre-auction estimates were just a bit pessimistic. As Hemmings Blog tells us, the Nomex suit sold for a staggering $984,000, more than three times the predicted price.
In fact, the suit sold for an astonishing 72 percent of the price paid for another Le Mans collectible, the 1971 Porsche 911S driven by McQueen in the movie.
We understand the Porsche selling for $1.375 million (since you can at least drive it), but paying nearly a million dollars for a Nomex suit--even one worn by McQueen himself--leaves us scratching our heads.
Given the result of this auction, we’d expect to see more McQueen memorabilia hit the block in the coming months. Prices are up, so if you own anything that once belonged to McQueen himself, there’s no better time than the present to begin contacting auction houses.