Porsche(s) In 'Le Mans' Movie

Hi all,

I'm on a project to do all the important car of this movie.

I'm on the 917k Gulf n°20 :
http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljpage.cgi?FUJ12175

i'll order these one :
http://www.fishermodels.com/main.php3?primNavIndex=0&mainURL=%2Fstore%2Findex.php3%3Fcat%3D243997
and
http://www.fishermodels.com/main.php3?primNavIndex=0&mainURL=%2Fstore%2Findex.php3%3Fcat%3D243997

but, before the race and in the very beginning of the movie, Steve McQueen arrives in a Porche 911, can anyone tell me the exact model of the 911 and some indication on a near model from any brand ?

Tanx a lot in advance to all of you.

I haven't seen Le Mans in a long time, but isn't it a 1970 Porsche 911 S?

Levincer,
you know the "Porsche 917" Steve drove in the movie was actually a rebodied Lola...and the movie was filmed with a GT-40 with a camera mounted where the "hood" used to be, right in front of the driver and on the centerline. As for the Porsche he drove, let me check my DVD and I'll try and confirm it for you.

Bill

I believe it's a black 911S

Not entirely correct Bill. I believe Steve McQueen (or rather his production company) actually bought a 917K and painted it up as a double of the Siffert/Redman No.20 car. The sadly now defunct 917archive.com had information on which chassis were involved. The car Steve's character crashed however, was a Lola chassis fitted with 917K lookalike bodywork.

Camera car was also a Porsche, 908 maybe? It was actually entered in the race and finished quite respectably, despite the need to stop frequently to reload the film. I wish I had a copy of Le Mans on DVD, but I don't think there is a region 4 version relaesed.

Not entirely correct Bill. I believe Steve McQueen (or rather his production company) actually bought a 917K and painted it up as a double of the Siffert/Redman No.20 car. The sadly now defunct 917archive.com had information on which chassis were involved. The car Steve's character crashed however, was a Lola chassis fitted with 917K lookalike bodywork.

Camera car was also a Porsche, 908 maybe? It was actually entered in the race and finished quite respectably, despite the need to stop frequently to reload the film. I wish I had a copy of Le Mans on DVD, but I don't think there is a region 4 version relaesed.

Hmm...just goes to show we never really know anymore!

You may be right about the crashed car sequence being the Lola, but IIRC, Chad McQueen said that the Gulf 917 he drove in the filming was not a true Porsche, but rather the Lola when he made the "Making of Le Mans" 1 hour show for Speedvision...shrug

As for the Camera car. I've got pictures of it from Porsche Excellence magazine where they talked about the movie and they show the GT40 with the camera mounted where the "hood" usually goes. The author stated that they had a trigger on the steering wheel to begin and end filming and they would just go out and get race footage. Possibly they used more than 1 camera car...

Us motorsport modelers are a sad, sorry lot..;-)>

Bill

Tanx to u all for the 917k precision but for the first porsche in the movie, bill is it a 911S 70' ?

Tanx.

917k n°23 and 917lh Early Hippy n°3 in the movie

@ 33mn 46s i just saw these 2 cars ? the n°23 was the real winner fot the 70' Le Mans but the N°3 early Hippy very strange to saw it in 1970.

What do you think ?

For the McQueen Porsche in the beginning it's a 911s Coupe 70, sure.

One of the camera cars was indeed a dark blue 908 spyder with a huge nose mounted camera setup. I believe that car finished 7th and it is actually seen once in the movie coming down in front of the main grandstand straight. I think the 911 was dark green not black. One of Fujimi's enthusiast series 911's would be your best basis for a model.

I'm planning a project like this also, so I got a video tape of the movie. My favorite scenes are at the beginning of the race when the white #25 917LH is kicking ass.

My 908 is the first of the cars I planned to get. Its only shown in a couple of glimpses at the beginning of the movie. I have the Gulf 917K kit and the white #25 917LH car already. The 911 at the beginning of the movie is a black 911S. I recently got Fujimi's Enthusiast 911s (and the 911R, its not the same car). The Ferrari 512S Coda Lunga (by Fisher) is next.

The camera car could have been a contender for the win if they didnt have to stop to reload the cameras so often.

Keep us informed about the progress of your project.

Hi,

It's a real pleasure to be on a project near your mate.

The beginning scene are really great, i can advise u to get the dvd of the movie, pictures and sound are really improved.

I saw a yellow 917k in the beginning scene, it was the number 8 or 9 in the race, not his number but his rank. I wasn't able yet to identify the sponsors but i'm working on it.

I'm thinking to do the 3 917 gulf too as they're differents in color scheme and aero, the n°20, 21 and 22.

Thanks for the advice on the 911s.

The 911 at the beginning of the movie is a black 911S. I recently got Fujimi's Enthusiast 911s (and the 911R, its not the same car).

are u talking about this one :
http://www.upgrademotoring.com/models/fujimi/fuj08207[1].jpg

cause i got some difficulties to find it on my regular website like hlj for example. Is it an 'easy to find' kit or a rare one in your opinion ?

If you want to make at least all successful Porsches of the Le Mans Race 1970, please don´t forget:

917K driven by Herrmann/Attwood (we all know this one)
917L driven by Larrousse/Kauhsen (finished 2nd)
908 driven by Dr. Marko/Lins (finished 3rd and won its classification)
914/6 driven by Ballot-Lena/Chaseuil (won its classification)

The car driven by McQueen in the beginning is sure a 911S. Only problem is that the 911S was produced with different engines around 1970:

1967 911S with 2 litres 160bhp (901/02 engine)
1968 911S with 2 litres 170bhp (901/10 engine)
1969 911S with 2.2 litres 180bhp (911/01 engine)
1970 911S with 2.3 litres 240bhp (911/20 engine)
1970 911S with 2.4 litres 260bhp (911/21 engine)

I don´t whether they also look different, but in my opinion this movie needs car credits in the end!!!!!!

However I scanned a picture of a 1967 Porsche 911S from my Porsche book (please excuse the bad quality) and also took a snap shot of the Le Mans 911S from the movie.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/613271967_Porsche_911S.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/613271970_Le_MAns_Porsche_911S.jpg

No you can compare, whether you need to adjust the model you´re buying in order to get the McQueen 911S. In my opinion the front chrome head light rings look thicker than the ones on the 1967 Porsche 911S! What do you think?

I think the 69' 911s is the best match and the fujimi kit will be ok.

As we're some new, good and very good modelers interested in this project the best will be to create a thread when we'll have, let see, 5 models from the movie, what do u all think ?

The car in the movie is a USA/Canada spec car and has different headlamp surrounds which are thicker. These may be in the Fujimi kit, I can't rememeber. Don't forget the heavier rubber bumper trim. Kurz.

Someone was wondering about the chassis number well it was chassis 013 a 4.5 litre 917K which was used to good effect by Steve McQueen in the film. In 1970 this car won at Sebring and Daytona and in 1971 at Monza, Austria and Barcelona.

Levincer - the model you posted the link to is the one I got off eBay for this project. There may be differences between this car the movie car, but they would be very small. I'll study the movie car when my 911S model is delivered and make note of any differences. The wider headlight rings on the movie car are included in most of Fujimi's enthusiast 911 kits. I'll have to look at the video again, but Kurzheck may be right in that the movie car is a USA version. The USA version has the thicker headlight rings and the tail lights are all red instead of red and yellow, which is typical for Euro and ROW spec cars.

Tanx Again P9o1r1sche, i'm amaze with the level and quality of details i could have with all of you.

I'm French and here in France ebay is not as developped as it is in the US so for me it's pretty difficult to find Fujimi Model, except from HLJ for example.

I will seek it on the web, could you give me the general ebay link you're looking @ in the us ?

Here is a link to the Ebay home page. You'll have to go through the menus to get to the models: Toys & Hobbies - models,kits - Automotive - Sports

http://www.ebay.com/

Well, for some reason I cant paste a link here, but you can go to the address. Hope this helps.

Levincer - the model you posted the link to is the one I got off eBay for this project.

Here is it, i just found it from a man from ebay Hong Kong, $22 + shipping and insurance.

My first purchase from ebay, hope to receive it soon.

Tanx ti all for all the advices.

Here is it, i just found it from a man from ebay Hong Kong, $22 + shipping and insurance.

My first purchase from ebay, hope to receive it soon.

Tanx ti all for all the advices.

Hey, levincer, when you live in France you definately need to check www.ebay.de (germany-ebay). They have a quite a lot of old Porsche kits and I sold my Porsche collection on ebay.de, too (quite over 150 unbuilt kits). Shipping is also quite reasonable (between 8 and 10 euros).

As I recall the movie oic of the 911S, the front bumper is different than the one, you may have in the fujimi kit.

Tanx 4 the advice GodFather but i'm totally incapable of reading and understanding german :eek7:

Anyway i went there and was unable to find this particular kit, did u have any link on it on amazon.de ?

Hey thats what this forum is for. I´m on here every day, so if you find something and you have problems understanding it, just send me the link and I can most likely help you.

They don´t have that kit on right now, its mainly for the future!

The slate gray 911S used in the movie was a 1970 model. Use a Fujimi 911S to build it.

Well, at least we know that the search button works....

If you haven't got the book "McQueen's Machines" I highly suggest grabbing a copy. It has all the specs of the Porsche 911S he purchased in Europe. It also has some great pictures of the camera cars, A ford GT40 and a Porsche 917.
It also goes into great detail about the Porsche 911S and has some more great pictures of it, including the factory invoice for that car.

It's a great book if you are a fan of McQueen and a fan of cars in general. That man had some fine taste in cars.
Chris

If you watch the part where the number 7 Ferrari blows the doors off a white 911, pay close attention... it's actually a 911R, and not a 911S. Two 911Rs were used in the movie.