As public personas go, movie stars are often the people who give a face to the collective wishes of many and to societal change. In the rush for mobility in the sixties and seventies, when many dreamed of faster and faster modes of transport, it was Steve McQueen, one of the most popular Hollywood actors and prominent figures of that time, who embodied this new feeling. His victories on the track and on the screen as well as his private motorcycles, airplanes and sports cars all became great symbols of social mobility and success.

His little, mocking smile and his deep blue eyes said it all. Like his beloved race cars whose hoods were scarcely able to hide their powerful engines, so to were his clothes unable to hide the power that lied beneath them. With few words, McQueen could say a lot, a testament to his style and his complex range of emotions. He brought a unique blend of concentration, casualness and command as well as virility to the silver screen. The press, not surprisingly, gave him the honorary title of the King of Cool.

Steve McQueen’s passion for racing came from a yearning that drove a whole generation that he became a symbol for. „I don’t know why I am so famous,“ he said honestly. “Maybe it is because people can identify with me because I came from the gutter.“  Surely, some of the reason fans loved him was due to his unbridled daring which he drove him to racing in the first place. He was the embodiment of the archetypical male hero of the middle of the twentieth century -- looking for freedom and adventure.

Those weren’t the only bullets in his magazine. McQueen always had a Mini Cooper S, like every star at that time, as well as a VW Bug, a Mustang and a Corvette. For longer off-road jaunts he took on the services of a Jeep with a Chevy-V8 and a Land Rover as well as several pick-ups from GMC, Chevrolet or Ford, with which he could drive around on his ranches in Santa Paula, California or in Ketchum, Idaho. In the city, he liked to cruise around in a four-door Cadillac or a ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, a comfortable Hudson Wasp Coupè or a Cadillac Series 62.  He followed up an Excalibur with a Mercedes 280 SE 3.5 convertible. For a short time he flirted with a Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible, yet  McQueen’s favorite cruising sedan was his Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3.

In order to understand his obsession, that affect that hitting the gas pedal has on some of us, try thinking of a car as a means of stepping outside of oneself, as a way   of fulfilling a kind of metaphysical need for spiritual development. “There is nothing as exciting as car racing and, in contrast to drug trips, you still can maintain your dignity,“ said Steve McQueen, who certainly knows what he is talking about, as he himself was no stranger to heavier drugs. Although his copilots and opponents described him as highly concentrated and perfectly prepared driver, McQueen was aware that such a passion does have its irrational side: ”When someone is so obsessed, he doesn’t listen to anyone, he is high on the roaring of engines.” In some way it was also a curse because on the race track you can literally leave all of your problems behind you.

For his whole life, McQueen permanently pushed himself to the limit. His motorcycles, his cars and airplanes were just a means of escape, a ticket to another, more beautiful world. For them, he invested not only a lot of time and money, but physical power and energy, as motorsport is very psychologically and physically demanding.

Behind the wheel of a race car requires a high level of concentration and awareness and you have to be in top physical shape. In the film Le Mans the racing scenes are an authentic impression of the race,  the shots of adrenaline, the tension and the total exhaustion of drivers you can even hear the beating of hearts seconds before the start and  riding with drivers in the passenger’s seat. What can’t be felt is the unimaginable heat. The cage made of metal and glass in which a race car driver is inside of is a like an incubator. In order to reduce the weight as much as possible, most of the interior trim is removed including the heat protection pads. The transmission and the Cardan tunnel that runs under the cockpit become hotter and hotter and when the suns is shining on the track, the temperatures can climb into the sixties or even seventies in Celsius (140-160 Fahrenheit).

At these hellish temperatures the nerves and the body are at their limits as well as hunger and thirst. The fireproof race suit, the helmet, hood, boots and gloves only makes it hotter and they offer little protection against fire or in a crash. In the night, driving at unbelievable speeds, drivers fight with other cars and their glaring lights. The strain on the eyes is overpowering and the eyes began to ache.  Regardless of how the pilot finishes, one thing is certain, he will be totally exhausted.