In '06, his final wife Barbara decided to have Bonhams & Butterfields auction off some of his stuff. Motorcycles, guns, antiques, sunglasses, his chaps and a script from "Tom Horn", credit cards and all kinds of stuff . . . that I either couldn't afford, or had no interest in.
Well one (actually 3) of the items I thought were very cool were his "vanity" license plates that were on his cars when he died. The cars were registered in Idaho, and the plate numbers were MCQ3188; the MCQ being obvious, and the 3188 being his ID number when he was at the Junior Boys Republic reform school in the 1940's. (I guess there's some things you never forget)
Anyhow, the auction house estimated the plates would go for $100-$150 each (and it's not that my memory is so good - I still have the beautiful 120 page full color catalog from the auction) . . . so I pre-bid $700 for one plate to lock it in. I figured, what could possibly be cooler than one of McQueen's own license plates, especially given the significance of his initials and reform school ID.
Well, long story short, the auction house called me the next day. The cheapest of the three went for $5,000. I guess a lot of people think Steve McQueen was a very cool guy.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-03-29 04:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-30 03:53 am (UTC)Well one (actually 3) of the items I thought were very cool were his "vanity" license plates that were on his cars when he died. The cars were registered in Idaho, and the plate numbers were MCQ3188; the MCQ being obvious, and the 3188 being his ID number when he was at the Junior Boys Republic reform school in the 1940's. (I guess there's some things you never forget)
Anyhow, the auction house estimated the plates would go for $100-$150 each (and it's not that my memory is so good - I still have the beautiful 120 page full color catalog from the auction) . . . so I pre-bid $700 for one plate to lock it in. I figured, what could possibly be cooler than one of McQueen's own license plates, especially given the significance of his initials and reform school ID.
Well, long story short, the auction house called me the next day. The cheapest of the three went for $5,000. I guess a lot of people think Steve McQueen was a very cool guy.