STEVE MCQUEEN LE MANS-1

Movie Trivia,Steve McQueen ,Le Mans

One of the stunt drivers lost a leg when they filmed a stunt and he crashed his car. The driver was ‚David Piper‘ , who received a special thanks „for his sacrifice“ at the end credits.

There is no audible dialogue from any of the characters for the first 37 minutes of the movie.

The crashing Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 were actually outdated Lola T70's ‚made up‘ to look like a 917 and a 512, since it was out of the question to sacrifice one of these priceless cars. The fake Ferrari was remote-controlled.

All Ferrari's appearing in the movie were borrowed from Belgian Ferrari distributor Jacques Swaters, since the Ferrari factory had refused its participation because the movie ends with a victory for Porsche.

The movie was made in 1970, and depicts a Porsche 917 winning the 24 hours of Le Mans. The 1970 edition of Le Mans was indeed won by a Porsche 917.

In many ways, it was lucky this film was made in 1970, since the star sport cars Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512, arguably the two most legendary sports prototypes ever conceived, were actually very short lived. The Porsche appeared in 1969, the Ferrari in 1970, and both were withdrawn at the end of 1971 (as official factory-cars that is). The 1970 edition of Le Mans was the only one the Ferrari appeared in. The Porsche 917 won the 1970 and 1971 editions.

John Sturges first directed the movie, but left the set due to Steve McQueen interfering in almost everything. He was then replaced by Lee H. Katzin.

Steve McQueen was fond of car races and owned a Porsche 908. Driving this car during the 12 Hours of Sebring's 1970 e­dition with professional driver Peter Revson, he finished close second behind Mario Andretti, who was determined „not to be beaten by a movie star“. Andretti was driving a Ferrari 512. McQueen also wanted to be in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but was denied permission by the film producers. His Porsche eventually did participate, driven by Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams, and bearing three camera's to get ‚live‘ footage for the movie. Despite the spoiled aerodynamics and frequent stops to change film rolls, the car managed to finish ninth. And according to a persistent rumor, McQueen may have driven it secretly after all.

Although the making of this movie was Steve McQueen's dream coming through, it left him with bitter feelings. There was the conflict with John Sturges, budget excesses, and even a strike of the entire crew.

Derek Bell had a lucky escape during the making of Le Mans. The Ferrari 512 he was driving suddenly caught fire whilst getting into position for a take. He managed to get out of the car just before is was engulfed in flames & suffered minor burns. The car was badly damaged but later rebuilt.