American actor and legendary petrol-head Steve McQueen's Chevrolet pickup is to auction at Mecum on July 26.
![]() The pickup boasts its original mattress |
Believed to have been the last motor vehicle McQueen ever rode in before his death from cancer in November 1980, the Chevrolet pickup camper conversion, which boasts a double bed and plenty of storage space, was also the movie star's home from home during camping trips.
The truck shuttled McQueen to Ventura County Airport, California, in November 1980 - a mere four days before his passing. McQueen was heading to Mexico, for what would prove to be his final bout of surgery. Reverend Billy Graham accompanied the actor; the pair talked about the afterlife.
Having arrived at the airport, Graham read a number of passages of scripture aloud and the pair prayed a number of times before Graham handed McQueen his bible. As Graham turned to go, McQueen told him: "I'll see you in heaven!"
McQueen fell in love with the Chevy at first sight: "I remember one time we drove past a migrant farm worker who had this bitchin' old truck and Steve turned the car around and wrote him a check on the spot," McQueen's wife Barbara recalls.
"He bought a plane or two that way, too."
McQueen's 1946 Indian Chief, his first ever motorbike, is also to auction in the coming weeks.
For more car auction news, please sign up for Paul Fraser Collectibles' free weekly newsletter.