The 30 Best Steve McQueen Rides

Steve McQueen is the King of Cool. He captured audiences with his ice-cold demeanor and badass driving skills. McQueen didn't just use cars in his films, he really lived the gearhead lifestyle. Before focusing on acting full-time, Steve was an amateur racer. Although he had to give up on his racing dreams, he managed to incorporate rides into most of his films. He started Solar Productions in order to have say in what cars would be involved in the making of his movies. Many of his flicks are classics like The Great Escape, Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair, as well as Le Mans and The Getaway. A multitude of these features starred iconic cars by his side and heart-pounding chase scenes. Check out the 30 Best Steve McQueen Rides.

Written by Angel Diaz (@graffnameramo)

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

McQueen's character and his wife hop in the back after their daring escape from the burger joint. Somehow, they managed to not be crushed by the compressor and end up in a land fill.

Movie: The Hunter (1980)

Yup. This was the ride Thorson chased the bad guys in. After they stole his rented Trans Am, McQueen hopped in this harvester and chased the Branch brothers through cornfields, until he eventually tricked them into reversing over dynamite the villains had previously laid down. He then returned the dismantled Pontiac to the rental car place. How kind.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

Carol and Doc were in charge of shutting off the power. They rigged this Carpet Service van with a hole in the floor and stopped over a manhole, so McQueen could cut a powerline. Carol switched cars, after dropping Doc off by the bank.

Movie: The Hunter (1980)

McQueen's character commandeered this tow truck to chase down a bounty that stole a Pontiac Grand Prix from a parking garage. After chasing the fugitive around the lot, Papa Thorson rammed the Grand Pix out of the garage and into a river. No matter the vehicle, Steve knew how to drive it—minus the row of cars he sideswiped in the scene.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

After he was saved by an animal doctor, Rudy ends up in this Ford Ranch Wagon with the doc's wife. They end up in a motel room, where Rudy ties up the doctor, so he won't go anywhere, and proceeds to have consensual sex with his wife. Like the Country Squire, this was also a favorite of families during this time period.

Movie: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

This must've been one of McQueen's favorite inconspicuous rides, because it appeared in more than one of his flicks—the other time was in The Getaway (1972). In the opening scene of The Thomas Crown Affair, a goon was given money to buy this car for a job. He was a nervous fella that trusted a man he couldn't see in a hotel room. The Country Squire was the cliche family car in every movie in history.

Movie: Bullitt (1968)

This cab was driven by Robert Duvall, who dropped a gangster off at a hotel. Bullitt later hunts him down to squeeze out any helpful info he can get. The cabbie tells him what he knows and drives McQueen to the phone booth the gangster had previously made a call from.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

The other robbers made their getaway in this. Al Lettieri's character, Rudy, shoots Bo Hopskin's character, Frank, and heads to kill Doc and his wife, Carol. He gets to the meet-up point and ends up getting shot himself. Rudy plays possom and hops in the Ford Galaxie. This model featured a 4.9-liter Buick V8 with 250 horsepower and ushered in a new body style.

Movie: The Hunter (1980)

The Pontiac Grand Prix was driven by another fugitive McQueen chased. The bad guy stole it from a parking garage and ended up falling into a river, after Thorson hit the car with a tow truck. The '79 Grand Prix offered three types of engines: a 3.8-liter Buick V6 on standard models, a 135hp, two-barrel carb 4.9-liter Pontiac V8, and a 150hp, four-barrel carb 4.9-liter V8, if you were looking for more power.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

McQueen and his lady were finally close to their getaway. They pulled a gun on an old man and made him take them toward Mexico. He held them down so they paid him thirty stacks for this beat up Chevy pickup. Don't be fooled by the hoopty pictured above. The '55 3100 was one of the better looking pickups of its day. This particular series had a 3.5-liter engine that gave around 92 horses and offered the option of a 4.3-liter V8, which produced 145 horsepower.

Movie: The Hunter (1980)

The movie begins with McQueen's character, bounty hunter Papa Thorson, parking his '51 Chevy convertible. The pale yellow Chevy had a V6 with 92 horses under the hood and a 3-speed transmission. Thorson had a love/hate relationship with his car, parking without care, capturing criminals and simply popping things into place if they come out. This was Steve's last film, as he died three months from lung cancer after the release.

Movie: On Any Sunday (1971)

On Any Sunday is the Endless Summer of motorcross. The film documents some of the best dirt bike riders of the time, like Malcolm Smith and Mert Lawwill. McQueen really enjoyed riding, whether on two or four wheels. Many racers accepted him as their own, once they realized he was really about that life. Solar produced the film, and Bruce Brown of Endless Summer fame directed.

The movie features footage of McQueen's Elsinore Grand Prix run in 1970, where he came in tenth out of 500 riders. In one of the last scenes, Smith, Lawwill and McQueen are shown riding a Husky 250, a Harley-Davidson and a Husqvarna 400, respectively. The trio are shown riding on a beach and jumping sand dunes.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

The scene opens with Doc sitting on a bench and his girl tells him she's going to Mexico. They end up at a drive-in burger joint. The waitress recognizes them from the news and snitches. The cops immediately show up, and Doc shotguns the back window of the Mercury and then shoots the front windshield of the cop car. They speed off, after crashing into some parked cars, end up leaving this ride, and jump into a dump truck. The Monterey featured a 7.0-liter, 410hp behemoth. Gas guzzler is an understatement.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

The scene starts with Carol and Doc in this blue Impala. She then picks him up after he steal a shotgun and blows up a police car. They frantically make their escape, leave the car in a driveway, and hop in a bus to Dallas. They watch, as the cops head in the other direction. The '69 Impala had a 5.4-liter V8, 235hp engine under the hood.

Movie: The Great Escape (1963)

After wiping out on a bike jump, McQueen was caught and brought back to the camp in a '39 Horch. He hopped out in cuffs and was escorted to solitary confinement once again. Horch was a German company that introduced smaller and cheaper V8 engines back int he '30s and also founded Audi.

Movie: The Great Escape (1963)

All the bikes featured in this three-hour classic were supposed to be WWII-era BMWs, but the production deemed too demanding for antique bikes. So, the crew modified Triumph motorcycles to look like them, that way the stuntmen could do as they pleased. McQueen rode this, as he got away from the Nazi's and tried to make a daring jump that proved to be fruitless. They stuck him back in the "Cooler," where he was at home with his baseball and glove.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

The big dogs that originally set up the heist packed into this Eldorado. They head out to find Doc weilding all kinds of guns and hiding out at the hotel. Once they get there, Doc and his lady kill them all. Too bad, because their ride was pimp.

Movie: The Getaway (1972)

Doc's wife picked him up in this blue Ford Galaxie, after Benyon pulled some strings to get him paroled. In return, McQueen had to rob a bank. They also used the car to make their getaway after the robbery. McQueen whips the shit out of this Ford, hitting shopping carts, dodging an explosion, a truck, and destroying a porch. And it still turned on! Definitely built "Ford Tough."

One of the other robbers also drove it, after he tried to double-cross Doc and his wife a little bit later in the movie. The Galaxie was one of Ford's more popular models during this time.

Movie: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

One of Crown's model girlfriends picks him up in this classic, after he played with his yellow glider. Thomas Crown was definitely living the life. His girl even got out and helped tie the glider up. This pretty thing had 340 horsepower from a 7.0-liter V8 engine.

Movie: The Hunter (1980)

The '79 Trans Am was one of the many cars Thorson used to snag fugitives. During the film he rents this Firebird much to his dismay, asking for an older, less flashy car—it's hard to catch criminals while your driving this menacing whip. His plea fell on deaf ears and the car eventually gets blown up with dynamite. McQueen stepped out of it to search for the Branch brothers, but they eventually steal the Pontiac. This particular model featured a 3.8-liter, V6 engine and no Firebird decal on the hood.

Movie: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

McQueen helped the producers of the film with the design of the Meyers Manx. The body was set on a VW chassis with a Corvette Corvair six-cylinder engine in the back. The dune buggy only weighed 1,000 lbs and boasted an insane 230 horses. That's a lot of power for just a rec vehicle. In the film Crown takes Dunaway's character, Vicki Anderson, for a wild ride on the sandy beaches of Massachusetts.

They rode the dunes with a reckless abandon, and if it looked like they were having a blast, they were. No stunt doubles were used during those scenes, and McQueen was able to drive the buggy however he wanted.

Movie: Bullitt (1968)

This Canary Yellow Porsche was driven by Bullitt's lady, as she helped him solve the case. The '64 356C is popular among collectors and was used as a rally car back in its day. The 356C version had only 88 horses, but you could upgrade all the way to 95.

Movie: The Reivers (1969)

This was a different kind of role for the King of Cool. In The Reivers, McQueen plays an employee on a wealthy Mississippi family's ranch. He convinces the film's star, an 11-year old Lucius Priest, to steal his grandfather's Flyer so he could visit his lady in Memphis. McQueen's company, Solar Productions had a 1905 Winton Flyer built, because it was quite difficult to find one during the '60s. That probably had to do with the fact that each Winton was handmade and the company folded in 1927.

The car was crafted by custom car and pinstriping extraordinaire Kenny Howard, aka Von Dutch, from the ground up. Aside from what was under the hood, Howard made sure to stay faithful to the original. In place of Winton's 18hp engine, he installed a BMC inline-four, which can be found in Mini Coopers today. McQueen wanted to be able to navigate the country back roads to Memphis with more power. This baby was the real star of the film.

Movie: Le Mans (1971)

McQueen's character, Michael Delaney drove this beauty in the opening scene. Delaney was involved in an accident during the Le Mans race the previous year that killed a fellow driver, Piero Belgetti. While riding through the streets of France, he spots Belgetti's widow which prompts him to drive to the scene of the accident to reflect. The 1970 Porshe 911 S had a 2.2-liter engine with 180 horses. McQueen also used the 911 as his personal vehicle during filming.

Movie: Le Mans (1971)

Siegfried Rauch played Erich Stahler and he drove the No. 8 Ferrari 512 S. He was McQueen's arch rival in the film. Two versions were featured, the 512 closed-top and the open-top S driven by Stahler. The 512 had a 5.0-liter V12 engine which put out 550-575 horses. The two characters faced off with Stahler getting third place while McQueen's character finished second.

Movie: Le Mans (1971)

This piece of art boasted a 4.5-liter engine that roared out 580 horsepower. McQueen's character, Delaney, drove this model throughout the Le Mans race. It only weighed 1,760 pounds. Le Mans is said to be the greatest racing movie ever made, because of it's authenticity. All cars featured in the race were either this model Porsche or the 1970 Ferrari 512 S.

Movie: Bullitt (1968)

This bad (shut yo' mouth!) chased Bullitt through the hills of San Francisco in the greatest car chase in movie history. The bad guys knew what McQueen was up to and didn't like it one bit. It featured a 375 horsepower, 440-ci Magnum V-8 engine with a four-speed transmission. Two identical Chargers were used during filming with one being totalled in the final chase scene where the bad guys crash into a gas station.

Movie: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

No movie better captures the reasons why folks refer to him as "The King of Cool." McQueen plays Thomas Crown, a billionaire that's bored of life, so he decides to pull heists just for kicks. He pushes the navy blue Rolls-Royce to pick up the cash at drop off points in the beginning and at the end of the movie. Shadow Coupes were built to order and this one had a standard 6.2-liter V8 engine with plush leather interior and all-power everything.

Movie: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Faye Dunaway is one of the baddest women to ever do it, so of course the maker's of the film had her driving one of the baddest Enzos ever. Only 10 were made, and the one Vicki Anderson drove was the first built. It featured an aluminum body and was equipped with a Ferrari V12 engine. The N.A.R.T. only appeared for a brief second, but it captured Dunaway's elegance, as she spied Crown at the polo grounds. Who knew insurance agents could afford a 1 of 10? We're in the wrong business.

Movie: Bullitt (1968)

Quite possibly the most recognizable car on this list, in terms of McQueen rides, the '68 Mustang 390 GT is as badass as badass gets. He drove the hell out of this monster in Bullit and gave the world of cinema one of the greatest car chases ever captured on film. Steve played Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, a police officer that cared more about solving a case than worrying about protocol. No one can really confirm what was under the hood, but the streets say the engine let out anywhere between 302-325 horses.