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McQueen’s Dune Buggy from The Thomas Crown Affair could be yours

Forget the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and the Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART Spyder – the coolest car from The Thomas Crown Affair is the Dune Buggy in which Steve McQueen’s Crown took Faye Dunaway’s character for a white-knuckled ride across the beach. Rather excitingly, it’s now for sale…

California dreamin’

“I helped them design it, so I’m kinda proud of that,” Steve McQueen once said of the classic Meyers Manx Dune Buggy belonging to his on-screen character Thomas Crown in the 1968 flick The Thomas Crown Affair. “It’s set on a big Volkswagen chassis with big ol’ wide weenies – big wide tyres on mag wheels, Corvair engine stuffed in the back. It’s packing about 230 horses and weighs about a thousand pounds.”

Together with Pete Condos of Con-Ferr, McQueen extensively modified Crown’s dune buggy to ensure it made a lasting impression. And make a lasting impression it certainly did – in fact, the Manx played such a prominent role that for many people, it actually made the film. Now, Bonhams – which has already sold the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and McQueen’s iconic Persol sunglasses from The Thomas Crown Affair – will offer this dinky piece of Hollywood history at its Amelia Island auction next March. Expect fireworks – and potentially Faye Dunaway – when it crosses the block in Florida. 

Photos: Bonhams

You can find a broad selection of cars that embody the ‘free ‘n’ easy’ California dream like the Meyers Manx listed for sale in the Classic Driver Market