Film · On-screen association

Steve McQueen

1968 Ford Mustang GT fastback

The unrestored dark green Bullitt hero Mustang, seen from the rear right at the 2018 Detroit auto show.
The actual 1968 Ford Mustang GT fastback hero car driven by Steve McQueen in Bullitt, VIN 8R02S125559, at the 2018 Detroit auto show.Photo: Joe Ross (Joseph Ross; Corvair Owner) · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP; full original frame shown.
Steve McQueen portrait, 1968
Steve McQueen1968 · Identification portraitUnknown publicity photographer · Public domain in the U.S. — published without copyright notice. The Commons source was cropped and adjusted to black and white in 2019. Joyride serves that Commons file byte-for-byte. No additional image edits or generation. A responsive UI may crop the displayed edges.

The movie car and the man at the wheel

Connection
On-screen association
When
Bullitt · 1968
Identity
VIN 8R02S125559

Mecum identifies this Mustang as the hero car driven by Steve McQueen in Bullitt. Its Highland Green body carried camera mounts underneath the doors, and its GT badges were removed for filming. The auction record distinguishes this car from the second Mustang used in the production.

After the film, the hero car passed to Warner Bros. employee Robert Ross, then to Frank Marranca and the Kiernan family. Mecum lists a letter in which McQueen tried to buy it from Robert Kiernan. That distinction matters: a famous on-screen driver is not automatically the car’s private owner.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

The documented association here is a film role. The auction record supplies the individual VIN and subsequent ownership chain.

Reviewed

How we identified the photographed car
  • Photo identity evidence

    Mecum identifies VIN 8R02S125559 as the hero car driven by McQueen in the film and documents its Robert/Sean Kiernan ownership.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Ford distinguishes the hero car from the jumper/stunt car and states that Sean Kiernan’s actual hero car was revealed at the 2018 Detroit show.

  • Photo identity evidence

    The photographer explicitly identifies the original movie Mustang on display in Detroit, photographed 22 January 2018. The photo shows its aged Highland Green body and New Jersey BULLITT plate.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.