Filed under: Car Buying, Motorsports, Porsche, Celebrities
McQueen's LeMans Porsche may fetch $2m at Bonhams
One of Steve McQueen's co-stars in the 1971 documentary-style film Le Mans, a Porsche racing car, is up for action this August in Carmel Valley, California. The car is a 1969-1970 Porsche 908/2 Spyder. It features a 3.0-liter air/oil-cooled flat-8 engine rated at 350 hp @ 8500 rpm. While many of today's production cars are making that type of power, with a fiberglass body on a tubular aluminum spaceframe, the Porsche 908/2 tips the scales at just under 1,322 pounds. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox giving the racer a top speed of 200 mph. This particular vehicle was mounted with two cameras and raced in the French city of Le Mans to create footage for the racing film (the car is said to have competed in the event five times). The classic Porsche sounds like a ton of fun to toss around a track, but the winning bidder may have second thoughts if the car fetches anywhere near its pre-auction estimate of $2 million -- not entirely unlikely as another one of McQueen's cars, a Ferrari Lusso, grabbed $2.31 million at an auction last year.
[Source: Bloomberg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Quattrofan 4:08PM (5/23/2008)
oil-cooled?
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Farris 4:46PM (5/23/2008)
Yeah, really. I know that my air-cooled Beetle has an "oil cooler" that looks like a radiator, but it's still called an air-cooled motor.
How does an oil cooled motor differ?
Kevin 5:01PM (5/23/2008)
All cars are air cooled, when you get right down to it. "Air cooled" engines are, technically, oil cooled. Water cooled engines are to an extent as well of course, but the cooling effect of the oil in those engines is secondary to that of the water.
Farris 5:05PM (5/23/2008)
Good point, Kevin. I guess eventually it IS the air that cools all automotive motors! :P
Quattrofan 5:07PM (5/23/2008)
I realize that, except this is the first time I've heard someone refer to Porsche's air cooled boxer as oil-cooled.
Michael Harley 5:42PM (5/23/2008)
Calling the engine "oil-cooled" was deliberate, on my part. As other readers have already pointed out, the phrase "air-cooled" is commonly coined for Porsche's (and VW's) flat engines. However, they are technically "oil-cooled" (oil circulates through the engine to cool the internals. Air is used to cool the oil). As you know, nearly all cars these days are "water-cooled" (water circulates through the engine to cool the internals. Air is used to cool the water).
- Mike
Dev 4:26PM (5/23/2008)
I'm guessing double that amount...
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rishi 4:43PM (5/23/2008)
adfad
Caroftheday.org 4:41PM (5/23/2008)
What a frustrating paradox -- a car too awesome not to drive and a car that is too valuable to drive.
I'm going to save my $2,000,000 and just get an Evo.
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rishi 4:45PM (5/23/2008)
yeup
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mcstark 5:13PM (5/23/2008)
Except it's a Porsche, so drop the $2M if you have it, and start kicking butt in vintage car races.
Classic Ferraris are for collecting...classic Porsches are for driving!
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Tom Winch 8:54PM (5/23/2008)
+1!!! If I had the coin to buy this car, I would race at every vintage race I could enter. This car is for driving, and at vintage races the drivers are well aware of the collector's items they're piloting and you see far fewer crashes than at other races.
Duders 11:11PM (5/23/2008)
Steve McQueen is my hero.
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Ted 3:54PM (5/24/2008)
Actually, I think Air-Cooled is more correct. The large fan on the top of the motor pushes air across the finned cylinders as the primary method of cooling on the 4's, 6's, 8's, 12's ( and the 16). ( before the current water cooling - of course). The oil cooling of the dry sump system is controlled thermostacily, and provides secondary cooling after the engine reaches operating temps. The air cooling acts directly on the primary heat source ( the combustion chamber ), the oil cooling does not.
And those of us who attended Rennsport 3 were treated to the sight of a well driven 908/3 easily holding off a 917/30. So yes, rest assurred, there are still lots of people who are more than willing to drive multi-million dollar cars at 9/10 ths.
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Michael Harley 4:14PM (5/24/2008)
I'll compromise and say they are air/oil cooled. The engines need both to cool down. Does that work? :-)
I've got one of each in my garage (930 and 986). Quite honestly, the air/oil cooled car is more reliable - less things to go wrong - but modern automotive engineers don't like engine temps swinging +/- 40 degrees while driving (it is a nightmare for emissions reasons).
- Mike
Ted 5:50PM (5/24/2008)
Mike
You said
"However, they are technically "oil-cooled" (oil circulates through the engine to cool the internals. Air is used to cool the oil). "
I disagree with that. The forced airflow in 60's and 70's era Porsche engines directly cooled the finned cylinder barrels. It did not cool the oil first as the primary source of cooling. Oil from the cylinder heads passes back to the sump via an external tube that does not come in contact with the cylinder barrel. Early 911's did not even use external oil coolers untill they were available as options and then standardized like the one in my 72 S.
You're right to say that current Porsche engines ( like my 996 ) are water cooled to enable them to meet emmissions, but your orginal comments applied to a 1969 race car. Yes, the race car used an external oil cooler but the base engine is air cooled, and to me, that is correct designation.
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Michael Harley 6:40PM (5/24/2008)
I'll stick with air/oil cooled. My logic: The race car had an oil cooler (unless someone can prove otherwise). The reason why 911's have such large oil capacities (well, the pre-99 models at least) was the oil was used for cooling, not just lubrication. Most enthusiasts would agree (with a '72 S in your garage, you would be in that category). I'm not questioning your logic. In fact, I've edited the post to read air/oil-cooled.
- Mike