Jerry Seinfeld turns down huge $25m offer for car owned by late Steve McQueen

The legendary Porsche 917, as soon as owned and pushed by Steve McQueen within the movie Le Mans, was just lately up for grabs at Mecum’s Kissimmee public sale.

From January 7 to 19, this iconic automobile was among the many 4,556 automobiles and vans that went below the hammer.

The automotive’s present proprietor, comic and famend Porsche collector Jerry Seinfeld, described it because the “best automotive I’ve ever owned.”

The automotive’s first proprietor, Steve McQueen, had bought it instantly from the Porsche manufacturing unit and drove it straight to the film set.

After filming for Le Mans concluded, the Porsche was utilized in actual races, reaching some success with skilled drivers.

What Jerry appreciates most about Porsches is the corporate’s humble beginnings.

“The factor I like probably the most about Porsches is, I like the story of how they began so small and grew so shortly,” Jerry stated, based on AutoWeek.

“There are automobiles that I name ‘second automobiles,’ which can be from moments when issues simply landed completely. It occurs in lives, it occurs in cultures, it occurs in tales, so to me the 917 is the second of Porsche the place all their work and experience got here collectively.”

Whereas it stays unknown how a lot Jerry paid for his classic Porsche, the earlier proprietor acquired it at an public sale in 2001 for a mere $1.3 million, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.

Nearly 20 years later, an identical automotive used for stunts in Le Mans fetched $14 million at an public sale in 2017.

The 2017 public sale might maintain the file for a Porsche sale, however Jerry’s prized automobile was projected to fetch an excellent greater bid.

The information supply reported that though bidding soared to $25 million—a possible new file—Jerry opted to not promote when it did not meet his secret reserve value.

Jerry had the choice to take away the reserve however selected towards it. “There are objects which have nice worth, then there’s objects which you can’t place a worth, as a result of they evoke a lot,” Seinfeld defined within the public sale teaser video.