1967 FORD

Already a sales success, the Ford Mustang became a true cultural icon following its starring role in the 1968 film Bullitt. Steve McQueen’s portrayal of detective Frank Bullitt, and the now-legendary car chase through the streets of San Francisco, elevated the Mustang to instant stardom. Unlike other film chases of the era, the sequence was shot using real cars at real speed, McQueen’s Highland Green Fastback alternatively pursuing and being pursued by a Dodge Charger 440 through live city traffic. The raw sound of the V8s, the unfiltered action and the authenticity of the driving made it one of the most memorable automotive moments in cinema history, cementing the Bullitt Mustang’s place as a movie icon.

As Sixties cinematic contemporaries, comparisons between James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and Frank Bullitt’s Mustang are inevitable. However, whilst the DB5 went on to have a starring role in several Bond films over the subsequent decades, the Mustang’s sole outing with the King of Cool behind the wheel is still reproduced globally to this day, whether on T-shirts or framed art works. Compared to the exotica that came before it or since, the Bullitt Mustang is perhaps the only blue-collar star of any film.

This Mustang left the Ford factory at Metuchen, New Jersey in 1967 and was imported into the UK and registered with the DVLA to the first of two keepers on 6th December 2021. Once in the UK the car was stripped back to the bare metal, painted in Highland Green, finished with a matte lacquer, a 5-Litre V8 engine fitted and mated to a Shelby differential, all of which is recorded in an extensive photographic record. It was purchased by a long standing client of Iconic Auctioneers in 2023 and is now presented to auction at a keen estimate having covered 98,151 miles at the time of cataloguing.