Unless you’ve been in some kind of cryogenic chamber since the corks popped on New Year’s Eve, you likely know that the Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang driven by Steve McQueen in the landmark Bullitt car chase sold at auction amid staggering publicity. It happened two weeks ago at the huge Mecum Auctions (I sometimes write for them) huge winter sale in Kissimmee, Florida, just down the road in Osceola County. Mecum hammered “sold” on about $95 million worth of cars during Kissimmee’s 10-day run, but nothing like this.
In case you missed it, the Mustang went for more than $3.7 million, an all-time record for a Ford Mustang, and allegedly the highest price ever paid at auction for any muscle car. Here’s a photo I took of the car inside its locked case inside the display tent at Osceola Heritage Park. What you don’t see in the photo are is the armed security that was very prominently on hand during the sale. After all, this isn’t just any old, clapped-out Mustang we’re talking about here. Honest, there were media representatives from all over the world in the house at Kissimmee. You can read my reports about the non-Bullitt offerings in the next issues of Hemmings Motor News and Hemmings Muscle Machines.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 