Somehow lately, the conversations have often shifted towards cars. It is true that here in Paris the traffic has increased since the Coronavirus Crisis, as instead of taking public transportation more Parisians have taken their weekend cars out during the week as well. And I can say, from my humble point of view, they have a great sense of style in cars as well, and the people watching from the terasses has turned into spotting models of cars passing by and discussing what is chic and what is not…
Modern-day Paris
Among the favourite stories I’ve heard over the past days was the fact that Françoise Sagan had a crazy love affair with classic cars:
“One of Sagan’s first luxury cars in the 1950s—most likely after the success of Bonjour Tristesse—was a Jaguar XK 140 (or an XK 120 by some sources—in either case, a mega-fast gorgeous sports car with record acceleration speeds from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 10.0 seconds for the XK 120 and 8.4 seconds for the XK 140). Sagan is credited to have said, “Money may not buy happiness, but I’d rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus.”
The Jaguar was just one of numerous sports cars that she had, including an Aston Martin in which she had a serious accident in 1957.” (Tin House)
Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra and Brigitte Bardot have also been known to be big lovers of classic cars. The Jaguar Heritage E-Type 1961 was the superstar of sports cars and the most beloved. It hit 149 mph as a roadster and 150 mph as a coupe in its heyday. At its launch in Geneva in 1961, they sold 500 of them. Allegedly, at a New York International car show, six were sold in the first half hour and one of those buyers was Ole’ Blue Eyes himself. (The Post and Courier)
Terence Steven “Steve” McQueen, was one of the best known actors of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Although acting was not his first passion, as McQueen was known for buying many of the cars he drove in his films―if they survived. He was also known for buying just about any car that caught his eye, so as you can imagine, he owned quite a few. Some of his more famous cars include a few of the more well-known film cars that he drove and a few of his private cars. After seeing the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART Spyder that Faye Dunaway’s character was driving during filming of The Thomas Crown Affair, McQueen ordered his own. There were only ten examples built and each was powered by DOHC Colombo V12 capped off with six Weber carbs. The 1970 Porsche 911S was purchased for McQueen to drive around Europe while filming the movie LeMans. It made a few short appearances in the film, but it was mainly used by McQueen to get from location to location. Like many Steve McQueen cars, when it was auctioned by RM Sotheby’s, it fetched quite a price tag compared to similar cars, selling at $1.375 million. The 1956 Jaguar XKSS is another of the Steve McQueen cars that was part of his personal collection. According to McQueen Online, he lost his driver’s license twice because of the speeding tickets he collected while driving this Jag. He told a story once about using his pregnant wife to get out of one ticket. McQueen’s XKSS is housed at the Peterson Automotive Museum, but estimates place its value at $30 million if it came up for sale. (Motor Biscuit)
