Parked outside the Silverstone cafe, everyone wanted to admire the Mustang. In most cases talking was an excuse to amble up and run their hands across it. They wanted to sit in the cracked leather driving seat that feels as though it’s padded with straw, and grip the old-fashioned deep dish steering wheel. How many cars do people want to touch? Not many.

In shooting Bullitt, the film crew used two Stangs; one was junked afterwards, the other acquired by a Warner employee who sold it. The new owner resisted all offers to buy it, including one from McQueen. Towards the end of his life the actor keenly wanted the car back. You can see why.

Terence Steven McQueen would be 75 if he were alive today. He died aged 50 in a Mexican clinic from a mesothelioma, a rare cancer, probably caused by inhaling blue asbestos while working on ship repairs in his younger, itinerant years.

Dying before his time made him even more famous. Today his image is licensed to at least 29 companies selling everything from sunglasses to slot machines. It was even hijacked by Ford to posthumously promote the Puma — a car McQueen would have scorned. He’s making more money now for the McQueen estate than in his prime.

And thanks to his endorsement of the Mustang, the car is still going strong more than 40 years after its launch. Look into its radiator grille and you can see McQueen, blue eyes focused straight ahead, a defiant smile on his lips. The Charger’s superior performance seems insignificant next to that.

Nicholas Rufford

VITAL STATISTICS

Model Mustang GT 390 Fastback
Engine 6392cc (390 cubic inches) V8
Power 325bhp @ 4800rpm
Torque 427 lb ft @ 3200rpm
Transmission Four-speed manual or Select Shift Cruise-O-Matic
Performance 0-60 mph: 6.3sec
Top speed: 120mph approx
Price $2,952.96 new
Verdict Lacklustre performance, useless steering, utterly fantastic
Rating 5/5

Page two: Andrew Frankel on the Dodge Charger()Continued from page one

DODGE CHARGER

Anyone who has seen Bullitt will probably remember an otherwise forgettable film saved by one outstanding car chase where a couple of bad guys in a Dodge Charger first pursue and then are pursued by a San Francisco cop. The Charger came off considerably worse in the chase and from that day earned itself a place in car history as inferior to Steve McQueen’s Mustang.

Sadly that is a travesty of the truth because the 1968 Charger marked the zenith of that most fabled of all American automotive species: the muscle car. Never before or since has America offered a family of four a combination of such power and beauty as the 68 Charger. By the early 1970s emissions regulations (yes, even then) and soaring insurance costs had begun to eat into the performance figures and muscle cars were never quite the same again.

Explore Features

• Porsche

• BMW

• Mercedes

• Ferrari

• Bentley

• Audi

• Maserati

• Aston Martin

• Jaguar

• VW