Steve McQueen

WIN!!! A PASSION FOR SPEED STEVE McQUEEN

 A FAST RIDE WITH THE KING OF COOL

Even 30 years after his death, Steve McQueen remains an icon of cool; celebrated as an iconic image of pop culture that would rival James Dean and yet revered by both car and motorcycle racing fans. This unprecedented peek inside Steve McQueen’s passion for speed is packed with never-before-published images and insight into the side of McQueen that fuelled his fire.

A Passion for Speed chronicles McQueen’s fascination and appetite for all things motorised, from cars to Bikes, on film and in real life. Featuring stylish, rare photographs, this book offers a unique and fresh look into the star’s various high-speed pursuits, from desert racing to Le Mans, sports cars to antique motorcycles.

The chapters of this book takes a look at McQueen’s life through his love for machines and the need for speed; one such chapter details how this passion transcended through to his actions on the silver screen in which McQueen’s characters always had a great motorcycle or car; some of those  famous mechanical conquests appear, from the 650cc Triumph (disguised as a BMW) in The Great Escape, to the 1968 Ford Mustang GT fastback he drove in Bullitt chase scene, and not forgetting the Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART Spyder roadster in the provocative film The Thomas Crown Affair.

McQueen’s passion for beautifully tuned machines didn’t stop at cars and motorbikes; he also treated his body like one and took his physical fitness very seriously, having been propelled from Hollywood into a number of top off-road motorcycle races, including the Baja 1000, Mint 400, and Elsinore Grand Prix, he trained vigorously, weight lifting, running, and studying martial arts and was one of the first in his profession to fit a gym in his home.

His home was also where he kept some of the many vehicles that he collected over the years; he was a discerning connoisseur, seasoned mechanic and experienced racer and these qualities lead him to collect many different types of vehicles from those with two wheels (McQueen owned about 100 classic motorcycles), those with four wheels and sometimes even those with wings!

Steve McQueen: A Passion for Speed reflects on a life lived in the moment and with the pedal to the metal.

The author Frédéric Brun is foremost a movie lover, car fanatic, and amateur racer. He contributes to a number of French magazines writing about movie icons or collector cars. Thanks to his highly specialized knowledge of classic cars and engines, he covers France’s ‘”Tour Auto’” race every year for the French press. Frédéric is also the author of Pilotes Ferrari (YB Edition), awarded “Best illustrated Sport Book” by the Olympic Committee in fall 2010.

Steve McQueen: A Passion for Speed is available to order in the UK from Grantham Book Services on: 01476 541080

To win this superb book please tell us the author’s name.

A: John Hulme – B: Frédéric Brun – C: Lisa Day

Email only your answer to: england@trialmag.com

The competition winner will be named on Tuesday 25^th October 2011, the editor’s decision is final and no telephone entries will be accepted.