The film shoot had more than its fair share of incidents, both on and off the circuit, and the tales are still told by local people today. Here are a few fun facts:

- Filming began on 7 June 1970 and ended on 10 November, two months later than scheduled.

- The score was by Michel Legrand, the composer who won an Oscar for the soundtrack to The Thomas Crown Affair in which Steve McQueen also starred. The song “The Windmills of Your Mind” was released in France, having been adapted by Legrand himself.

- Solar, Steve McQueen’s production company built a village near the Houx campsite with offices, a film theatre... and a canteen where one of the very first microwave ovens could be found. Hans Arn, the caterer, said “these things will be all over the world soon”.

- Solar entered the race with the Porsche 908 in which Steve McQueen came second at Sebring that year, with Peter Revson. Driven by Jonathan Williams and Herbert Linge (n°29), it had to stop every fifteen minutes to change the film in the three cameras. The race was disrupted by rain and in the end, the car didn’t cover the minimum distance to be ranked.

- The three Gulf sky blue and orange Porsche 917Ks that feature in the film each had a different owner: the n°20 belonged to Solar Productions, the n°21 was John Wyer’s (manager of JWA) and the n°22 was owned by Swiss driver Jo Siffert.

- Six of the 41 drivers who appeared in the film were former or future winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours: Masten Gregory, Jacky Ickx, Richard Attwood, Gérard Larrousse, Derek Bell and Jürgen Barth.

- One of the aspects of filming that irritated the drivers the most was all the waiting around in between scenes. Masten Gregory, winner of the Le Mans in 1965, spent the time learning how to play chess.

- In the film, a Porsche 917 Gulf wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans, something that never actually happened.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO Translated from French by Emma Paulay
Photo: D.R. - ARCHIVES ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, LE MANS 24 HOURS, SATURDAY 13 & SUNDAY 14 JUNE 1970. Steve McQueen produced the film and played the leading role. However, during filming he wasn’t an actor playing a racing driver, he was a racing driver making a film about the thrill of motor racing. As such, he earned the utmost respect of the professional drivers who featured in the film.