Review of Steve McQueen’s Alma Mater – "Boys Republic" Car Show

Arranged by the Porsche 356 Club of Southern California, American icon Steve McQueen, was the feature draw for a car show held at his Alma Mater, “Boys Republic” in Chino Hills Ca. Steve died nearly 28 years ago but is still giving back to society. His presence on the world stage left a legacy that continues to create new legions of fans. Steve is the only endorsee of Tag Heuer watches that is not alive and yet his Monaco watch is still among their best sellers. Starring in movies like ” Le Mans” (in the opinion of many pro drivers one of the best race movies ever made), Bullit (in the opinion of almost everyone who has seen it, one of the best chase scenes ever filmed) and the Great Escape (with the most famous motorcycle stunt ever filmed), Steve became an American Legend.

The crowd was treated to an eclectic and exciting variety of vehicles. There was no shortage of Porsche 356’s – both street and race. Porsches in general, and Mustangs including vintage versions of the Bullit GT350, the GT500, and the Shelby Cobras where the dominant marques. There were also two special Ford Mustangs there, which were used in the pilot of the `Knight Rider’ remake. Not lost among all this fabulous machinery and drawing their share of admirers were my Graphite Gray 1965 Pinanfarina Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce side by side with a 2005 Black Pinanfarina Ferrari Testerossa.

One of the shows major attractions was, Matt Stone and Chad McQueen doing a joint book signing for Matt’s book “McQueen’s Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon” . In addition, thousands of dollars were raised by having a raffle featuring donations from a2z Racer Gear that included a replica of the famous Team Gulf Jacket worn by McQueen in the movie Le Mans, a couple of McQueen Le Mans tribute hats and a laminated version of the famous “2 Finger Poster” and “McQueen Le Mans Movie Poster”.

This event was an first effort by the Porsche 356 Club to put on a Concours of this magnitude and, having attended many hundreds of these events, I can say it was professionally executed and I hope the basis for additional gatherings.