After a first visit to the 1969 24 Hours for location scouting, Steve McQueen returned to Le Mans in 1970 to make a dream come true: film a movie dedicated to his passion for auto racing. He served as both producer and star…and he would have been a driver, sharing the wheel of a Porsche 917 with Jackie Stewart, had his insurance company not opposed it.

To portray the atmosphere of the race as authentically as possible, production mobilised about 20 racing cars (Porsche 911, 908 and 917, Lola T70, Chevron, Corvette, Ferrari, Matra, Alfa Romeo) and 41 drivers. Among them were six previous and future winners of the 24 Hours, namely Masten Gregory, Jacky Ickx, Richard Attwood, Gérard Larrousse, Jürgen Barth and Derek Bell. Since crowned the winningest British citizen at the race with five victories, Bell participed in the film after his rookie 24 Hours. Derek Bell: "I got to know Steve really well, we shared a house together during the movie shooting. And after that I saw him twice in Hollywood, and even three weeks before he died (Steve McQueen passed away on 7 November 1980, Ed.). Whatever they could write about him, Steve really was a decent guy. He loved girls, he loved fun, he loved motor racing, and he also loved to be on the guardrails talking with us. He was 40 at the time of the shooting of the 'Le Mans' movie. I was 29 in 1970 and started racing five years before, so I think he could have made it as a racing driver if he had started earlier. At that time I also think we did not realize how good he was."

A seven-time 24 Hours winner was also present in a manner of speaking: Dutch driver Jan Lammers. Only 13 years old at the time, he described himself as a jack of all trades at the Zandvoort circuit; and driving school manager Rob Slotemaker was given a special task on the set: Jan Lammers: "Steve McQueen hired Rob to do all the spins in the race scenes. Rob took me along and I made a skidding demonstration for Steve McQueen, who gave me an autographed picture." An expert in endurance races of the era, Brit David Piper describes major technical difficulties during filming and thereafter until 10 November: "At the end of each day of filming, we headed to the Solar Village (the administrative and logistical headquarters of McQueen's production company set up near the Houx campground, Ed.) to look at the daily rushes. The most challenging thing was editing the scenes we had filmed and the ones of Solar's Porsche 908 during the real race, especially in terms of lighting and sun position. It was impossible to do it any other way and show the grandstands full and capture the ambiance of the race." Piper's memories of McQueen echo those of five-time 24 Hours winner Derek Bell: "Steve was very close to us during the filming, he talked about the handling of cars and technical things. We filmed during the week and were free the weekend to compete in our own programmes. Steve McQueen had chartered a special plane to take us to the circuits where we were to race."

After director John Sturges was replaced by Lee H. Katzin, filming wrapped two months behind schedule, Le Mans was given a tepid reception upon its release in 1971, but has since become a cult classic over the years. David Piper: "You see all of the wonderful cars and drivers of that time. The racing sequences were filmed at real speed, which makes it one of the most important motorsport movies in history." Though films like Grand Prix, Virages and Le Mans came out in the 1970s, auto racing movies on the big screen became a rare occurence. In 2013, the success of Rush, Ron Howard's film about the James Hunt-Niki Lauda duel in Formula 1 in 1976, led to more motorsport films such as Le Mans '66 (Ford v Ferrari) released last year.

PHOTO (Copyright - ACO/ARCHIVES): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 13-14 JUNE 1970. Driven by Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams, the Porsche 908 fielded by Solar, Steve McQueen's production company, was outfitted with three cameras that required modifications to the car's body (with visible bumps as seen in the photo). Three months before the 24 Hours, it had finished second at the 12 Hours of Sebring thanks to Steve McQueen and Peter Revson, without any cameras and painted entirely white.