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Driving Steve McQueen’s 1957 Jaguar XKSS: A Hollywood Legend’s Machine Reimagined for 2026
Cool. Handsome. Talented. Paranoid. Driven. Mercurial. Idealistic. Straightforward. And, indisputably, sexy. These are but a few of the adjectives used to capture the essence of Terrence Steven McQueen. Even now, nearly 25 years after his passing, the legend of Steve McQueen continues to loom large in the annals of Hollywood history. A troubled youth, marked by dyslexia and periods of homelessness, he ultimately found his calling on both the stage and the silver screen, emerging as one of the most complex and captivating figures of his generation.
McQueen’s life was a study in contrasts: he could exhibit profound kindness one moment and a volatile, almost menacing spirit the next. He possessed a wickedly sharp sense of humor that often bordered on the macabre, yet he was also a relentless perfectionist, a man’s man, and a notorious ladies’ man. His complicated personal life and wildly successful career mirrored the very essence of theater itself: a seamless blend of comedy and tragedy. With his piercing blue gaze and smoldering, moody intensity, he magnetized everyone he encountered, whether in person or through the magic of cinema. His gritty, authentic sex appeal cemented his status as a bona fide movie star in life and has ensured his immortality as a Hollywood icon ever since his untimely death.
Steve McQueen, alongside contemporaries like Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and James Garner, defined the archetypal macho American actor for decades. Faye Dunaway, one of his many co-stars, once famously quipped, “He’s the misunderstood bad boy you’re sure you can cure with a little warmth and some home cooking.” This sentiment perfectly encapsulates the enduring allure of the McQueen persona.
The King of Cool and His Machines
One need not be a film critic like Roger Ebert or Gene Siskel to notice the conspicuous presence of cars and motorcycles in McQueen’s films. His passion for all things mechanical was not merely a plot device; it was a genuine, elemental force in his life. We remember his iconic motorcycle escapades in The Great Escape, his almost symbiotic relationship with a ship’s steam engine in The Sand Pebbles, and the custom dune buggy he helmed in the original The Thomas Crown Affair. His starring role in the cult motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday further cemented his credentials.
However, two cinematic masterpieces stand out as the ultimate testaments to Steve McQueen’s automotive passion: Bullitt (1968) and Le Mans (1971). No car enthusiast worth their driver’s license can forget the legendary San Francisco chase scene in Bullitt, where Lieutenant Frank Bullitt’s grumbling green Mustang fastback evades two ruthless pursuers in a black Dodge Charger. Fans have dissected this sequence down to the smallest detail, and McQueen himself drove the Mustang in nearly all the most demanding action sequences.
Le Mans was a deeply personal project for McQueen, offering an unfiltered look into his true passion for motorsport. He envisioned a film that would capture the raw emotion and physical toll of endurance racing with unparalleled realism. This vision necessitated filming on location at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, with McQueen at the helm of a Gulf-liveried Porsche 917 for the majority of the shoot. The production itself was famously tumultuous—it ran drastically over budget, underwent multiple director changes, and coincided with the unraveling of McQueen’s marriage to his first wife, Neile. Yet, much like Bullitt, Le Mans has endured as an undisputed classic for car aficionados. It is also the source of one of McQueen’s most enduring quotes: “Racing is life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.”
It is clear that Steve McQueen possessed considerable driving talent. While he may not have had the pedigree to compete at the absolute pinnacle of motorsport, he, much like Paul Newman, possessed the skill to have forged a legitimate career as a journeyman sports car racer had he chosen that path.
A prime example of his competitive spirit was his participation in the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring. Teaming up with Peter Revson in a potent, albeit slightly dated, Porsche 908/2, McQueen demonstrated his mettle. When the newer Porsche 917s faltered due to mechanical issues, the smaller 908 soldiered on, methodically climbing the leaderboard as the hours wore on. It ultimately took a breathtaking drive from Mario Andretti in a faster Ferrari 512 to catch and overtake the Revson/McQueen pairing, resulting in one of the closest finishes in Sebring history. Revson and McQueen crossed the line in a hard-earned second place overall—a remarkable achievement considering Steve was competing with one foot in a cast, the result of a recent motorcycle accident.
From Le Mans Legend to Street Machine
McQueen’s earliest automotive forays involved MGs, but as his career blossomed and his bank account swelled, so did the sophistication of his garage. He soon acquired a Lotus 11, a 289 Cobra, Ferraris, Porsches, and Packards. By the time of his passing, he had amassed dozens of cars, over 100 motorcycles, and several aircraft. Among these treasures was a truly extraordinary vehicle: a 1957 Jaguar XKSS, bearing chassis number XK.SS.713.
To understand the significance of the XKSS, one must first appreciate Jaguar’s dominance in the racing world during the 1950s. Ferrari was already a formidable force, and on any given day, Aston Martin and Maserati could challenge for the lead. Porsche’s star was also on the rise, but it was Coventry’s sleek, reliable, and achingly beautiful XK120Ms, C-Types, and D-Types that commanded so many sports car and endurance races. The Jaguar marque claimed victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans an astounding five times during that decade, including an unprecedented hat-trick in 1955, 1956, and 1957—though the latter two victories were secured by the privateer Ecurie Ecosse team. Beyond Le Mans, Jaguars racked up countless victories in professional and amateur races across Europe and the United States.
The D-Type, in particular, stands as one of the definitive front-engine sports racing cars of its era. It also served as the direct design and engineering inspiration for the legendary E-Type that would debut in 1961. The D-Type was a marvel of engineering for its time: sophisticated yet refreshingly straightforward, powered by Jaguar’s already legendary XK DOHC inline-six engine. Developed in the late 1952 and 1953 and campaigned by the factory team from 1954 to 1956, the D-Type featured a unique chassis architecture that evolved throughout the car’s production life. The area aft of the firewall was constructed as a unitary monocoque tub, while the section forward of it comprised a tubular space frame housing the engine, front suspension, and an aluminum front-hinged hood. It is a rare breed of race car that manages to be both brutally effective and breathtakingly beautiful—and the D-Type was exactly that. Its sensual form was the brainchild of Jaguar designer and aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer and the company’s visionary founder, Sir William Lyons.
Steering was managed through a precise rack-and-pinion system, while Dunlop supplied the state-of-the-art disc brakes and handsome alloy knock-off wheels. The suspension was conventional for the period, employing upper and lower wishbones with torsion bars at the front and a robust live axle with trailing links at the rear. The majority of factory D-Types were equipped with 3.4-liter XK engines featuring a trio of side-draft Weber carburetors and dry-sump lubrication. Early models were factory-rated at approximately 250 horsepower, mated to Jaguar’s own all-synchromesh four-speed transmission.
Unsurprisingly, the D-Type evolved during its racing tenure. Jaguar introduced “long-nose” and “short-nose” aerodynamic configurations, increased power outputs, and most notably, added a prominent stabilizing fin to the rear deck to enhance high-speed straight-line stability. It is also a surprisingly compact machine; at just 154 inches long, a D-Type is actually shorter than a modern-day Mazda Miata.
Jaguar built D-Types for its own factory racing efforts and produced “customer cars” for privateer teams. In total, 67 such D-Types were constructed (excluding the factory’s dedicated racers), and they continued to compete well into the early 1960s. However, by the time Jaguar withdrew from factory racing after the 1956 season, the car was beginning to show its age against newer competition. For the 1958 sports car racing season, a 3.0-liter engine displacement limit was imposed, which naturally hampered the D-Type’s performance. Ferrari’s Testa Rossa was significantly more powerful, and the factory Aston Martins were quicker as well. Jaguar found itself with 25 customer D-Types on its hands—and a distinct lack of buyers.
The genesis of the XKSS concept is somewhat murky, but the solution was brilliant in its simplicity. Jaguar decided to convert these unsold race cars into street-legal, limited-edition grand tourers. A full-width windscreen was fitted to the front, and a rather rudimentary luggage rack was grafted onto the rear deck, replacing the dorsal fin.
