The event is scheduled to take place at the Javits Center in New York on November 20 and 21, 2026. For the very first North American edition of the Rétromobile show, the auction house Gooding Christie’s is preparing to auction a car that embodies the history of California culture and Italian engineering: the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4*S N.A.R.T. Spider, formerly owned by Steve McQueen. This chassis, bearing the number 10453, is not only one of the rarest cars produced by the Maranello-based manufacturer; it is a direct testament to the aesthetic standards of an actor who, away from film sets, drove his own cars with professional precision.
An absolute rarity born of Luigi Chinetti’s ambition
To understand the uniqueness of this model, we must go back to the origins of the N.A.R.T. (North American Racing Team) project. In the late 1960s, Luigi Chinetti, Ferrari’s exclusive importer in the United States, convinced Enzo Ferrari to produce a convertible version of the 275 GTB/4. His intuition was to meet the growing demand for high-performance convertibles in the American market. The result was a limited production run: only ten examples would roll off the assembly line. Chassis 10453 is the sixth in this limited series.
Designed by the Pininfarina studio and built by the coachbuilder Scaglietti, the car is powered by a 3.3-liter Colombo V12 engine with four overhead camshafts. This powertrain, combined with a “matching numbers” configuration (original engine and transmission), delivers raw power through a transaxle layout. Right out of the factory, this example already stood out for its paint scheme: it was the first of only two N.A.R.T. Spiders to leave Maranello in Blu Sera (evening blue).
Steve McQueen’s Personal Touch
The history of this chassis is intertwined with that of Steve McQueen in the fall of 1967. The order, placed through Luigi Chinetti Motors, was delivered to the actor via the Hollywood Sport Cars dealership in Los Angeles. McQueen, who had just discovered the model while filming *The Thomas Crown Affair* (in which he drove a yellow example, chassis 10749), wanted to make this convertible his personal car. However, the actor was not satisfied with the standard specifications.
Shortly after taking delivery, he decided to customize the vehicle. The body was repainted in a metallic blue darker than the original Blu Sera. Inside, the upholstery was completely redone with a custom stitching pattern, along with bespoke cosmetic adjustments. These modifications, driven by McQueen’s taste for a more understated and technical elegance, are still present on the car today. The vehicle’s history also mentions an accident that occurred on the Pacific Coast Highway in California. McQueen entrusted the repairs to Junior Conway, a renowned West Coast body shop owner, thereby ensuring the structural integrity of the car without altering the spirit of the original project.
Four Decades in the Same Collection
After belonging to McQueen, the Ferrari changed hands in 1971 and found its way into the garage of J. David Kopf, a resident of Tujunga, California. But it was in 1986 that the car’s fate was permanently sealed. Purchased through the Grand Prix SSR dealership on Long Island, it became part of a private collection where it remained safeguarded for forty years. This stability is a key factor for collectors: the car has never been restored in the modern sense of the term. It retains its authentic patina, the metallic blue paint chosen by McQueen, and its custom interior, reflecting a state of preservation that is rare for a car of this era.
Despite this low profile, chassis 10453 has made a few notable public appearances, notably at the Louis Vuitton Classic at New York’s Rockefeller Center in 1996, and then in 2003 as part of the exhibition “La Bella Macchina: The Art of Ferrari” at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Virginia.
A Major Financial Opportunity in New York
Its sale by Gooding & Christie’s in November 2026 marks the very first time this chassis has been offered at a public auction. The official estimate, set in September 2026, ranges from $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 USD (approximately 13.4 to 17.9 million euros). This figure illustrates the meteoric rise in the value of N.A.R.T. Spider models, which Steve McQueen originally purchased in 1967 for approximately $15,000 USD, according to records from that time.
The anticipation surrounding this auction rests on several key factors: the model’s intrinsic rarity (1 out of 10), the prestige of its McQueen provenance, and its unrestored condition. In New York, bidders will be competing not only for an exceptional machine, but for a piece of 20th-century history, captured in the metallic blue of a man who viewed speed as an art form.