STEVE McQUEEN'S ICONS REUNITED

For many of the 2,500 guests at last night's McCall's Motorworks Revival party, possibly the real highlight of the event was the bringing together of two icons from the collection of the late, great Steve McQueen, courtesy of Jaguar, writes Richard Beattie, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Jaguar North America.

Not since the death of the Hollywood 'King of Cool' has the actor's much‑loved 1957 Jaguar XKSS been parked alongside his other true love, a 1945 Boeing PT‑17 Stearman biplane.

When Jaguar started forming its plans to re‑unite 12 of the 16 XKSS's for a once‑in‑a‑lifetime display at Sunday's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, including McQueen's car that's now owned by the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, I made a phone call.

My good friend, Bill Allen, who founded Allen Airways Flying Museum in San Diego, had acquired the McQueen Stearman in 1999 and has spent years lovingly restoring it to better‑than‑new condition.

Given the Jet Center even''s theme of amazing automobiles and aircraft, we agreed it was the right time to bring car and plane together. Bill was delighted to fly the Stearman up to Monterey from San Diego.

As an enthusiastic pilot myself and a lover of the XKSS, especially the dark green Steve McQueen car with all its Hollywood history, I did what I suspect so many McCall guests did last night ‑ day‑dreamed for a little while, asking myself, which one would I want to take home tonight? Tough choice.