Want a piece of real history? And an incredibly awesome custom-built off-road Chevy pickup truck to boot? Well, then, get yourself over to the Mecum Auctions soon and check this out! The Steve of Steve’s, yeah, Steve McQueen’s 1969 off-road-race-ready Chevy pickup truck is going on the auction block. And it has just over 14,000 miles on the odometer.
This 1969 Chevy pickup, the first factory built, full-sized 4×4 truck ever constructed by Chevrolet for the Baja 1000, was once owned by actor Steve McQueen. It was built by motorsports visionary Vic Hickey, who created vehicles such as the Chevrolet Blazer, the Humvee, the Lunar Rover and the legendary Baja Boot. The Chevy has a C/10 chassis underneath a C/30 one-ton cab, and debuted in the inaugural 1968 Baja 1000. During its racing career, it was driven by racing legends Cliff Coleman, Bud Ekins, Johhny Dias, Mickey Thompson and Chuck Coye.
McQueen bought it in 1970 as a package deal with a group of race cars from General Motors, but then in 1972, the year he and his first wife Neile divorced, McQueen sold most of his cars or found homes for them. He sold the Chevy truck to Joe Metcalf, a Hickey employee. From there the Chevy spent many years as a farm vehicle in Alturas, California, until it was discovered by an off-road enthusiast in the 1990s.
McQueen raced four-wheeled off-road vehicles as well as motorcycles and drove many of Vic Hickey’s specialty vehicles, including the Baja Boot in the 1968 Stardust 7-11 off road race. Hickey once said of the superstar, “Steve McQueen was a good driver, and he was tough, came out of that boys school in Chino.”
Spec’s on the 1968 Hickey-built Chevy include: C/10 chassis with C/30 one-ton cab, 400 Turbo transmission, original Red paint and Lucas spotlight, period correct Chevy small block 350 ci V-8 rebuilt, Quadrajet carburetor on vintage high rise aluminum intake, original Vic Hickey front and rear differential covers, 16-inch wheels, Goodyear R3 A/T tires, custom bungee cord hood-safety-system, glove box features a 1969 Mint 400 dash plaque, sponsor decals faithfully duplicated to the era, running gear has been updated or rebuilt and replaced as necessary, fuel tanks have been reconstructed to Vic Hickey’s design, original Corvette bucket seats have new foam and were reskinned, original Vic Hickey built roll cage system and period correct Motorola CB radio.