Steve McQueen’s 1963 Triumph Bonneville Desert Sled

You remember the scene in The Great Escape when Steve McQueen escaped the Nazi’s by jumping a Triumph over a fence? That was actually McQueen’s friend and stuntman Bud Ekins on the bike. This is important because Ekins would go on to custom build McQueen this 1963 Triumph Bonneville specifically for racing in the desert. The finishing touches on the bike come in the form of a Von Dutch paint job from the man himself. And now, that same bike is up for auction at Bonham’s again. Any ’63 Triumph Bonneville in shape like this would be a fantastic purchase, but one that also has McQueen, Ekins and Kenny Howard (aka Von Dutch) DNA is a piece of history.