Steve McQueen: King of Cool; Triumph Rider

Racing motorcycles long before he rose to fame as one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Steve McQueen is synonymous with cool.  And Triumph Motorcycles.


McQueen's first off-road motorcycle was a Triumph, which quickly become his moto of choice.  In the 1963 film, Great Escape, McQueen insisted on riding a Triumph TR6.  He raced in top off-road West Coast contests such as the Baja 1000, the Mint 400 and the Elsinore Grand Prix, and represented the United States in the International Six Days Trial on a Triumph TR6 Trophy.

In 1963, Life Magazine sent photographer, John Dominis, to California to photograph the actor.  Three weeks, 40 rolls of film, and one 500-mile, two-day dirt bike race across the Mojave Desert later, Dominis had a trove of candid photographs of McQueen in his own element.

Few of these photos were ever published.  However, Time recently released a number of them online.  To catch a glimpse of the King of Cool:  Steve McQueen: Unpublished Photos

Cheers!