My Steve McQueen 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross

Purchased by Steve McQueen on Feb 9, 1970

We are now 99% sure it is the 98 bike he raced
at Lake Elsinore as seen in “On Any Sunday” film.

What documents do I have for Steve McQueens 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross?

The first document is the manufactures certificate of origin showing frame number, engine number and
the purchaser as Solar Productions. Solar Production company was owned by Steve McQueen.
Document is signed by Husqvarna importer Edison Dye. All numbers match the bike.

The second document is the actual invoice with frame number and purchaser Solar Productions. I am
told most of his bikes in this time frame were purchased through Solar Productions. Solar Productions
funded the famous Academy Award nominated film “On Any Sunday” .

There is some video evidence. The next time you watch “On Any Sunday” film, watch carefully the scene
where Steve is on the 98 bike racing down the street in Elsinore. As he gets close to the camera you
can see a compression release lever on the left side of the handle bars. A compression release needed a
second plug hole in the cylinder head that had to be machined into the head. This bike has a modified cylinder head
with second spark plug hole. Photo from the film is below.

I added a photo below of McQueen’s invoice for the 1970 Husky 250 that Steve used at Lake Elsinore. It shows
the same date as my 400 cross. You can see that both invoices were ripped with the upper corners
showing a almost perfect overlay. There were only twenty five 1970 250’s in USA prior to the Lake Elsinore
race. Only one was purchased by Solar Productions. We could produce names of other twenty four buyers.

I spoke with Mario Iscovich who was Steve’s right hand man at the time. Mario remembers when both bikes
were delivered.

Right now this is the final proof that this 400 is the same one used by Steve at Lake Elsinore as seen in
the “On Any Sunday” film.

You will see a photo below of a 1960 Linclon head penny in a plastic case. Why a penny?
I had Hall of Famer Marty Tripes http://www.martytripesvintage.com/
delicately clean the McQueen bike and get it running prior to putting it in the San Diego Automotive Muesum.
While the engine was out of the bike Marty noticed a piece of plastic stuffed in the chassis.
Turns out it was this penny. The date on the penny is the same year Chad McQueen was born.

I wonder if it was placed there by Steve as a good luck charm?

There is a more complete writeup at McQueenonline.com http://www.mcqueenonline.com/lostmotorcyclediscovered.htm

Many thanks to Don Ince of Vintage Viking http://vintageviking.com/
Vintage Viking has a extensive collection of documents from Husqvarna importer Edison Dye of
Med International from original invoices, to canceled checks for some of the biggest stars in motocross
history. Don is uncovering famous documents almost everyday. Visit his website and see what he has.
Only a small amount is on his website so do ask him whats new and available. His ebay store is also another place to visit.