Starring Steve McQueen as ace driver Michael Delaney, the 1971 film Le Mans tells the story of a fictional 24 Hours of Le Mans, with footage of the actual Le Mans race captured in June 1970. With such a unique subject matter and tonnes of genuine race footage, the film quickly became a cult-classic must-watch for motorsports enthusiasts.

A recent auction in Germany has featured one of the crash helmets used for filming Le Mans, offering the public a chance to get hold of this rare piece of history. The helmet was created for the character Johann Ritter (played by Swiss actor Fred Haltiner), who was a fellow Team Porsche driver along with McQueen’s character, and included in the auction lot is photo evidence of McQueen wearing this helmet, just in case bidders would like to be sure of the involvement of the King of Cool himself.

This 1968 full-face Bell TopTex helmet is said to be a recreation of the design worn by Pedro Rodriguez, whom McQueen was greatly respected for his abilities behind the wheel. As if that’s not special enough, there are a total of 13 signatures on the helmet. While McQueen’s autograph doesn’t feature, many motorsport legends do. These include Jackie Ickx, Hans Herrmann, Herbert Linge, Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, as well as actors Luc Merenda and Siegfried Rauch. The helmet is sold with a pair of original gloves to complete the set. More info can be found on the LiveAuctioneers page.