Considered to be one of the most famous movie cars ever seen on screen, the Ford Mustang GT hero car from the 1968 film ‘Bullitt’ has a new owner after a high-profile sale. 

Bidding was intense at the Mecum Kissimmee auction, with huge speculation in advance as to what the car could achieve. The final sale price was an amazing $3.4 million (£2.6 million).

The no reserve auction began at $3,500 – the amount the car was originally bought for in the 1970s – but climbed rapidly, with a $1 million bid within seconds.

Steve McQueen is reported to have deliberately picked the Mustang GT as the car driver by his character in the film, and undertook much of the stunt driving during the epic ten minute-long car chase scene.

Two Mustang GT Fastbacks in Highland Green were ordered for the film, with chassis number ‘559 the one used most by McQueen as the hero car. That was the car up for auction in Kissimmee. 

After filming, chassis ‘559 changed hands several times, before being bought by the late Robert Kiernan of New Jersey.

Despite the famous past, the Kiernan family used the ‘Bullitt’ Mustang as their sole daily driver from purchasing it in 1974, up until the early 1980s, when it was laid up. Robert Kiernan even turned down an offer from Steve McQueen himself to buy the car back.

Whilst Mustang enthusiasts hunted for the ‘lost’ Mustang, the Kiernans kept it hidden away until choosing to reveal it to the world to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the film. By then the car was still in original unrestored condition. 

The car’s role in Bullitt, the association with Steve McQueen, and the secret story behind its whereabouts made it an obvious contender for inclusion on Historic Vehicle Register. It also contributed to the huge speculation about how much it would achieve at auction.

Putting the Bullitt Mustang up for sale has been a tough decision for the Kiernan family with Robert’s son, Scott, appearing in person to start the bidding in Kissimmee. The impressive sale price will certainly help, as will seeing the ‘Stang attract major media attention. 

Most significantly the car that even the ‘King of Cool’ himself drove, but could not buy, has finally been sold at auction. With the 10% buyers’ fees added on, the new owner, named Frank, will have paid out a total of $3.74 million for the car. 

Whether the new owner plans to restore the Bullitt Mustang, or leave it as kept by the Kiernans, will remain to be seen. 

As a driver, it’s sometimes difficult not to be annoyed by the habits of other road users. Indeed, research reveals 80 percent of us admit to feeling road rage. So what winds us up the most?

Click4Reg conducted a survey to discover just that, and the results are interesting. Middle-lane hogging, sudden braking and a lack of courtesy rank towards the bottom of the top 10, with less than 20 percent of respondents finding these habits annoying.

From seventh to fifth on the list, things climb more steeply. Speeding (25 percent), bad parking (26 percent) and last-minute merging/lane switching (32 percent) annoy rather more respondents.

The top four sees a jump to 40 percent and above. Tailgating riles up 40 percent of us. Slow driving, at 10mph below the speed limit or more, is a trigger for 41 percent. 

Leaving your full beam headlights on (52 percent) comes second. Taking the lead, however, is failing to indicate (55 percent). 

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Incredibly, in spite of drivers being vocal about what annoys us on the road, we are self-confessed hypocrites. In total, 87 percent of the 1,023 respondents to the survey admitted committing at least one of the most annoying offences. 

Of the top 10, speeding, bad parking and not indicating were the most admitted-to. Splitting the genders, 39 percent of women said bad parking was their worst driving habit, while 43 percent of men said theirs was speeding. 

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So, which drivers do we find the most annoying? Taxis, motorcycles, young females, buses, vans, coaches and emergency vehicles all attract the ire of less than 20 percent. The top three, however – lorry drivers, young males and the elderly – are disdained by many drivers. 

Women are the most annoyed by lorry drivers, with 34 percent having them on their list. Young males catch much more grief than young females, in spite of both posing a high risk.

Annoyance with older drivers is suspected to correlate with their tendency to drive more slowly. 

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The new Toyota GR Yaris is a custom-built high-performance hot hatch that will be virtually hand-built in low numbers to help deliver more WRC competition success – reviving the idea of the rally-inspired ‘homologation special’.

A bespoke three-door version of the upcoming new Toyota supermini, the GR Yaris is a genuinely exotic machine, much more customised than regular hot hatchbacks such as the Ford Fiesta ST.

It has been created by Toyota Gazoo Racing and World Rally Championship team Tommi Makinen Racing.

And Toyota says it doesn’t only help homologate the next Yaris WRC car, it can also serve as a competition car for owners in local rally competitions.

The remarkable new Yaris GR will launch in the second half of 2020: prices are to be confirmed, but it’s such a specialised machine, don’t expect them to be cheap…

Bespoke body

The regular new Toyota Yaris is a five-door. The GR Yaris is a three-door, with a unique body and a roof lowered by 91 mm. It even has frameless doors, just like a coupe.

Special lightweight materials are used for the body, including aluminium doors, bonnet and tailgate. It also has a carbon fibre roof.

Toyota says this gives an impressive power-to-weight ratio – helped by the unique 1.6-litre turbo three-cylinder engine’s potent 257 bhp output.

The firm estimates 0-62 mph in under 5.5 seconds, and a top speed electronically limited to 143 mph.

The GR Yaris even has four-wheel drive. The GR-Four system is described as simple and lightweight – and can be further enhanced with two optional Torsen limited-slip differentials for “natural and direct car control”.

Toyota says the system can theoretically switch from full front-wheel drive to full rear-wheel drive, and a button on the dash adjusts the system’s bias (max rear bias is stated as 70 percent). The rally team – and the drivers – are going to love it.

Circuit-ready

Such exotic mechanic tech calls for more bespoke underpinnings than the regular Yaris. While the front end is pure new Yaris, the rear is actually taken from the British-built Corolla.

It allows Toyota to turn the Yaris supermini into a four-wheel drive performance car, and also lets it fit high-end double wishbone rear suspension. Needless to say, the brakes are uprated too, with 356 mm four-piston front discs.

Toyota is offering an optional ‘Circuit Pack’ with the new GR Yaris. This includes the Torsen limited-slip differentials for the front and rear wheels, plus a sharper performance tune for the suspension and lightweight 18-inch forged alloy wheels with high-performance Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres.

The car will be built on a special line in Japan (the regular Yaris is made in France), using “a large number of manual processes” by a specialist team.

The production hub in Motomachi is a new division dedicated to low-volume Toyota GR performance cars.

Toyota follows a rich tradition with the rally-ready new GR Yaris. Iconic models such as the Audi Sport Quattro were built simply to go rallying: it is already a sure-fire collectable and we await its launch with relish as potentially one of the most exciting real-world performance cars of 2020.