EX-Steve McQueen Scott Flying Squirrel sidecar outfit up for sale
Owned by McQueen until he passed away, the Scott Flying Squirrel is one of the more unusual machines the movie star and racer owned.
It seems like every week a new two-wheeled marvel, formerly owned by Steve McQueen, emerges from the woodwork. For the most part, they tend to be Brit-built singles and twins, with a significant number being off-road scramblers and desert racers.
This bike is different. The Scott Flying Squirrel might be British-built, introduced in the 1920s, although it’s a very different kind of machine we usually see from the late icon’s collection. For starters, this is a proper vintage machine, having built in 1937 or ‘38. The second thing that marks it out as interesting is the sidecar outfit.
McQueen passed away in 1980, and the Flying Squirrel and its sidecar were apparently restored while the machine was still in his ownership. Remaining in his ownership till his death, the bike was then subsequently sold through the McQueen estate auction in Las Vegas in 1984.
It then found its way back into private ownership, and is now being offered through Bring a Trailer by a dealer in Newbury Park, California. The outfit is powered by Scott’s 498cc liquid-cooled two-stroke parallel-twin, a long-stroke ‘Power Plus’ engine lifted from the company’s sports models. It uses a thermosiphon radiator, Amal pre-Monobloc carburettor, Pilgrim oil pump and Lucas magneto, with the engine driving through a three-speed gearbox. The chassis is just as interesting, with a triangulated open frame, Webb girder fork, double-sprung solo seat and 19-inch wire wheels, while the matching sidecar gets its own leaf-spring chassis, single seat, side door and a surprisingly useful boot compartment.
At the time of writing, bidding has reached $31,000, or roughly £24,000, with the auction due to end today. Along with the bike and sidecar, the winning bidder gets the rather important piece of paperwork proving its provenance: a McQueen certificate of authenticity from the 1984 estate auction, signed by his son and daughter. There is also historical correspondence and a 1990 UK import document, although the paperwork comes with the odd wrinkle, as the Missouri title describes the machine as a 1929 model despite the listing dating it to late 1937 or early 1938.
You can check out the listing for yourself on the official website.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
