The Incredible Story Of How The Mustang From Bullitt Was Found

Classic muscle cars symbolize an era of both motoring and American history when precision engineering, handling, and fuel efficiency weren't considerations. Instead, it was all about raw engine power and a profile to match — the kind of appearance that immediately makes a person's adrenal glands go into overdrive. But there's even more to it than that. 

The truly iconic muscle cars had a pedigree few other vehicles can match. The 1969 Dodge Charger immediately conjures images of "them Duke Boys" running from the law with a trunk full of moonshine. The 1977 Pontiac Trans Am makes you picture Burt Reynolds distracting law enforcement while a truck full of beer races toward Georgia. As far as muscle cars go, the 1968 Mustang is the undisputed daddy. The car featured prominently in "Bullitt" and was involved in what many people believe is the greatest car chase in cinematic history. It's enough to make Tom Cruise hang up his car keys and retire.

The 1968 Mustang is highly sought-after on its own, but the two driven by Steve McQueen in "Bullitt" are the Holy Grails of muscle cars. Yet, after filming, both dropped off the map for decades. One, utterly wrecked during filming, seemingly met its end in a junkyard shortly after the shoot concluded. The other ended up in the hands of a private collector. That collector clung to it for a long time, even when McQueen himself came knocking for "his" car. Eventually, though, it disappeared as well.

Steve McQueen's roles included Vin Tanner in "The Magnificent Seven," Captain Virgil Hilts in "The Great Escape," and Thomas Crown in "The Thomas Crown Affair." He also played Lt. Frank Bullitt in 1968's "Bullitt" — a role that defined him as an actor and secured the Mustang's spot as the most iconic vehicle from the golden age of muscle cars. 

McQueen was a true petrolhead. Before he made his on-screen debut, he made his living racing cars. After he'd established himself as an actor, he would star in "Le Mans," a film based around a fictionalized run of one of the world's most famous races. This combination of a lifelong passion and his iconic roles might be what made McQueen seek out the green 'Stang he drove in "Bullitt." He found it, but unfortunately, it never made it to his driveway.

McQueen tracked down the famous Mustang and made several offers to buy it. By 1977, a frustrated McQueen made one final bid via a letter which he opened with, "Again, I would like to appeal to you to get back my '68 Mustang." McQueen expressed a desire to keep the car in the condition it was after filming and offered to find the owner, Robert Kiernan, a similar car, "if there is not too much monies involved in it." McQueen, who died three years later, was unsuccessful, and "his" Mustang went on a journey of its own (via Hagerty).

Despite Robert Kiernan's reluctance to return the Mustang to the man who made it famous, the car wasn't well looked after. Kiernan was the car's third owner. It was originally in the hands of a Warner Brothers employee who used it as a daily driver before being sold to a man from New Jersey who also owned it for everyday use, according to Hagerty.

Kiernan then got his hands on the car and was attached enough to turn down Steve McQueen's offers. Kiernan eventually got his hands on a company car, so the Mustang became his wife's vehicle. A few years later, the clutch went and the car was simply left in the garage. There it stayed until the Kiernans moved, and the 'Stang went with them, where it just sat in a different garage.

Kiernan and his son Sean did attempt repairing the old muscle car in 2001, but it wasn't to be. The plan was to make it drivable while leaving all of the "history" in place. They disassembled the car, but the project fell by the wayside when Sean started a family and Robert was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. So, the Mustang remained unrepaired and was in several pieces. Before he died, Robert did get another chance to annoy the people of Hollywood. The producers of 2000's "Charlie's Angels" asked to use the car in their movie and were turned away.

Robert Kiernan passed away in 2014. By then, very few people knew of the Mustang's whereabouts. The last time it had been talked about in public was in a 1990 issue of Mustang Illustrated, which included Steve McQueen's letter to Kiernan. Kiernan remained anonymous, and the magazine simply said the car was, "somewhere on the East Coast." 

It would remain lost until Sean Kiernan revealed the car's location to his boss, Casey Wallace, after discussing Wallace's idea for a movie involving someone finding the missing "Bullitt" Mustang (per Hagerty). The next day, Sean, who had been wondering what to do with the car, was meeting with the movie's proposed director, Ken Horstmann.

Sean carefully reassembled the car, which was still not running, and moved it to Horstmann's home. The plan was to stage a private showing of the vehicle, which would hopefully get investors to put forward the $15 million they estimated the movie would cost. An expert was brought in to certify the car, and he marveled at how, "98% of [it]," was still there. The team set about raising funds, which included plans to display the car. Ford, which was about to launch the 2018 Mustang Bullitt, jumped at the chance to get involved. Unfortunately, the movie would never be made. Sean eventually sold it in 2020 for $3.74 million (via Insider). Amazingly, it wasn't the only "Bullitt" Mustang around at the time.

The story of the "Bullitt" Mustang has many twists and turns. None are more surprising than what happened right before Sean Kiernan and crew revealed theirs to the world. Remember how there were two Mustangs used in filming?

The other car was responsible for pulling off the most demanding stunts in the movie and wasn't in great shape when filming wrapped. It had long been assumed this second 'Stang met its fate in a crusher shortly after the movie was finished. But that wasn't the case. Like its brother, the second Mustang had also dropped off the radar, but it suddenly re-emerged in 2017, according to Hagerty.

We don't know exactly what happened between the second Mustang being shipped to a junkyard and its seemingly miraculous emergence decades later, but at some point along the way it ended up in Mexico (via Motor Authority). It lost most of its parts, its original green paint was long gone, and it sat degrading in a Baja California junkyard for an unknown amount of time. Eventually, a man named Hugo Sanchez bought the car and a second Mustang for $5,000 with the aim of turning them both into a single replica of the car from "Gone in 60 Seconds." The car's VIN number was all that stopped it from becoming spare parts. Further investigation revealed it was one of the two cars used in "Bullitt."