‘Bullitt’ Mustang makes history
Car fetches $3.74M at auction, making it most expensive Mustang ever sold.
The iconic Highland Green 1968 Mustang GT that once made history for its appearance in the film “Bullitt” is now making history again. It fetched $3.74 million Friday at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction, making it the most expensive Mustang ever sold.
It surpassed the previous record held by a 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake that sold for $2.2 million at the 2019 Mecum Kissimmee auction.
An estimated 25,000 spectators packed into a standing-room-only Silver Spurs Arena as owner Sean Kiernan, with his sister Kelly Cotton riding shotgun, drove the car across the auction block. Before the bidding started, Kiernan said a few words about the famous Mustang while flanked by friends and family.
“This car had sold twice in its life, it’s been in my family for 45 years. Each time it has sold, it was $3,500,” he said to an enthusiastic crowd. “So we’re going to start it off at that price and go from there.”
The asking price quickly escalated to $3 million in the first minute of frenzied bidding, as auctioneer Matt Moravec stood on top of the auction podium, towering above the crowd.
In the minutes to follow, the top bid traded places between someone present and a bidder on the phone. After about seven minutes of “Bullitt” bids, the person on the other end of the telephone became the lucky buyer, paying $3.74 million with the 10 percent buyer’s premium.
The storied Mustang draws its significance in part from the fact that it was hidden away from public view for decades, privately owned by a family. Robert Kiernan of Madison, N.J., had always wanted a 1968 Mustang fastback and picked up the car after seeing an ad in a 1974 issue of “Road & Track.”
Later in the ’70s, McQueen tracked down the Kiernan family — who used it as a daily commuter until the clutch gave out in 1980 — and sent letters asking if he could reclaim the muscle car in return for a similar Mustang. His pleas went unanswered. The car didn’t get much attention until 2001 when Robert and his son Sean worked to get the Mustang into drivable condition again. After Robert’s death in 2014, Sean found a renewed purpose in finishing the car and finally revealing it to the world.
“It was huge for me and my father. I felt that, and I felt dad with me all the time,” Sean said. “I’ll miss her. My whole family will be here; we’ll all be crying. I don’t know my life without this car.”
Following the Mustang’s sale, Sean said he doesn’t think a more expensive Mustang will ever be sold.
“As far as Mustangs go, this is it. With dad being down in the record books forever, that’s what matters to me,” he said. “I’ve been at peace with the sale for probably eight months now. We’re just having fun with this.”
Sean said he has met with many of the car’s prospective buyers before the auction and thinks he knows who the new owner is, but he isn’t 100 percent sure. Regardless, Sean’s life will become a bit quieter now, and the money from this auction will help fund his next project.
“I’m going to build another ’68 fastback, one that no one cares about,” he said.