Steve McQueen was an avid off-road motorcycle enthusiast who often registered for races under the nom de guerre of "Harvey Mushman" in hopes of avoiding any headaches or backlash from the film industry folks. Which is, honestly, pretty cool.
The film star turned desert racer was introduced to the Husqvarna brand by Malcolm Smith, who himself was already a legend following his involvement in Bruce Brown’s iconic 1971 film, ‘On Any Sunday.’ And McQueen rode a two-stroke Husky in that film, too, a larger-bore 400 Cross to be exact; however, his stable of bikes also included multiple 250 Cross models, one of which is going up for auction, with no reserve.
Like many of McQueen’s motorcycles, he bought this 1972 Husqvarna 250cc Motocrosser through his film company Solar Productions, the same company that help to fund Bruce Brown’s film, which looked to showcase motorcycling in a more positive light, counter to the contemporary media narrative that depicted motorcyclists as the switch-blade carrying, patched-in outlaw biker club types (see: The Wild One, or Easy Rider).
Along with Malcolm Smith and the success of ‘On Any Sunday,’ McQueen was instrumental in popularizing Husqvarna motorcycles in the United States. Prior feelings were that these lightweight Scandinavian machines would never survive the rigors of high-speed desert riding. In the early 1960s, most off-road racing motorcycles were essentially road-going bikes that had been modified to ride and race off-road. They were, notably, very heavy, but skilled riders could still muscle them across the desert landscape.
To prove the might of the lightweight Swedish two-stroke, Torsten Hallman, the reigning 250cc World Motocross Champion, was flown into the United States and given a stock Husqvarna 250 Cross from the new American distributor. Hallman travelled around the US for two months, entering nine different races, competing in a combined total of 23 heats. And he won every one of them, often lapping the entire field in the process.
The proof was in the Swedish pudding, as they say.
Steve McQueen’s personal 1972 Husqvarna 250cc Motocrosser (and similar 360/400cc models) are iconic pieces of off-road racing history. They are highly coveted collector's items that command premiums when they occasionally appear at auction. So, I won’t be surprised to see this model sell for north of $50,000 when the gavel hits the auction block at Bonhams.
