Having completed its duty as a high-speed camera car, McQueen sold the Porsche to Team Auto Usdau, who used it to compete in the 1971 European World Sportscar race series. It also appeared at Le Mans in 1972 (race start pictured above), but retired due to an accident.
The Porsche fared better in 1973, finishing Le Mans in seventh place overall, but bad luck struck again in 1974, with it crashing out of contention. It was then sold — damaged and without its engine and transmission — to a German team called Deutsch Brothers Racing, headed by a man called August Deutsch.
According to Porsche, Deutsch brought the car back to life in 1980, but had a “slightly lax policy when it comes to authenticity,” and fitted the ex-McQueen car with a different body, engine, and transmission.
Fast-forward to the year 2000, and after a two-year restoration, the car took part in the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Still owned by Deutsch, the car was returned to its blue camera car livery for the 2010 Le Mans Classic.
Writing in 2020, Excellence states how the car “is now displayed more than it is raced,” and wears the white livery and 49 race number from when it was raced by McQueen — a time August Deutsch considers to be the car’s finest hour.
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