McQueen and his Lusso.

Peter Orosz over at Jalopnik, bless his heart, wrote a piece today musing on the $2.3 million ex-Steve McQueen Ferrari 250GT Lusso that he caught a glimpse of it at the Concorso d’Eleganza. He does an excellent job doing it justice, but if you haven’t heard of the legendary Ferrari 250 GTO, stop reading this and look it up immediately. Then come back.

Ferrari 250 GTO - in rosso, of course.

The Lusso is basically a sexy granturismo version of that exact car, sporting the GTO motor, penned by Pinin Farina, and built by Scaglietti. That aforementioned unearthly GTO engine, a 2.9L V12, provided the motivation.

Not McQueen's Lusso! It's green, in case you're colorblind.

Much has been said of McQueen’s choice of brown for this car, but it works. Think old leather and cigars. A gift from his first wife, McQueen loved this car, but as with many things, that love was fickle. His son, Chad, recalled in an interview that his dad didn’t keep it for long, and other sources posit that his Jaguar XKSS (another unbearably awesome ride) was his favorite. As Chad puts it, “My dad had a lot of favorite cars.” Read more of that excellent LA Times article here.

I don’t. This is my favorite car, period. Well, except the Toyota 2000GT. Or the Lotus Elan S1. Or … ok, I see why McQueen couldn’t settle on just one. Anyways, hop over to Jalopnik and have a gander.

[Source: Jalopnik, LA Times]