Steve McQueen's The Great Escape Triumph makes first public appearance since 1963

The iconic Triumph TR6R ridden by Steve McQueen in The Great Escape is going to feature in the Concours d’Elégance at Salon Privé on Thursday, August 30.

Presently on display at the Triumph Factory Visitor Experience at Hinckley in Leicestershire, the 1962 model has not been shown publicly since the film was made in 1963.

The Triumph will be competing in Class B of the Salon Privé for exceptional motorbikes made between 1940 and 1979.

The bike was the star of the final scene of The Great Escape, where McQueen’s character makes a bid for freedom by trying to jump the machine over a barbed wire fence into Switzerland.

Although McQueen, an accomplished racer on two and four wheels, wanted to perform the stunt himself, the film’s insurers refused and the jump was made by his friend Bud Ekins.

The Salon Privé is a concourse which will be held in the gardens of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire across the weekend of August 30 – September 1.

So the question is, do you pay £295 to attend the Salon Privé event or £15 to visit the Triumph Visitor Centre to see McQueen’s bike? 

Another famous Triumph

The Triumph TR5 Trophy used by Fonzie in Happy Days was sold at auction in Las Vegas for £135k.

Unlike McQueen, the Fonzie actor, Henry Winkler, couldn’t actually ride a motorbike. Many of the scenes in which he appeared with the bike involved him sitting on it rather than riding it for that reason.

If all this has you hankering for a Triumph take a look at MCN Bikes for Sale.