This makes it the the most valuable Ford Mustang in the world, according to Mecum Auctions, which conducted the historic sale.
In the film, directed by Peter Yates, McQueen as a San Francisco police lieutenant chases an underworld kingpin in the Mustang along a 10-minute route through the streets of the city – a sequence often copied in later films but never equalled in technique and originality.
The movie’s Mustang Bullitt has belonged to the Kiernan family since the early 1970s when it was purchased by Robert Kiernan of New Jersey for just $6 000. McQueen reportedly tried to buy it back from him but Kiernan refused to sell.