Thriller movies like Bullitt and romance movies like Love with the Proper Strange earned Steve McQueen the title ‘The King of Cool’. Yet a better name for the star may have been ‘The King of Caution’ as he apparently once talked action movie legend, Bruce Lee, out of buying a fancy sports car.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, all Lee ever dreamed of owning was a Porsche 911S Targa, in part because McQueen owned one. Eventually, Lee decided he was going to bite the bullet (pun not intended) and called McQueen to let him know he was buying the car of his dreams.
“Look, Bruce, let me take you for a ride in mine when I get back,” McQueen apparently warned Lee. “It’s a hot car, but if you don’t know what you are doing, you can get into trouble with this thing.” Lee may have been an accomplished stunt man, but he was reportedly a terrible driver. Lee’s own training partner admitted that the movie star’s driving scared him.
Rather than talk Lee out of buying the car, McQueen decided he’d give the martial artist a good old-fashioned scare. Picking Lee up in his own Porsche, they went for a ride along the San Fernando Valley to Mulholland Drive.
McQueen then took Lee on a joyride from hell, tearing along the notoriously perilous road, driving at speeds that would have been slow for a Fast and Furious movie. Eventually, McQueen threw the car into a tail slide before spinning the vehicle around 180 degrees and bringing it to a dramatic stop.
“What do you think, Bruce?” McQueen reportedly asked his friend, but Lee had disappeared. Looking down into the footwell, McQueen saw Leed huddled over with his hands over his head. “McQueen, you sonovabitch!” Lee apparently shouted. “McQueen, I’ll bloody kill you! I’ll kill you, McQueen! I’m gonna kill you!”
Before Lee could get his hands on McQueen, though, the star put the car in gear and tore off, pinning the martial artist in his seat. Lee eventually demanded that McQueen stop the car and got out, promising he’d never drive with McQueen again. Lee never got that Porshe, and we can hardly blame him.
If you love high-speed car chases, check out our guide to the penultimate Fast and the Furious movie, Fast 10. If you don’t fancy that, we have a list of the best drama movies.