The Bullitt Mustang

This is Robbie Kiernan with family dog Gatsby, alongside her daily driver in 1977… the original 1968 Mustang fastback from the movie Bullitt.

Robert Kiernan and his wife Robbie bought the Bullitt Mustang back in 1974. They found it in a classified ad from the October 1974 issue of Road & Track. The ad was slightly misspelled and read: “1968 Bullett Mustang driven by McQueen in the movie. Can be documented. Best offer.” Robert Kiernan was the only person that responded. He paid around six grand for the Bullitt provenance, quite a bit of money back then for a used 1968 Mustang fastback, about four times the going-rate.

Robert and wife Robbie were both just 26 years old in 1974. They had been married for five years and lived with their two young children, daughter Kelly and son Sean, in Madison, New Jersey. The Bullitt Mustang wasn’t a second car, it was their only car. Robert took the train everyday to the World Trade Center where he worked in insurance. Robbie drove the Bullitt to St. Vincent’s parish where she taught third grade. The car was never modified, it had straight exhaust and shook the pavement. On numerous weekends the family car was driven to Maine and upstate New York. It must have been deafening. There was no sound-proofing because it had been removed for the movie. The trunk had a huge cut-out for a smoke machine. Years later they discovered the rear seatbelts hidden with gaffers tape. Robert installed a pair of speakers in the back that are still there. With no air-conditioning, windows rolled down and the blaring AM radio, those Bullitt road trips in the 1970s must have been thrilling for the kids, young Sean and his sister Kelly.

In 1977 Robert got a call from Steve McQueen. Steve had tracked down the prior owner, who gave him our phone number. McQueen wanted the car. He was a guy that was not used to hearing the word ‘no.’ But Robert told him: ‘No thanks, we are not interested in selling.’ McQueen followed up with a letter reiterating his interest, saying he wanted the car back and offered a trade or something as long as it wasn’t “too much monies.” The Kiernans never answered that letter. Bullitt was part of the family. Robbie drove the car regularly until the clutch failed in 1980. By the time it was parked the family had put 46,000 miles on the car.

Photo: Courtesy of Sean Kiernan