Steve McQueen, William Claxton

One time when I was with him, he drove a brand new Ford convertible, with only thirty miles on the speedometer, at top speed for such a long stretch of the Texas highway that the engine began to smoke and eventually caught on fire.

He slowed down and shouted to me, "Clax, when I tell you to jump, jump!" We did jump out of the car just as it burst into flames. Steve sat on the side of the country road at a safe distance from the burning vehicle and laughed his head off." -William Claxton Sharing a passion for fast cars, Steve McQueen (1930-1980) and William Claxton became friends early in McQueen's career and remained close until his premature death.