SteveMcQueen shades fetch $70,000

US: Film fans have spent millions of dollars at an auction of Steve McQueen memorabilia, with one bidder paying $70,000 (€54…

US: Film fans have spent millions of dollars at an auction of Steve McQueen memorabilia, with one bidder paying $70,000 (€54,000) for a pair of sunglasses. His widow Barbara was among those who donated cars, trucks and motorbikes to the sale, at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

McQueen, nicknamed the King of Cool, was one of the biggest box office draws of the 1960s and 1970s and was as famous for his racing as he was for his acting.

His collection of cars and bikes attracted high bids at Saturday's auction. A 1937 Crocker V-Twin motorcycle fetched $276,500 (€215,000), a world record for a Crocker.

The Persol sunglasses, sold to an anonymous buyer, are the ones he is said to have worn for the opening scenes of the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. A Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, which featured in the same movie, went for the same price. Sales totalled €2.2 million.

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McQueen's most memorable on-screen moments include the motorcycle chase in The Great Escape, and a car chase through the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt.

He died, aged 50, from a heart attack after undergoing surgery for mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure.