McQueen and his Lotus 11, circa 1959. This is the car that he traded his ’58 Porsche Speedster for, and as such it was McQueen’s first real racing machine. He enjoyed several good battles in it, winning a few races along the way. About it, McQueen said “In that Lotus I really started to become competitive. I was smoother, more relaxed; the rough edges had been knocked off my driving. I was beginning to find out what real sports car racing was all about.” Photo from the Chad McQueen Collection