It was on October 17, 1968, that the movie Bullitt was released to the viewing public. Fifty years later to the day, a fund-raising effort to overcome Parkinson’s Disease launches to honor the man who for many years was the caretaker of the famed Ford Mustang driven by Steve McQueen in the movie.
BRM Chronographe, artist Nicolas Hunziker, Warner Bros Studios and Chad McQueen are joining Drive Toward a Cure to produce a one-off, hand-painted chronograph watch valued at $35,000 that will be a raffle prize celebrating the 50th anniversary of the movie’s debut and its iconic car.
Only 1,968 tickets will be offered, at $25 each, as a direct donation to Drive Toward a Cure and thus to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The money will be donated in the name of Robert Kierman Jr., patriarch of the family that owns the Bullitt Mustang. He died in 2014 after suffering from Parkinson’s.
Drive Toward a Cure officials hope that all 1,968 tickets will be sold so that Kierman’s son, Sean, can announce the winner of the watch on January 27, 2019, at the Grand National Roadster Show in Southern California, where the Bullitt Mustang is scheduled to be on display.
Not only will the watch face feature original art by Hunziker, but a 1-gram paint chip from the Bullitt Mustang will be included within the time piece.
Tickets can be purchased through the Drive Toward a Cure website.