FUTUREICONS
T
HISMAGAZINECANSHOWERA
great car withplaudits. Wefrequently
do. It might prompt a smiling emoji from
a PRperson, possiblya blipona sales
graph. A momentinthe sun, at the very
least. However, beyondthe transitory
frissonof criticalacclaim, wordsof
praise fromusor anyoneelse matter not.
If we’re talking icon, asweare here, the
passage oftimeis the fi nal arbiter and
only oncethe dust has settledover many
years can the truly worthy becomeone.
What counts as worthy – indeed, what
constitutes anicon– is lessexact science thanfuzzy cultural
phenomenonbut, remarkably for something sosubjective, once
the right amount of fame, fascinationand approbationhavebeen
acquired, the labelseems tostick,there’s little ornodissent,
and, for anyonewanting toown a car sodescribed, they’ll need
a lotof money.
But exactly whatis iconic? Dictionaries aren’t muchuse. The
Collins English is, perhaps understandably, somewhat literal on
the matter. ‘Relating to, resembling, or havingthe character of an
icon,’ it avers. Yup. The Urban Dictionary triesharderto nail the
vibe. ‘A bit like“classic”,’ it suggests, ‘butgenerally restrictedto
morerecent, highly original, infl uential, oruniqueworksof art,
artists, orperformers.’ Nomention of ‘cars’, but wegetthe drift.
If it’s allthe sametoyou,though, I’mgoing withthe ‘iconic
madeeasy’ two-word defi nition:Steve McQueen. This is helpful
for a variety ofreasons,but principally because it’s a name
sharedbythe late, ineffably cool actorand starof the fi lmBullitt
(so much‘icon’ going onhere) and the Tu rner Prize-winning fi lm
maker who wentonto giveus 12 Years a Slave(a nicebloke who
makes important movies). Note the dichotomy. Excellenceasa
solitarypropositiondoesn’t makethe cut.
The thing about actor Steve McQueen isthatbothonand
off screenheseemedtoberocking anatomic-level infusionof
the right stuff. Everything hedid,touched,drove, wore – every
gesture,tick, laconic utterance,wink, prolongedsilence –
amplifiedattractionwithout being in any way obvious. McQueen
sayingnothing was morefascinating thanTomHanks’ entire
career. The way hemovedmadeother actors onscreenlookasif
theywere wadingthrough treacle. Hewas a magnetic force who
didn’t havetoworkatit and,for the most part, didn’t care. All