Steve McQueen wasn’t just an actor—he was a bona fide speed junkie, and he rode with the kind of guts you couldn’t fake. In The Great Escape, McQueen made one of the most iconic motorcycle jumps in cinematic history, sailing over barbed wire and into legend.
But here’s the kicker: the motorcycle you see on screen wasn’t the military-spec German machine it was supposed to be. No, McQueen rode something else entirely, a British iron horse disguised for its Hollywood role—a 1961 Triumph TR6 Trophy.
The Great Escape Motorcycle: A British Bike Disguised as a German Machine
Now, before you kick up dust and say, “Hold on, wasn’t the movie set in World War II?”—yes, you’re right. McQueen’s character, Captain Virgil Hilts, was supposed to be piloting a German Wehrmacht bike. But when it came to the stunt, the film crew handed him a Triumph. And why? Because the Triumph was the bike of choice for riders like McQueen, who needed something that could handle dirt, jumps, and the kind of breakneck stunts that would make mere mortals blanch.
The Triumph TR6 Trophy was a tough machine, built for the post-war scramble races that filled the English countryside on weekends. Its 650cc parallel-twin engine had just enough bite to tear through the dirt but wasn’t so wild that it became unmanageable when airborne. That balance—grit and grace—made it perfect for McQueen’s famous jump scene, where he launched himself and the bike over a wire fence in a desperate bid for freedom.
Of course, Hollywood’s a place where authenticity comes second to spectacle, so the crew disguised the Triumph as a German military bike. They slapped on some olive drab paint, added a few cosmetic touches to give it that “Wehrmacht issue” look, and hoped nobody would notice the slight of hand. But, of course, people noticed. Motorcycle purists still argue over whether McQueen should’ve ridden a genuine German bike, like a BMW R75 or Zündapp KS750. But here’s the thing: McQueen wasn’t just riding any bike; he was riding his bike. The Triumph was as much a part of him as the swagger in his walk or the cool blue stare he leveled at his enemies. It didn’t matter what color they painted it—it was still McQueen’s beast under the hood.
The man himself did a lot of the riding in The Great Escape, but there’s a little twist to the famous jump. You see, McQueen wanted to do the leap over the barbed wire, but the studio nixed the idea—too dangerous, they said. So, instead, McQueen’s stunt double, Bud Ekins, took the reins for the climactic jump. Ekins, an accomplished motocross racer and close friend of McQueen, made the leap look effortless, flying through the air like a man who had spent his life airborne. Still, McQueen rode that bike in nearly every other scene, carving through the Bavarian landscape with all the abandon of a man who knew he had nothing left to lose.
So, what bike did Steve McQueen ride in The Great Escape? On paper, a Triumph TR6 Trophy. But in spirit? It was the ride of a rebel, a machine built not just to break out of a POW camp, but to break free from anything that tried to pin it down. Just like McQueen himself.
