Steve McQueen may not have officially competed at the Le Mans 24 Hour, but his film of the iconic race in 1971 is now regarded as a seminal piece of motorsport filming.
He did, though, finish second at the 1970 Sebring 24 Hour race.
The other bloke to make a big impression on film and tarmac was Paul Newman, who finished second at Le Mans in 1979 driving with Rolf Stommelen and Dick Barbour.
Dempsey may not have the big-screen presence of McQueen and Newman but he sure can pedal a fast racecar.
The Herald was fortunate enough to be at Le Mans this year to witness three Kiwis make it to the podium - Earl Bamber taking the overall win from Brendon Hartley, and Mitch Evans finishing second in the LMP2 class.
Also celebrating was Dempsey, who clinched second place in the GTE-AM category, and he made an emotional speech afterwards thanking everyone involved and said it was a dream come true.
Millen has known Dempsey for a number of years, having raced at various events with him including the gruelling Baja 1000 desert race.
"I've spent some time with Patrick over the years and he's often mentioned he wanted to come and do the [Hahei] event," said Millen.
"It was unfortunate that in the past his filming commitments wouldn't allow it to happen.
"Now though, he can come out and we're looking forward to him being here.
"We're still working on what car he'll be racing here, but it'll be a Porsche that's for sure. We just have to work out what would be appropriate for him to drive up the hill."
Aficionados of hill climbs and related festivals will recognise parts of Millen's near kilometre-long driveway up the hillside from the Goodwood Festival and Pikes Peak.
Contestants over the two-day event, February 6-7, 2016, will tackle the technical, yet fast and flowing climb and will have to deal with 16 corners, some of which catch the unwary out each year.
Drivers attain speeds of up to 170km/h and fans will see some of the best drivers and machinery on offer in New Zealand and abroad.
Local knowledge helps a lot in motorsport, and because the track also doubles as a driveway to the Millen's house on the other side of the hill, the former Pikes Peak champion holds the record for getting up his driveway the fastest.
"We've established a lot more credibility now with the help and input of the local council. The response even this far out from the event has been great and the line-up of drivers and cars is fantastic.
"The word is out there now and we even have people from England bringing their cars out.
"The event is invitation only and we've restricted it to 120 cars and 30 motorcycles so that we have the best-of-the-best and a big variety of vehicles," Millen said.
"The winner is the fastest car up the hill regardless of what it is. Other than a pre-65 class, there are no other categories. People get to see all manner of things trying to be the fastest."
Millen's record time will be hard to beat on his hometown track, as the old fella recently posted the third fastest time at the recent Goodwood Festival in his trusty Pikes Peak Celica.
"Rhys [his son] is going to be hard to beat as he's bringing his Global Rally Cross car out to race next year. He's pretty sure he can take the old man's record, but I'm not that sure he can," said Millen.
