Steve McQueen's Siata - Part 2

by Mike - 

Here are more pictures of this great little car the 1953 Siata 208-S once owned by Steve McQueen. This car (BS-523) is the first car profiled in Matt Stone's book McQueen's Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon. In this book Matt Stone says that Steve McQueen bought this Siata after his wife crashed their new Corvette.

Ernie McAfee Engineering on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood was a car dealer who sold Siatas. It is believed that this is where Steve McQueen bought, and later sold, this car.

The tail lights are not where I would expect them to be creating a very interesting look.

"This car is really fun to drive" says Tony Singer, the owner.

In Part 1 yesterday I mentioned that the Siata front end style could have been the inspiration for the AC Ace (and thus the AC Cobra). Jeff S. Savage, AutoPhyle, pointed out to me that there were some earlier designs that had a similar front end style, like the Ferrari 166 MM, a 1949 version is pictured below (body by Carrozzeria Touring). Maybe the Cisitalia design by Pinin Farina was influential as well.

Do you see a resemblance?

Click on the images for a larger view. Part 1 is here.