Sold!-Two Former Steve McQueen Cars At Auction

by Mike - 

The sales results are in red text.

How many classic cars did Steve McQueen own? It seems like every year another one comes up for sale. Now RM Auctions has two up for auction in Monterey this year.

The first is a 1953 Siata 208/S Spider that I have photographed and written about before here and here.

$946,000-Sold - it does not seem that the Steve McQueen Factor helped this car. The Hagerty Price Guide lists the value of this car (without the McQueen Factor) at $1.1 million for a condition 1 car and $950,000 for a condition 2 car. I wrote about this car before and it is easily a condition 2 car. 


The Siata 208/S Spider at this link sold at Gooding for $1,567,500. This car was a Pebble Beach class winner, a condition 1 car.

RM's summary:

- Legendary “8V” power with rare, attractive and desirable spyder coachwork

- Multiple concours awards; shown at The Quail, twice at Pebble Beach and part of an extended exhibit at the Petersen Museum

- In excellent condition, a superb event entry, eligible for the Mille Miglia

The other former McQueen car is a 1970 Porsche 911S "Le Mans" Movie Car.

$1,375,000-Sold - as I said before here, this is a huge Steve McQueen Factor - more than a 10:1 ratio over the same car without the McQueen connection. Those few minutes in the movie Le Mans may have had an impact on this price.

RM's summary:

- Delivered new to Steve McQueen on the set of the iconic motorsport movie Le Mans

- Highest available specification offered by Porsche for street models

- Invoiced and assigned by the Property Master for use during filming and for McQueen’s personal use

- Four owners from new, including McQueen’s personal collection in California

- Excellent in highly original preserved condition

- Well documented with invoices and correspondence corroborating absolute authenticity

RM has not published a price estimate yet on either car but I suspect they will be expensive.

I always preview the RM cars at Monterey but I may have to attend the auction this year.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Subscribe to My Car Quest by email, go to the top of the page on the right side and enter your email address.

Two Former Steve McQueen Cars At Auction

by Mike - 

How many classic cars did Steve McQueen own? It seems like every year another one comes up for sale. Now RM Auctions has two up for auction in Monterey this year.

The first is a 1953 Siata 208/S Spider that I have photographed and written about before here and here.

RM's summary:

- Legendary “8V” power with rare, attractive and desirable spyder coachwork
- Multiple concours awards; shown at The Quail, twice at Pebble Beach and part of an extended exhibit at the Petersen Museum
- In excellent condition, a superb event entry, eligible for the Mille Miglia

The other former McQueen car is a 1970 Porsche 911S "Le Mans" Movie Car.

RM's summary:

- Delivered new to Steve McQueen on the set of the iconic motorsport movie Le Mans
- Highest available specification offered by Porsche for street models
- Invoiced and assigned by the Property Master for use during filming and for McQueen’s personal use
- Four owners from new, including McQueen’s personal collection in California
- Excellent in highly original preserved condition
- Well documented with invoices and correspondence corroborating absolute authenticity

RM has not published a price estimate yet on either car but I suspect they will be expensive.

I always preview the RM cars at Monterey but I may have to attend the auction this year.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Subscribe to My Car Quest by email, go to the top of the page on the right side and enter your email address.

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.

Steve McQueen's Siata (1953 Siata 208-S)

by Mike - 

Yes, Steve McQueen owned this Siata. The Siata 208-S was designed by Michelotti and hand-built by Bertone in 1953, utilizing the Fiat V8 2 liter engine and 4 speed transmission. The engine in this Siata has been enlarged to 2.3 liters and produces 137 hp.

This car, BS-523, was acquired by Steve McQueen in the mid to late 1950s. Approximately 35 of the Siata Spiders were built, with most being delivered to the US West Coast. 

Tony Singer, below, has owned this wonderful car since 2000.

The stunning clean design provided many styling cues seen in later cars like the AC Ace which later became the AC Cobra (look at the front of the Siata you will see the beginning of the AC Cobra style).

This car is a show winner (shown at Pebble Beach twice, won "Best Italian Car" at the 2001 Concours on Rodeo in Beverly Hills), was restored by an expert and was originally gun-metal grey. This special car was at the Cars of Steve McQueen exhibition at The Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles.

A rare set of Heuer instruments, watch and stop-watch.

This Siata is an immediate accepted entry into any world-class driving event from the Mille Miglia to the Colorado Grand or California Mille, and would be welcome at any concours event.

Tony Singer will consider selling this car. If you have a serious interest contact me at michael.gulett@gmail.com and I will connect you with Tony.

Click on the images for a larger view.

This Siata was featured in Octane Magazine in May 2009:

“In many ways the Siata is a better car than an XK120, 342 America or even a Cal Spider because of it’s superior balance, refinement and agility.” Winston Goodfellow.

The pictures below are by Winston Goodfellow.