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.

A Bizzarrini Air Dam

by Mike -

The Bizzarrini GT 5300 was not designed with an air dam, or spoiler. The original owner of my Bizzarrini was Ken Phillips and he worked with an expert race car body designer to create the spoiler shown below for his Bizzarrini because "at 150 MPH the front end feels a little light" he told me.

This spoiler clearly changed the looks of the GT 5300.

It really stood out in a crowd, even more than normal. Below is Piero Rivolta standing next to some of the creations of his company, Iso Rivolta, and to his left is the silver Bizzarrini with the spoiler.

All of the pictures above are compliments of Darren Frank.

The spoiler is an excellent aluminum sculpture and is no longer installed on the silver Bizzarrini as you can see in the pictures below.

Ken Phillips was very pleased with the performance results of this spoiler design. I have yet to test it myself, although, it will be easy to install the next time I plan to drive the Bizzarrini at 150 MPH or faster.

Here is a picture of the air dam today on display and safe in my home office.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Below is a Bizzarrini race car with a small spoiler that is not nearly as large as the Ken Phillips design.

Jensen Interceptor - For Sale

by Mike - 

While Jensen Motors was a British company the styling of the Jensen Interceptor is Italian (Carrozzeria Touring) and the engine is American, a Chrysler 383 cid V8 producing 330 hp. There were more than 6,000 Interceptors made in total between 1966 and 1976 including a few convertibles, fewer coupes; most were 2+2 models. The transmission was either manual or a TorqueFlite automatic. In 1971 the engine size was increased to 440 cid and the Jensen FF (Ferguson Formula) was a variation of the Interceptor that was one of the first cars with four wheel drive. The original list price was $13,500.

These are interesting cars and should be easy to care for with a Chrysler engine. I like the looks of the convertible better than the hardtop from the rear.

This Interceptor below was at the Marin Sonoma Concours d'Elegance in May 2010.

This 1974 Interceptor below is for sale on eBay in California. It has only 9,783 miles and appears to be in excellent condition.

There are a few other cars for sale now. Look around - a pre-purchase inspection is important.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Various Cars

by Mike - 

We were walking by the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Christmas Day, 2010. It was closed but mounted outside was The Black Beauty, the car from the movie The Green Hornet. This is something you don't see everyday.

A couple of days earlier we were driving to Los Angeles on Interstate 5 (about 75 miles north of Grapevine heading south) and passed this rusted Alfa Romeo on a trailer. Hopefully it was on the way to the shop to be restored.

This car below is a custom bodied Iso Rivolta known as the "Iso Daytona". It was waiting its turn at the RM Auction in Monterey, August 2010. It sold for $522,500.

The new McLaren MP4-12C at Pebble Beach, August 2010.

Click on the images for a larger view.