1953 Siata 208S, Owned By Steve McQueen, For Sale On eBay

[Mach 1 Club]

   
Want to be as cool as Steve McQueen? That’s probably not going to happen, but you can buy his 1953 Siata 208S on eBay if you’ve got the coin. It’ll take $1.295 million to coax the title from the seller’s hands; clearly, this amount of cool comes at a price.

   

Only 35 of the beautiful Italian roadsters were built, and this one was purchased new by McQueen himself. Under pressure from his agent to abandon racing cars and motorcycles, McQueen didn’t own the Siata very long before selling it to a UCLA med student. It changed hands several times after that, and in 1991 underwent an 8 year, no-expense-spared-restoration. It was purchased by its current owner in 2000, and is actively shown at vintage car events on the west coast. The motor
was rebuilt again in 2007, so the car is truly turnkey for vintage racing, road rallies or display.

   

This particular Siata 208S may be the best example remaining, but I question the seller’s optimism over the price. Yes, it has provenance, but it doesn’t have a well documented racing history. McQueen’s name has bumped up the price of his other cars (such as the Ferrari 250 Lusso, which sold for $2.3 million in 2007) and will certainly add to the value of this one, but collector car prices have taken a beating since 2007. I’d be VERY surprised if the seller gets his asking price, even with Steve McQueen’s name attached to the car.

View Ebay Auction - Ends June 2nd 2010