Steve McQueen’s Siata

Surprised that Steve McQueen owned a Siata? That is interesting enough, but discovering that the young actor affixed a Ferrari badge to the 208S he bought might be even more surprising, and at the same time perhaps tells us about another side of the man himself. We must give thanks to Matt Stone for this information and presenting it in his book, “McQueen’s Machines”, and current owner Tony Singer, whose words constitute the bulk of the story below. In addition, collector Christophe Pund was kind enough to allow us to publish Michelotti’s original drawing of the Siata 208S, which is also supplied with the two volume Otto Vu set, authored by Tony Adriaensens. (read review). If you’d like to know more about Tony Singer, read about him here. Ed.

By Tony Singer

The Siata 208-S was designed by Michelotti and hand-built by Bertone in 1953, utilizing the Fiat 8V [“otto vu”] “kit” including 2 liter engine, 4 speed transmission, fully independent suspension, chassis, and brakes.

With an initial cost of over $5300, it was not the car for everyone although the stunning clean design provided many styling cues seen in later cars. About 35 of the Spiders were ever built, with most finding their way to the West Coast being sold through McAfee Motors in LA.

BS-523, was originally sold to Steve McQueen by Ernie McAfee. McQueen sold the car, through McAfee Engineering, to Bruce Sand, who was attending UCLA Medical School. He recounts that Steve had removed the front nose badge, put the Ferrari shield on it, and called it his “little Ferrari”. There is also a famous story of Steve commandeering the car, with Bruce and a friend in it, and taking Bruce for “the ride of his life”. Tim Considine, the actor friend of McQueen corroborated this ownership, having seen him in the car at his home. The car was its original gun-metal grey with yellow California plates MTY 906. It is also the first car listed in the new book “McQueen’s Machines” by Matt Stone.

The car went through a number of owners and found it’s way to the East Coast. Larry Frye found the car in North Carolina, around 1983 and succeeded in buying the car from Lee Dart, in 1991. He then began an extensive [over $175,000 in receipts] restoration by renowned expert Knute Kollman, with body and paint by Brian Hoyt of Perfect Reflections. When Knute built the engine he performed his famous oiling modifications to the block, installed 2.3 liter pistons/barrels, etc., which then yielded 137 hp on the dyno ! Mr. Frye also secured FIA official papers in 1999 prior to an intended Mille Miglia entry.

Larry subsequently showed the car at the 1994 Pebble Beach Concours [3rd in Class, Custom Italian Coachwork], various other local/regional Concours events, usually coming in first in class [Hillsborough, Lafayette, San Jose, etc.].

I purchased the car directly from Larry Frye in October, 2000. It was promptly entered in the inaugural Mille Autunno Rallye, ran in the California Classic Rallye the following June, and was awarded “Best Italian Car” at the 2001 Concours on Rodeo [Drive].

After this, I sought to attend to a number of detail errors I found and embarked on a lengthy saga with a fine mechanic who “lost his focus”. The car was later brought to Phil Reilly’s shop, where under the guidance of Ivan Zaremba, the car was gone through from one end to the other.

Upon completion, it was entered in the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours. In 2006 it was shown at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. From there it was part of the Cars of Steve McQueen exhibition at The Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles. It was shown at Concorso Italiano in 2007 and was accepted to run the Colorado Grand in September. It was sent up to Epifani Restoration for service prior to the event and I was advised the engine had problems requiring attention.

The engine was rebuilt by Epifani including new pistons, rods, valves, tappets, bearings; the camshaft has been hard faced and the lifters hard chromed. The water pump was modified and new state-of-the-art head gaskets fitted. The original distributor and generator were replaced with more modern, reliable components [all the old, original items are with the car]. The carbs have been rebuilt and the head will be “flowed”.

In the world of the Siata 208-S, BS-523 is considered one of the two finest examples: the second finest concours car next to the Ron Hein/Scott Borman car, and the second most important [due to its McQueen ownership] behind the McAfee “Holy Terror”. Coming with the car are the three impossible to find original manuals: McAfee original operating instructions, 8V engine manual [original and with Ferrari stampings from their archives], 8V engine parts book [original]. There is a limited group of spares and the original items that were taken off the car for more modern, reliable substitutes. I designed a unique tonneau cover; the top and side curtains are supplied, as well as a tool kit [replicated from BS-529], and a very rare set of Heuer instruments [watch and stop-watch].

It is an immediate accepted entry into any world-class driving event from the Mille Miglia to the Colorado Grand or California Mille, and would grace any concours event.

In May, 2009, this Siata was a feature car in issue #71 of Octane magazine. The photography and article were by Winston Goodfellow. Among the noteworthy quotes are: “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.” “But perhaps the greatest endorsement I can give this jewel of a car is that I was having so much fun I ended up being a couple hours late [to my next appointment]”.

Tony Singer can be contacted at
www.VintageAutoPosters.com

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