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CDA
February 02, 2023
The actor Steve McQueen had a unit of this 1953 Siata 208S Spider that is now up for auction and which he named his “little Ferrari”.
In just a few days, Bonhams will auction one of the most beautiful and rare cars in history. Its about Siata 208S Spider from 1953a glamorous Italian roadster that attracted Steve McQueen himself.
For those who don’t know, Siata is the acronym for Società Italiana Auto Trasformazione Accessori, a Turin firm founded in 1926 by Giorgio Ambrosini, and which ceased production in 1970. Like Abarth, Siata based its business on the development of high-performance parts for Fiat, and gained further prominence after World War II, when motorsport returned to prominence in Europe and America.
So exclusive that it can be sold for 1.7 million
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Fiat had precisely developed a 2.0 liter V8 engine for its luxury sports car, the Otto Vu, in the early 50s. Just 49 examples of that model were built, leaving other Fiat V8 engines that were acquired by Siata to power its new 208S Spider, turning the model into a car not only beautiful but powerful.
Fitted with twin Weber carburettors and tuned by Siata, Fiat’s 2.0-litre OHV alloy V8 engine developed over 125bhp at 6,000rpm, which was enough for the car to reach a top speed of almost 200 km/hfigures more than respectable for the time.
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This Siata 208S Spider featured a four-speed manual gearbox, independent coil suspension, finned alloy drum brakes and aluminum bodywork. An attractive set that conquered the actor Steve McQueen, who took one of the 49 copies manufactured, and who He named it his “little Ferrari”.
Classic Cars at the best price
Focusing on the unit for sale, its first owner was Bill Doheny, an oil magnate. This replaced the original engine with a Chevrolet V8. Subsequently, another of the owners re-incorporated a Fiat V8 engine. In 2012, Epifani Restorations in Berkeley, California, conducted a extensive restoration completed in 2015.
This Siata, which has received prizes in several car contests, is a car highly valued by collectors and Bonhams estimates that at auction it will be possible to obtain about 1.7 million euros for him.
