(March 15, 2018) WALWORTH, Wis. — Mecum Auctions will offer Jim Street’s legendary “self-driving” 1950s custom car at no reserve in its as-discovered garage-find condition at Dana Mecum’s 31st Original Spring Classic auction May 15-19 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.

From years spent as one of America’s most famous custom cars — touring prolifically around the country and drawing massive crowds and hordes of media everywhere it went — to a sudden disappearance into the garage of its owner, never to be seen again, the Golden Sahara II has long been a lost darling among car enthusiasts, making its return to the spotlight a momentous occasion of historical significance within America’s deeply rooted custom-car culture.

Immortalized in the film “Cinderfella” starring Jerry Lewis and celebrated as one of the most innovative, futuristic and generally awe-inspiring vehicles of the late ‘50s and through the 1960s, the Golden Sahara II was a celebrity of mass scale.



The car’s revolutionary electronic control system — which allowed it to be steered and operated in myriad ways, including by remote control — effectively categorized the car as autonomous and earned it the designation as the most expensive car of its time.

After its sudden, unexplained disappearance nearly 50 years ago, the Golden Sahara II will finally emerge from the garage of its original owner, still intact down to its Zenith remote controls that operated its self-driving capabilities.

As it graces the stage of Dana Mecum’s 31st Original Spring Classic this May as a headlining no-reserve auction offering, one fortunate and ambitious collector will win the opportunity to carry on its unparalleled legacy.