The Famous Missing Golden Sahara II Is Being Auctioned With New Glowing Tires

The Golden Shara II is shining like new.

The famous car that was originally built by George Barris in collaboration with fellow customizer Jim Street has been fully restored and is being auctioned at the Mecum Auctions event in Las Vegas on Sept. 30.

Barris first built The Golden Sahara in 1953 from the wreck of his Lincoln Capris Hardtop with financial support from Street. The dramatic body work, bubble top and then-modern gadgets like a TV and reel-to-reel tape recorder were the sort of signature touches that would show up on some of his future cars like the original Batmobile.

After making the rounds of the car show circuit for a few years, Street brought it back to his shop in Ohio and made a few updates that included a new headlight design, tail fins, a steering yoke that also controlled the gas and brakes by pushing and pulling it, a remote control and automatic brakes with antennas in the gold bumperettes.

He also worked with Goodyear to incorporate its new Neothane tires, which were transluscent and illuminated from the inside. The company worked on the technology for a decade with the hopes of putting it into production, but couldn’t get it to work well in the real world and eventually abandoned the project.

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The car was featured in the 1960 Jerry Lewis film “Cinderfella” and on the TV Game Show “I’ve Got a Secret” in 1962 before Street soon after put it away in storage and out of the public eye, where it stayed until his death in 2017.

It was rediscovered among his collection in a deteriorated condition and offered at the Mecum Auctions Indianapolis event in 2018, when it was sold to Chicago real estate developer and car museum owner Larry Klairmont for $385,000.

Klairmont set about having it fully restored and even had Goodyear make a new set of tires, although they were solid with LED lighting this time around and not meant for road use.

The car was displayed at what would become the last Geneva International Motor Show held in its namesake city before going on display at the museum. Klairmont died in 2021 and the museum is now closing for good with its collection being sold at the Mecum event.

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Mecum hasn’t put an estimated sale value on the car, but there’s a good chance it will sell for far more than Klairmont paid for it, now that it is back to its former glory.