You never know what you’ll run across when you start digging in eBay’s basement. This trophy from the 1957 running of the Mille Miglia was presented to Georg Bialas for his co-drive with Harald von Saucken to a third place finish in the under 1500cc class. Bialas and von Saucken were scheduled to compete in a 356A but must have been pleased to instead run the event with a 550RS Spyder; examples of which took the top three spots in the under 1500cc class.
The eBay listing page shows a “Buy it Now” price of $11,000. I don’t know enough about silversmithing to understand whether the repairs made to the trophy are well done or if simply doing the repairs at all hurt its value as a collectible. What I do know is that it looks stunningly beautiful and would be an arresting addition to any garage. My hope, however, is that whoever owns the particular Porsche 550 driven by Bialas and von Saucken ends up with it.
They really should be together, don’t you think?
4 replies on “Ebay Find: 1957 Mille Miglia Trophy”
Absolutely! (as they say on cable news). Apparently it doesn’t have a lot of sentimental value to the current owner: photographed on a park bench. D-minus for presentation.
Fantastic looking restoration – not sure about the ‘epoxy coating’ and I wonder how you would ensure provenance. And another part of me thinks it would be more compelling tarnished and dirty… after all, Antiques Roadshow says you should never clean anything, right?
Wow! That was the first motor race I ever attended. I was in Vicenza, and watched from the second floor of the Teatro Olimpico. I was 16 at the time, and became hooked for life. I was lucky to have had that chance, as it was the last REAL Mille Miglia. I also watched the 1958 version, which was a rally with several closed sections in the mountains.
Harald von Saucken and an SS but a big driver’s car with a Porsche puis on the BMW 700. Harald von Saucken and the opposition Mauro Bianchi, Hans Herrmann, Heini Walter, Hermann Müller, Anton Fischhaber, Wolfgang Seidel, Karl Foitek, Olivier Gendebien / Wolfgang von Trips, Juan Manuel Fangio / Stirling Moss / Jo Bonnier / Giorgio Scarlatti / Harry Schell ……