Jerry Seinfeld's $25 Million Porsche 917

**Spike Feresten** (0:00)
The Porsche 917 Steve McQueen. It was bid up to 25 million and hammered unsold. And then the press said Jerry Seinfeld turned down $25 million. Is that true? What happened?

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:11)
Not exactly.

**Spike Feresten** (0:17)
Welcome. Here we are.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:19)
This feels good.

**Spike Feresten** (0:19)
This feel all right? Yeah. It's good to have you back, Jerry.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:22)
It's good to be back.

**Spike Feresten** (0:23)
We're very excited to have you back.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:24)
Yeah, I'm excited to be here. There's a lot of work to do. Let's get to it.

**Spike Feresten** (0:28)
There's a lot to talk about.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:30)
Yeah.

**Spike Feresten** (0:30)
But we have to get to what everybody's been asking about. For what? Three weeks, Zuckerman? Three weeks.

**Paul Zuckerman** (0:36)
At least three weeks.

**Spike Feresten** (0:37)
Let me just set the table, please. Because I don't even know what you're about to say.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:42)
Why don't you get the model? Put the model here on this thing. Okay.

**Spike Feresten** (0:45)
Let me get the model.

**Paul Zuckerman** (0:46)
Get the car. We need an exemplar. We need a physical exhibit.

**Spike Feresten** (0:50)
It was four weeks ago that this car, the real car, the Porsche 917 Steve McQueen.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (0:57)
That we found together in a parking garage on La Cienega and Wilshire.

**Spike Feresten** (1:02)
Correct. A car dealership.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:04)
Yes.

**Paul Zuckerman** (1:04)
Symbolic.

**Spike Feresten** (1:05)
Symbolic motors.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:06)
Symbolic motors downstairs in a subterranean parking garage.

**Spike Feresten** (1:12)
That's right. We stared at it for hours.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:14)
Yeah.

**Spike Feresten** (1:14)
We couldn't believe it.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:15)
What is it doing here?

**Spike Feresten** (1:16)
We were stunned.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:17)
Yeah. We'd never seen a 917 in person. No.

**Spike Feresten** (1:21)
Shortly after we heard it on the track. Shortly after you bought that car.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:25)
Yeah.

**Spike Feresten** (1:26)
Now, it's been sold or it went up for auction.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:29)
It went up for auction.

**Spike Feresten** (1:30)
At Mecum, what? Four weeks ago?

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:33)
Yeah, I think so.

**Spike Feresten** (1:34)
Okay. It was bid up to $25 million.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:37)
Yes.

**Spike Feresten** (1:38)
Then hammered as unsold.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (1:41)
Right. Now, what happens a lot of times in these auctions, as any purveyor of fraudulent goods can tell you, is you have a big sales moment. Right. Right. As my dad used to say, he in business who seeks to rise must either bust or advertise.

**Pete Stout** (2:02)
Did he really say that?

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:04)
Yes. He was in the time business. Yes. He would say that. Yes. He in business who seeks to rise must either bust or advertise. Okay.

**Paul Zuckerman** (2:13)
Bust or advertise. You will go bankrupt, in other words, you will bust.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:17)
If you seek to rise, you must advertise.

**Paul Zuckerman** (2:21)
That's right. We'll go bust.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:22)
We'll go bust. The auction obviously is a type of advertising.

**Spike Feresten** (2:27)
Yes.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:29)
With an item like this that has a global appeal, and we have no idea where a potential interested party might be, could be anywhere in the world, right? We don't know who's got what anymore.

**Paul Zuckerman** (2:43)
Nobody knows.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:43)
Nobody knows. Nobody looks like they have it. Some people try and look like they have it.

**Paul Zuckerman** (2:47)
Which means you don't have it.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:49)
Right.

**Paul Zuckerman** (2:49)
Yes.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:50)
And those that don't look like they have it, do have it.

**Paul Zuckerman** (2:54)
Like Moe's. He looks homeless. Homeless.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (2:57)
Yeah. So the car got a lot of attention. And you know, by the way, a lot of people did not think that it would rise to that number. A lot of very well-known people in the car hobby, esteemed names that you know, that you know, big names, said, I don't think it's worth that much. But I thought it was.

**Spike Feresten** (3:17)
Yes.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (3:17)
And my consulieri, Sam Cabiglio, thought it was. And Dana Mecum, who assisted me in the sale, thought it was.

**Spike Feresten** (3:26)
Yes.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (3:26)
So we bet against the prevailing.

**Spike Feresten** (3:31)
Okay.

**Jerry Seinfeld** (3:31)
We bet against the prevailing, which is always fun, isn't it?

**Spike Feresten** (3:33)
Yes. I'm not sure where we're at now.
The car went up. It was bid up to 25 million and hammered unsold. And then the press said Jerry Seinfeld turned down $25 million. Is that true? What happened?