1930’s on the outside, 2016 on the Inside — The Zimmer Golden Spirit
NOW WHAT IF you are ‘rich’ and love the design and style of vintage cars from the 1920s and ’30s ?
You buy a restored, well maintained show quality car for an absurd amount.
BUT what if you want to drive the car around regularly but at the same time not yet ready to take a chance with breakdown’s or downtime due to unavailability of parts? (Usual drill for vintage car owners)
Unfortunately, these issues in owning and driving a Classic / Vintage car reverts most people from even thinking of buying one.
BUT like they say, anything is possible. So, over the years we have seen many cars which focused on the reliability and comfort factor along with giving the thrills of driving a classic car. Call it a modern take on classic cars. There are now companies that refresh old cars like Jaguar XJs or Aston Martin DB5s and retrofit them with modern amenities which of course cost a bomb and there are company’s who build brand new versions of the old classics like the Jaguar E-type(quoted by ENZO FERRARI, founder of FERRARI, as the most beautiful car ever) called Eagle Speedster (made from scratch by hand, which also explains the ludicrous price (6,50,000 GBP = ~6 crore INR), Jensen etc .
Down the range we have the so called ‘Neo Classic Motor Cars’ from makers like Morgan, Singer, A.S Motorsports, etc which promises to give classic cars that you can look at and have fun driving about.
We have seen most of these maker cars in BBC TopGear UK series over the years except American brands like Excalibur, Zimmer etc. We know how American cars are graded in TopGear and now I don’t blame them.
Moving on, American-based Zimmer Motor Cars, is headquartered in New Jersey. Zimmer caught my attention few days ago by accident. but what caught my eye on this seemingly weird and wacky modification job was what was underneath their car — THE ZIMMER GOLDEN SPIRIT. It’s not old or refined or gorgeous for that matter. It is a 2-door classic look alike (Neo-Classic Motor Car) based on aFord Mustang, also available in4-door model based on the Cadillac CTS. That’s right, two new mainstream American muscle cars. While the British makers boast of years of craftsmanship, exuberance and other stuff’s, The Americans seem to have ran out of ideas. It does look like they just stripped away the Ford and Cadillac body work from the front end and added their own so that these vehicles look like nothing else in the world. The company’s argument however, is that now you can drive into any Ford or Cadillac dealer and get full service, spares and warranty work. It also has all the latest safety and modern engineering features available which is a good thing and this car will really make youstand out for sure. Well, not like a Ferrari. But like “What is that thing?” kind of way.
The car really does look like caricatures of old 1930’s cars, with giant chrome bumpers, huge flared fenders, wire wheels, the lot. So how much do you think this recreated Ford Mustang or Cadillac CTS cost? Lesser than the Eagle Speedster but a lot, lot more than a Mustang or a Cadillac CTS. The base price of a 2016 2-door coupe(435 bhp) is $238,700 (INR 1,58,66,424). Add $20,000 (INR 13,29,399) for the convertible model. The 4-door sedan with 420 bhp retails at $276,800 (INR 1,83,98,771), while the 4-door convertible is $296,800 (INR 1,97,28,340). No, they’re not finished. If you want an R version, with 640 bhp, prices start at $317,600 (INR 2,11,10,856) and a stretch limousine model starts at $357,600 (INR2,37,69,654). An R Limousine is the costliest of the lot with a price tag of $397,600 (INR 2,64,28,531). That is an enormous amount of money but I did tell you in the beginning that it wasn’t made for regular customers.
With these prices in mind you might think ordering one is going to be quite a task including background check and paper work, NO. It’s rather too simple.
The Zimmer website says that you merely have to “Select leather or cloth seats and fabric colour, and send a deposit check for 60% of the price.” Would you send an enclosed cheque for $2,14,000 in a letter to Zimmer that says “black leather ?”
Hmmm... Not sure how many people would do that. The company address listed on the website is a residential home. Let’s just agree that the Zimmer Golden Spirit is a bonkers, most expensive Ford Mustang or Cadillac CTS based car you’ll ever see (Probably).
FIN.
Original post — https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/17465-1930-s-on-the-outside-2016-on-the-inside-the-zimmer-golden-spirit
