Whether for a parade, or just to prove your patriotism to the neighbors, today’s wildly incoherent but all-American Nice Price or Crack Pipe custom is a melding of all that’s great in our great nation. Let’s see if its price also lets freedom ring.
Do you still consider Chrysler to be an American auto maker? I mean, it’s owned by the Italians, right? Before that it was the Germans, and in both instances the parent brand came first in the name. In the crazy world of global brands like Molson-Coors and Volvo-Zhejiang Geely it’s getting hard to figure out just who owns what, and where.
That wasn’t always the case, and when it was built, last Friday’s 1989 Dodge Shelby CSX-VNT was about as American-AF as you could get. That’s because, not only was it tuned by a guy who once was a Texas chicken farmer, but its base was built by a company that had just recently been bailed out by the U.S. Government. That’s right, the Feds, Uncle Sam, the Washington Elite.
Being awash in Americana so close to Independence Day obviously had an effect on the vote, and at five-grand, that somewhat rough CSX took home an honorable 56% Nice Price win. The question is however, was that car American enough…?
Look, as noted, today is the Fourth of July, and being the respectable patriot that I am I’ve got beer to drink, burgers to flip, and fireworks to ooh and aah. As that is the case, we’re going to have a bit of a truncated NPOCP today. After all, even though I usually try and include a little history around our contender, and some pro and con rationale to assist with your decision, I don’t have the time today, and I don’t exactly know where I would start on this… well, car.
The ad describes it as a 1965 Cadillac Eldorado Roadster, but as Abraham Lincoln said while first setting foot on the moon: “that’s one small step for man, and one giant WTF for mankind!”
Yeah, you just look at the car and you know that people would have to describe it in the way that people described Forrest Gump to his mother: it’s different. First off, that Caddy Eldorado? Uh-uh.
The base here is apparently a ’56 two-seat T-bird. That’s perplexing on its own because if you’ve been keeping up with the major themes of both the Trump and Clinton campaigns you’ll know that values on stock original ‘Birds are crazy high. Whatever the backstory, this one is neither stock nor original.
As you will no doubt note, onto that T-bird’s rounded and wrap-around windshield-having center section has been grafted the rectilinear front and rear clips off of the vastly larger ’65 Eldorado. The dashboard inside is also Cadillac, but it’s not a ’65. That’s a ’62 or something, and it’s fronted by a wood-rimmed steering wheel that looks suspiciously like it’s off of a Mustang, but carries the Cadillac crest.
This melding of the marques is enough to require your brain to do a reset in its consideration of just what it means to be American. But wait patriots, there’s more.
Under the hood resides neither a Ford nor Caddy powerplant. No, for whatever reason two American brands were not enough for the builder of this custom, a third was required. Powering the car is a Pontiac 389, an engine that for a time was the standard mill in the GTO and which gained the name Trophy V8 owing to its success in racing.
Now, I know that Pontiac is a fallen soldier, but get this: that just makes it all the more perfect. This car is about America and the sacrifices many have made to keep the union sound. Eff-yeah!
It’s hard to say just how sound this custom is, but it sure feels right to have it as our candidate on the Fourth of July. The price is $22,500—and that’s in good old American dollars, which are the best kind of dollars. What’s your take on this all-American and its $22,500 price? Does that asking price deserve a fly-over? Or, is that just so much rocket’s red glare?
You decide!
Chicago IL, U.S.A. Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to accordselux for the hookup!
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