Latest news with #CadillacEldorado
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Ultra-Rare 1957 Chevrolet El Morocco Convertible Is Heading to Auction
A 1-of-10 Chevrolet El Morocco convertible is heading to auction on May 17 in Indianapolis, with no reserve price or estimate from the auction house. That means that almost anything could happen, though the same exact car sold a few years ago for nearly a quarter of a million dollars, and it's likely to do so again. The car is a modified Chevy Bel Air and inspired by a 1955 Cadillac Eldorado, built in 1957 by Canadian millionaire Ruben Allender, who wanted a Cadillac but smaller. In total, 34 El Moroccos were built, according to MotorTrend, though sources vary on how many were the 1956 model year and how many were the 1957 model year. Just 10 are known to still exist, according to Mecum's auction listing. More from Robb Report How the Layali Diriyah Pop-Up Is Redefining Luxury Retail-in the Saudi Desert Heesen Unveils a New 180-Foot Superyacht Just in Time for Your Summer Trip A Brand-New Glass House Floating Above Palm Springs Lists for $10 Million This example was completely restored to Concours-level quality, and since then just 78 miles have been driven on it. It is powered by a 283-cubic inch V-8 making in the realm of 220 horsepower, though the El Morocco isn't intended for speed of any sort but cruising, and likely only cruising to your local Concours event. The El Morocco can also simply be admired with the engine shut off in a garage. The transmission is a two-speed Powerglide automatic. This El Morocco was part of the Marv Seisel Collection in California, and was rescued by Seisel after a long search for El Moroccos that began in 1971. The owner of a meat store in San Diego, Seisel spent more than a decade looking for El Moroccos, at one point becoming convinced that none of the original 34 survived, according to MT. But then he found one—a hardtop version—in Columbus, Ohio, in 1983, and another, a convertible, in Columbus in 1990. Seisel found a third El Morocco—another convertible—in Texas in 1999. It is the first convertible Seisel found in Columbus that is up for auction now. All three of Seisel's El Moroccos were restored by Tel Pawney at D'Elegance in Fallbrook, California. El Morocco convertibles when new were $3,650, or about $42,200 in today's money accounting for inflation. The price now of several multiples of that reflects its rarity and condition. Click for more photos of the 1957 Chevrolet El Morocco convertible. Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Local Barn Find Boasts Vast Collection Of Classic Legends
⚡️ Read the full article on Motorious The idea of the perfect barn finds sits within the minds and hearts of automotive enthusiasts around the globe. Finding one's dream car in a chaotic state and slowly bringing it back to life to return to or surpass the car's original glory is a highly appealing thought. Some go even as far as to base their livelihoods around these automotive adventures as they travel from town to town looking for the subsequent significant discovery of a time long forgotten. This video perfectly encapsulates that passion for recovering the historical automobiles that grace the hallowed halls of this old storage warehouse. Upon entry to this place, you will find a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado and a 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme sitting together to the right of the entrance. Another cool classic that sits near these automotive legends is a W30 clone which needs a new interior but is mostly complete. In front of the W30, you'll find a 1953 Oldsmobile Convertible, which seems to hold a special place in the owner's heart as he will not be selling the beautiful vintage Oldsmobile. The final cars that we'll show you in this part of the barn are a 1957 Oldsmobile Super 88 Convertible and a 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which boasts a 455 ci V8 under the hood. The owner intends to rescue the car is a 1961 Pontiac Catalina Convertible, which runs and drives like a dream. The exterior blue has been covered in an aged patina but seems to be a very sound automobile from looking at it. Thankfully the convertible top is brand new, which allows this straight-body GM masterpiece to remain intact and capable of taking on the weather in most conditions. While we aren't sure what the new owner intends to do with the car, it seems like the vehicle is going into good hands, and we hope to follow its progression from a junkyard bound vintage to a show-stopping classic shortly.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
First Drive: This Restomod Tribute to the ‘Sebring Sprite' Demands Your Best Behind the Wheel
In 1959, the U.S. car market reached peak tail fin. That year's Cadillac Eldorado took jet-age styling to the extreme, with rear fenders like fuselages, chrome bumpers sculpted into afterburners, and razor-sharp fins topped by dual-bullet taillights. It remains a glorious monument to automotive excess. Also in 1959, an odd-looking British import landed on stateside shores. It was over seven feet shorter and two feet narrower than the Series 62 Caddy—and scarcely more than a quarter of its weight. You'd find no fins on its pert posterior, but its upright headlamps did look distinctive. In fact, they earned the car its nickname of Bugeye. More from Robb Report This New Lamborghini Gallardo Restomod Modernizes the Classic V-10 Supercar First Drive: This 1967 Jaguar E-Type Restomod Adds More Punch to the Classic's Character This New Ultralight Sports Car Is a Curvy Throwback to '60s GTs A tiny roadster offering driving thrills and absolutely no frills, the Austin-Healey 'Bugeye' Sprite was, in many ways, the antithesis of America's exalted land yachts. Yet its low price ($1,795 at launch) and simple, easy-to-fix mechanicals soon found it a loyal U.S. following, especially in the amateur motorsport scene. A stock Sprite's 948 cc engine mustered just 43 hp and 52 ft lbs of torque. That mill enabled the model to cover zero to 60 mph in 20.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 93 mph, but that was nothing a little bolt-on tuning couldn't fix. Austin-Healey was quick to capitalize on the Sprite's sporting success. 'If he drives a Sprite, he's a bachelor, or else he's married and wants a second car he can race,' declared a period print ad. A factory-backed team achieved a 1-2-3 finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1959, followed by a class win for Stirling Moss a year later. Even Hollywood legend Steve McQueen raced a Sprite, finishing ninth at Sebring in 1962. Those giant-killing 'Sebring Sprites' were developed by Geoff Healey, son of the marque's founder Donald, and boasted larger SU carburetors, Dunlop disk brakes, a straight-cut gearbox, and an aerodynamic hardtop roof. Original examples of the variant are extremely rare and highly collectible, but that's where Mythron Cars offers a solution. The British company has revived the Sebring Sprite for a 21st century audience. Building his own vehicle fulfills a dream for Jez Hayter, the man behind Mythron. 'I got the car bug,' he admits. 'I was a motorcyclist until I learned to drive aged 30, then I've owned 26 cars in the two decades since. Among those were a Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera, Lancia Fulvia Rallye, BMW M2 and i8, lots of Land Rovers, and an AC Cobra replica with a 5.7-liter Chevy V-8.' With a career that had been in advertising, Hayter changed course after buying a former Austin-Healey Sprite race car. 'Their design is simple, making it easy to understand the mechanics of the car and identify opportunities to enhance performance and handling, along with some styling improvements,' says Hayter. 'I saw the potential to refine them and create a version more suitable to modern driving. Also, I have always idolized Steve McQueen. And if a Sebring Sprite was good enough for him . . .' Mythron's Austin-Healey restomods are based on a Sprite or earlier examples of the related MG Midget. Buyers can choose from Fast Road (FR) or Fast Road Track (FRT) specifications: the former with a synchromesh transmission, leather trim, and softer suspension, while the latter comprises a straight-cut gearbox, carbon seats, and an FIA-approved roll cage. Prices start at around $82,000 excluding a donor vehicle, which Hayter and his team can source for you. The plan is to build 16 examples of each version (The numeral 16 being Steve McQueen's race number at Sebring). The car I'm test-driving is Mythron's FRT No. 001, the hard-worked prototype, fresh from its appearance on the Austin-Healey Club stand at the NEC Classic Car Show in Birmingham, England. 'It really struck a chord with all generations and those who weren't traditional Healey owners,' explains Hayter. 'I personally wanted to build a version of the car that the younger generation felt looked cool and would feel they could just get in and drive.' Its Old English White paint glinting in the harsh winter sunlight, the reborn Healey looks far more purposeful than a basic Bugeye (known as the 'Frogeye' in its home country). A coupe-style bonded roof gives it the authentic profile of a 1960s sports racer, while the original's steel hood and headlamp pods make way for a one-piece fiberglass front end. All the chrome trim, including the custom Sebring badge, has been ceramic coated in matte black. Roundels on the doors, a Le Mans filler cap, and 13-inch Weller steel wheels complete the look. Fold your limbs through the shallow door aperture and the FRT-spec Sprite has a similarly focused feel. You are locked in position by hard-shell Tillett race seats with four-point harness belts. Your feet are on the drilled pedals while hands grip a three-spoke Momo Prototipo wheel. The analog gauges are Mythron's own, including a GPS speedometer and a rev counter with LED shift lights. Ventilation is via sliding vents in the clip-on windows. As for infotainment, you don't even get a radio. I'm about to discover why. The Sprite's four-cylinder BMC A-series engine is similar to that found in classic Minis, but a rebore to 1,380 cc, a new cylinder head, high-compression pistons, Weber DCOE 45 carburetors, and a Maniflow exhaust have upped output to between 110 hp and 120 hp. In a car weighing a fraction over 1,300 pounds, that's enough to deliver a pace comparable to that of a Porsche Cayman. Yet with a spiky camshaft and very short gearing (70 mph corresponds to 5,500 rpm in fourth), this engine needs plenty of revs to give its best. Forget any thoughts of a gentle meander to Cars and Coffee: The Mythron demands to be driven. Its manual transmission has four ratios and a standard H-pattern gate, but the lack of synchro requires careful hand-and-foot coordination, both to keep the engine within its power band and to avoid grinding the gears. It's seriously loud, too, the snort and blare of the four-cylinder engine soon smothered by the stark mechanical whine of meshing straight-cut cogs. In here, a radio wouldn't stand a chance. Having never driven one of Geoff Healey's fabled Sebring Sprites, I can't make a direct comparison, but the Mythron FRT feels every inch the road-legal race car. What else? Well, it's joyously small, which matters less in the U.S., but is a real advantage on England's narrow, often overgrown country lanes. It's also agile, thanks to refurbished suspension with adjustable shock absorbers and uprated KAD front disk brakes. And it all fizzes with vibrant feedback, from the unassisted steering to the sense of throttle-adjustable balance, which tempts you to take every corner with a touch of opposite lock. The Mythron FRT is pretty intense on the road and, in truth, my preference would be for the FR version, which seems closer in spirit to a classic British sports car, if not to the original, race-ready Sebring Sprite. As with any restomod, there is endless scope for personalization, but it comes at a lower price than any reimagined 911 or E-Type. There can be few more affordable and evocative ways to drive like Stirling Moss and look like Steve of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
Sharjah 24
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Sharjah 24
Elite Cars winners of Classic Cars Festival shine in Dubai Mall
The display highlights four exceptional cars selected by the festival's jury in the 'Elite Cars' category, for the first time, which combine rarity, historical value, and a design that reflects the spirit of craftsmanship and uniqueness. The winning cars on display include: a 1978 BMW M1, a 1953 Cadillac Eldorado, and two 1955 Mercedes SL300 Gullwing. The rarest BMW cars The 1978 BMW M1 is one of the most prominent sports cars in the history of BMW. It was developed in cooperation with the Italian company Lamborghini with the aim of producing an advanced racing car to participate in sports car championships. The exterior was designed by renowned designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, inspired by the 1972 BMW Turbo. Cadillac's timeless splendour The 1953 Cadillac Eldorado is one of the most iconic luxury cars in Cadillac's history. It was introduced as a limited edition to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary, with only 532 units produced. The car features a unique and elegant design, including a wraparound windshield and low doors, as well as wire wheels as standard. A symbol of power and luxury from Mercedes The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 'Gullwing' is one of the most famous sports cars in history, thanks to its design inspired by the W194 racing car and its unique gullwing doors. It was first introduced at the New York International Auto Show, and was equipped with a 3.0-liter, 215-horsepower, six-cylinder engine with direct fuel injection, making it the first production car to adopt this technology.
The Guardian
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘I saw taxis as magical things': Sega's pop-punk classic Crazy Taxi at 25
Kenji Kanno, director of Sega's legendary driving game Crazy Taxi, remembers the exact moment he knew the game had made a seismic impression. 'I was going to Las Vegas for promotional work,' he says. 'I got into the taxi and the driver drove me very fast, arriving at my destination quickly. At the end, he laughed and said: 'I am the real Crazy Taxi!' It was a strange experience.' Initially released in arcades, the zany, pop-punk drive-em'-up celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Crazy Taxi was an addictive coin-swallowing thrill ride, the game's eccentric cabbies continually yelling 'Ready to have some fun?' and 'Time to make some crazy money!' in the faces of perturbed-looking normies who simply wish to be chauffeured over to Pizza Hut. Driving green-haired Axel's yellow 1960 Cadillac Eldorado so fast that its front bumper smashed into sunny San Francisco's concrete hills was a memorable experience for all who played. (The Ford Mustang-driving Gena was my mum's character of choice.) I remember losing an entire summer trying to master the 'crazy dash' technique that allowed you to boost faster around corners on the critically acclaimed Sega Dreamcast version of the game (released in 2000 and running at an impressively fluid 60 frames-per-second), instead of going outside to play with my friends. Subsequent ports on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox 360 drove sales of Crazy Taxi into the millions, creating a hit for Sega at a time where things weren't easy, as the formerly dominant Japanese console manufacturer was on the edge of exiting that business. Rock band the Offspring provided turbo-charged guitar riffs for Crazy Taxi's soundtrack, but that's not the only thing that makes it feel like a time capsule from the turn of the millennium. This game captured the carefree hyperactivity of late 90s/early 00s pre-9/11 America; an era where many young people's biggest worry was whether beer-swilling Stone Cold Steve Austin might retain the WWE world title. Despite its crossover success, Crazy Taxi had a lot of early detractors, Kanno remembers. 'At the beginning of development, more than half of the project members were strongly opposed to the idea of a game about taxi drivers,' he recalls. The way Hollywood had historically framed cabbies made the concept of Crazy Taxi a tough sell for Sega's executives. In the words of Marcello Di Cintio, the author of Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers: 'Cabbies in pop culture have often been characters on the margins. The stereotype, then and now, is that cabbies had a window on the seedy side of urban life, and were part of a nocturnal world the rest of us don't see. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex …' Kanno, though, was much more interested in the less sinister taxi drivers present in Luc Besson's 1998 action-comedy film Taxi, as well as the challenge of turning the guy behind the steering wheel into someone more lovable. Crazy Taxi's drivers are decidedly un-sinister, a bunch of grinning, colourfully dressed thrill-seekers who are the furthest thing from mundane. Kanno wanted the game to do for taxi drivers what Paperboy had done for, well, paperboys. 'I told the team: 'I think it is the job of games creators to make regular jobs look more cool! Even if this is a vision that no one has ever had before, then we should do it.'' Growing up, Kanno found taxis somewhat magical, he says. 'In Japan, taxi doors open automatically. As a child, I wondered why taxi doors opened as you approached them, but my family's car door stayed shut? This was so mind-blowing to me that I came to see taxis as these magical things.' When he got older, Kanno was obsessed with old Hollywood movies, and wanted to capture that same giddy tension and glamour presented in the iconic driving sequences in classics such as The Italian Job and The French Connection. A location such as San Francisco was perfect. 'What I wanted to express the most in Crazy Taxi was the dynamism of movie car chases. I chose San Francisco because it is a city with so many undulations that you can constantly express that kind of action.' Unlike most racing games, Crazy Taxi makes you think on your feet rather than learn its tracks. (Echoes of this chaotic approach can be seen in The Simpsons: Road Rage, which basically took the Crazy Taxi concept over to Springfield.) 'This is a game where players make split-second decisions in constantly changing situations,' Kanno says. 'That's why I made the other vehicles into obstacles. The design is not about memorising every course and taking the best line, but about the player navigating a constantly changing path.' A planned multiplayer mode was cut due to the technical limitations of the time. But the leaderboards still allowed for competitive, wait-your-turn battles between friends. For those who still struggle to last more than two minutes while playing Crazy Taxi (FYI: one rooftop shortcut is a gamechanger), is there any chance of a modern, multiplayer-enabled sequel? 'I can't say much,' replies Kanno. 'But Crazy Taxi will make you smile again soon!'
