Ah, 1980s luxury. There’s very little that has come close to the time in which you were considered a member of high society if you drove a car like the Zimmer Golden Spirit. I can’t really fathom this same thing happening today, but there’s a part of me that’s slightly nostalgic for how ridiculous it was that a car like this forgotten Zimmer here on craigslist actually cost very real money to buy. This one is a project without keys and the seller is looking for $5,000.
The Golden Spirit was a familiar sight in many hardbound books from the 1980s that featured splashy spreads about “exotic” cars. Somehow, the Golden Spirit always got lumped in with Porsche slant-nose 911s, Bertone-designed one-offs, and other 80s excesses like the Vector W8 and the Lamborghini LM-002. The reality was this was essentially a body kit on a Fox body chassis that had some upgrades like very nice Recaro seats, and that was seemingly enough to place it in the exotics category.
If this car was $2,500 cheaper, I would consider buying it just for the seats and the 5.0L powerplant, given those buckets are commanding $2,500 or more pretty regularly. The seller’s car seems like a long-forgotten project, as these often turned into once the first owner’s fascination wore out and the reality of steep depreciation set in. The listing mentions there are no keys but it does at least come with a title.
The Ford Mustang underpinnings aren’t hard to find, with a 5.0 under the hood and many obvious clues in the interior. Most Golden Spirits at least received some sort of upgraded wheel and tire package, but this one rides on standard turbine-style Mustang GT wheels. Despite the condition and general head-scratching a Golden Spirit causes, I find this car charming – and hope, if it’s solid underneath, someone rehabs it to its maximum “neuveu rich” state.
ha ha!
Crazy thing is,I actually knew two people that owned these when they were new. Yes they got alot of attention,so if your a person that doesn’t want to be noticed,then this car is not for you. Pretty Grady in my opinion. But hey,to each his own. These weren’t cheap by any means.
Just put out and left to disappear. Agreed some good parts there.
Better hurry!! Posted 24 days ago.
It’s the kind of car Idi Amin would find classy.
Who ever thought these were a good idea.??
Didn’t Eric Clapton have hit song around this era???
Your comment is inscrutable
I thought these were based on the Pontiac Fiero – or maybe both. I remember reading about them when they came out, I never really understood why one would want one.
That was the Zimmer Quicksilver.
Wow. My mom’s boss, Mr. Haegenbring, had one of these around that time frame, 1982 or so, in Arlington Heights, IL. Didn’t see many of them back then, so they had a certain uniqueness. Not exactly subtle, for sure.
You probably didnt see many around your neighborhood because they were built to order and were $175,000 new..
Could be his, it’s got Illinois plates. Can’t see anyone buying one outside the Chicago area unless maybe East St Louis. It reeks of management types in the “hospitality” industry.
I just read the Craigslist ad. My God, it WAS in East St Louis.
I just looked on the inflation website, and $175,000 in 1981 equals $580,000 in today’s dollars… So whomever originally commissioned and bought this derelict car was filthy rich back in the day..
Sometimes, two air horns just aren’t enough…
Crestfallen to see a Zimner neglected. True luxury bathes the occupants.
That’s right before they take a bath on depreciation.
Zimmer Rat-Rod.
I think this type of car attracted people born before or just after 1900 that remembered the classic Stuz Bearcats, Pierce Arrow cars but were too young to get one & Shazam created a small market with money to burn from Texas oil or texas instruments calculator revenue when calculators that fit in your pocket were like a dick tracy watch. Just my guess
proof that having money to afford expensive things doesn’t automatically translate into having good taste.
I’ve never understood the appeal for this genre of cheezy fake cars that pretend to be something they are not, but it’s a free country and there has obviously been a niche market for them. it’s spelled “Nouveau riche” by the way.
If there are still guys out there, wearing white polyester leisure suits and a comb over? Here’s your summer project.
I remember a customer of mine had one in the mid to late ’90s. Both he and the car must’ve went through the
hard times together as he was shabbily dressed and his car was sadly neglected. It had cracked fenders, faded trim, and the most ragged looking top I’d ever seen. And
I forgot to mention the mismatched
rims too. But it still ran and the poor
fella hung onto it even though it may
have been falling apart around him.
Sometimes while he ate his meal, I’d
look at the car and how forlorn it was.
Just goes to show you how delicate
some classic cars can be. Shoot, I’ve
seen Caddy’s and Lincoln’s in better
shape than this poor car. At least you
can still find what you need for a Caddy or a Lincoln at your local U Pull
It. These, not so much! If it were a
Tiffany, I’d buy it for my neice as a gag. But this I pass.
I was a 36 year old single handsome architect in the high end of town when I bought my first Ferrari back in 2006. Now seventeen years later, me and the Ferrari are a worn down shadow of what we once were. When I look at it in the garage with 2006 license plates still on it, and the Cohiba butt in the ashtray and ballet ticket stubs in the glove compartment, it reminds me of the very good days of the past..
For men who are lacking in a certain anatomical area.
Hair?
That too.
Somewhere someone is trying to restore one this would be better served as a donor I think its to far gone to restore, I would suggest to get it running and enter it in a bump to pass figure 8 race but I think the track safety folks would make you take all that JC Whitney crap off before they let you go
Like others said, the Mustang underpinnings are no problem. It seems the custom parts are fiberglass which shouldn’t be that difficult to fix. Anyone know about the interior? Except for the Recaros and what appears to be real walnut insets the rest of it appears to be a Ghia or LX level interior in all its plastic and naugahyde glory. 580k in 2023 dollars for this? I got a feeling Zimmer made more money selling their customer lists than selling cars.
As Ronald Reagan would start out “Well….” I see a lot of negative comments about this one as well as the other kit cars out about that time, and I liked most of them. The styling of a 1936 Mercedes is a classic, and a lot of these cars were trying to capture that “style”. I always wanted one, but I had a family to take care, and mouths to feed, mortgage to pay, et al… most of you know what I’m talking about. It is a shame that this one was allowed to just “sit” and it will take come work to get this back to any shape at all, but I sure wish I had the bucks to do it.
Low ball the seller. You never know!
I have a cloisonné’ hub cap for one of these looking for a home. Fairly nice piece of work!
Jim, I lost a hub cap from my Zimmer and I need a replacement. I am in zip 70593 – Youngsville, LA.
What do you want for it? Add in the shipping to me and send the $$ you want to me at ccxnola at aol dot com.
Thanks, Charles
Ugly then ….ugly now.
Please do not insult these two words: Rat, and Rod.
Elvis has left …
Not for a true automobile person who knows what they’re looking at by any means. Very much in the Clenet, Excalibur, Berlinetta genre. Neo classics. somewhat below the Auburn Speedster replicas. For someone with money to burn looking for a :”look at me” item. There should be a section in one of the larger museums that features these.
The builder ot this car also put out a far less gaudy machine based on the Fiero. You have to give credit to anyone who actually produces an aftermarket car in any numbers
This one restored would be a classy car to drive.
Something this world has sadly forgotten about…classy.