The Tiffany was one of several over-the-top, opulent kit cars built by Classic Motor Carriages of Florida. In the case of this one, a 1986 Mercury Cougar is lurking around under all the fiberglass and chrome that were applied. The company survived from the 1970s until the 1990s when it got into some financial and legal trouble. This ’86 Tiffany, one of an unknown number made, looks to be in fine shape with less than 10,000 miles on the odometer. Located in Elma, New York, this interesting find is available here on craigslist for $24,950. Our tip sleuth T.J. has come up with another one!
Classic Motor Carriages was supposedly at one time the largest specialty car company in the world. They operated out of a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing facility near Miami, Florida. The Tiffany automobile must have been its flagship model as the company was originally named Tiffany Motor Cars. They focused on replica cars of yesteryear. The Gazelle (a 1929 Mercedes), The Tiffany, and The Speedster were a few of the company’s offerings. Unfortunately, the company’s owners ran afoul of the law in 1994 and 1995 and shut down operations. After a seven-year waiting period, car owner information and production history were destroyed.
This Tiffany, heralding to the Great Gatsby era of the 1920s, appears to have been babied for the past 37 years. Its roots as a Mercury Cougar are apparent in the roofline of a sixth-generation car (1983-88) with this one from 1986. We’re told the production values for the Tiffany were quite high but we’re not quite sure where the Cougar ends, and the Tiffany begins. Certainly, the driveline is all-Ford with a 5.0-liter fuel-injected V8 engine and automatic transmission. We assume it runs as well as it looks.
Specific to the Tiffany were its real wire wheels, stainless steel exhaust pipes, leather trunk straps, 18k gold plated hood ornament and lettering, and more. The car was equipped with at least as many features as the Cougar, including power steering and disk brakes, cruise control, tilt wheel, automatic climate controls, twin leather power bucket seats, AM/FM/cassette stereo, automatic headlights, air horns, digital Mercury dash, power windows, and so forth. This is all fine and dandy, but if you bought the car, what would you do with it? Daily driver, nah? Cars & Coffee, maybe? Cougar owners’ convention, hell yes!
Pfft, all these Excalibur wannabes, I suppose it’s similar to the layperson. The fact it’s on an 80s Cougar base would make me pass. I mean, the whole allure of the Excalibur was it had Corvette guts. Sorry, close, but no cigar here.
Well said Howard..,Brooks and gang created a beautiful saucy ride in the Excalibur….
I’d rather have the cougar.
Who ever thought these were are good idea…
Gloriously hideous.
Wish I could get this car for my neice
as her name is Tiffany. Dunno if she’d
drive it because she’s more of a tom
boy and not a girly girl. One good thing going for it, it sure beats that bland boring styling served up by
carmakers back then. Me, I’d love to
A build a replica of a 300SL using the
suspension of a Corvette with a Buick
V-6 from a Grand National. Now that’s a replica!
Looks more like the great gasps-y.
Be cool 😎 to do a monster burnout, and launch this opulent piece down the road.
Love that JC Whitney inspired front end.
even as a wee lad i hated these things
I can’t imagine anyone wanting this now or in the 1980s, it’s ridiculous and frankly difficult to look at.
Crusty the Klown’s car
Not for me
This is definitely a “love or hate” machine. I like the front end, but hate the tail end. I’d be a bit wary since the builders got in trouble with the law and had to shut down, then the records were destroyed… even if I had the money, I would pass on this one.
Are these taking over BF’s instead of 69 & 70 Mustang’s?
I had the misfortune of driving one once. Fortunately nobody I knew saw me . . .
American car designers and builders really went from the sublime to the ridiculous back in the day. I wouldn’t want this as a gift thank you.
I would love this if I could afford it
I ve been living at the same house for close to 30 years
My neighbors have been entertained with all kinds of muscle cars , bmw’s, porsche ´s and asian , mostly convertibles and many different rv’s
Many have walked, stopped, asked questions and commented
Some have said that they wait for the spring to see what this year brings
I should buy this ugly thing , that would send them on a brain struggle
Knowing that i have always had racy cars , they would think that i am finally getting old or acting my age …
Not going to happen …
YOLO