Get a load of this, what a showboat! It’s a 1979 Clenet but it looks like a cross between an Excalibur and a Mercedes SSK – only more flamboyant. Manufactured by the Clenet Coachworks, it’s number 114 of 250 produced between 1975 and 1987. This Series I roadster is located in Oswego, New York and is available, here on craigslist for $64,500. Thanks are due to Pat L for this most unusual find!
This Series I roadster has a lot of visuals going on. It’s a claimed 29K mile example with a sort of explosion of lines and hues occurring. From what can be seen, it appears to be in fine nick – no doubt. We’re told this car rides on a 120.4″ wheelbase so that perception of length is genuine. As a comparison, a ’71-’76 full-size B-body Chevy Caprice/Impala rode on a 121″ stretch – and those were big cars! The jutting front and rear bumpers/fillers don’t really do this Clenet any favors (bumper regs?) and honestly, I don’t think a continental spare looks right on anything. Chrome wire wheels and white stripe tires? Kind of like socks with sandals but OK. The seller adds, “Clenets were called ‘Drive Art’ by Automotive Age and the ‘American Rolls-Royce’ by Fortune“. “Drive Art” maybe, an American Rolls-Royce? I’m not buying that.
Rather than paraphrase, here’s the interior description, “Also included was English leather upholstery, lambswool carpeting, a solid walnut dash, a crystal ashtray and accessories, cut glass wind laces, soft top, as well as a color-matched tonneau cover. Danish teakwood accents…“. It is amazing that the environment is as clean as it is as all of those light shades are just dirt magnets – something as simple as a slightly grimy paw-print will make itself known not to mention what will happen with those blond wool kick panels. Then again, all of it is new and should look perfect but the fact that it had to be replaced validates my assumptions about the degree of difficulty in the cleanliness department. From what can be seen, the walnut instrument panel appears to be lacking in ostentatiousness and bears a nicely arranged gauge functionality about itself.
Power is provided by a Ford 351 CI V8 engine but which 351, or its provenance, is not disclosed. The seller mentions the inclusion of an MSD ignition but allows nothing more than that regarding operational capability or driving manners. A three-speed automatic transmission handles gear changes.
So, what was the target market for this $100,000 ride? The seller states, “Buyers ranged from Farrah Fawcett, Rod Stewart, former World Boxing Champion Ken Norton, Superbowl Champion Quarterback Jim McMahon, and Sylvester Stallone to King Hassan II of Morocco“. And today? Hard to say, it’s a curiosity item, and an expensive one at that, but I can see where some would think it worthy of an electic collection. If you want to learn more about the Clenet, here you go. It’s probably not for me but how about you?
Got to wonder where they got 250 MG Midgets to make the passenger compartments out of.
At the time, I doubt it was terribly difficult to find used-up Midgets to cannibalize. Clenet didn’t need much of a donor car.
It’s possible they used new tubs; I’ve never heard one way or the other. Given the final price, it wouldn’t have hurt the bottom line very much.
Guarantee the Brits didn’t have any spare tubs in the late ’70s as the whole industry was scrambling to stay afloat. Still have to wonder what kind of effort it took to get that many. Have been up close to one of these and the workmanship is very good but little things like the dollar three ninety eight taillights on either side of the spare tire do detract.
I worked for the MG TRIUMPH JAGUAR dealer in Burbank. We sold them lots of parts straight over the parts counter. Hard to believe now, but these cars were taken seriously when new!
It’s actually located in Oswego Illinois.
I was born and raised in Oswego NY…
My oh my sure looks tight under the hood. Had a Midget many moons ago and there is not a lot of shoulder room. Squint and it does have the classic 30’s look, think that was the goal.
Pfft, just another Excalibur wannabe. I know, how can I be for one form of these cars, and not others.I don’t know, maybe someone who lived and delivered paint to the Clenet factory, has the same feelings as me. Naturally, I’m partial, but the Excalibur was a true home made American car,( VW lights aside) from West Allis, Wisconsin, dag nabit, the proportions are way off here, and Excalibur never had a funky continental kit. If you are going to copy a car from the 30s, it’s side mount spares, not a cheesy fad from the 50s. It’s okay, it’s America, where one pizza place fails, and another moves in, like THEY are going to make it. The people mentioned that bought these, were never really that famous, and pales compared to the Excalibur roster of buyers.
Had me going there on the taillights Howard. Those fender taillights on this car are motorcycle units not VW. It was the original Excalibur that had the VW units wasn’t it?
Indeed, say what one will about Excalibur’s retro-extravagant styling, at least they were properly purpose-engineered automobiles with a fully custom chassis, body, and interior fabricated by hand entirely from scratch to a very high standard, not some me-too hodgepodge of a production chassis from here, passenger compartment from there, etc.
Farrah had one? Well I’ll bet after she brought it home, the Six Million Dollar Man took it out to the desert for a spin, and promptly beat the living crap out of it.
Ha! That show, when $6 million dollars was considered a lot of money,,,
And possibly her for squandering the cash. I recall seeing my first Clenet at the Chicago Auto Show in Feb. of ’77. I believe that it listed for $40K. Collectable Automobile had a very positive piece on it and its creator.
“American Rolls-Royce” by Fortune“. Hardly. If you don’t ban my naughty word, I’d describe it more as ‘Barbie’s pimpmobile’. Nice shag though.
Absolute insult to Rolls Royce, or any other car for that matter. Over the years America built some beautiful, grand, stately cars, but this is definitely not one of them.
Only 250 people wanted one then. How many people would want one today? At asking price, I believe the number is zero. This smells like a fishing expedition. I think it’s a $20k car at best.
I love wonderfully hideous creations like this. Dang, I miss the 1970s!
Cut those headers and run em open. Let that Ford breathe and pile on whatever disrespect might come to mind! Shun this memory of old shame I say!
The chrome exhaust components are all for show, and are non-functional (the pipes on the exterior of the engine compartment are not connected to the engine). The Ford OEM exhaust system was left in place, allowing these to be 50 state emissions compliant. Both series of these vehicles were built with the full cooperation of Ford, and, later, Volkswagen, for the Series II 4 passenger cabriolets.
It is a misnomer to think that “only 250 people wanted this car”- only 250 were ever to be built. All 250 Series I cars were completed and sold. Around 170 or so of the Series II 4 passenger car were completed prior to the company running into financial difficulty and closing. Part of the problem may have been over expansion. We had moved into a brand new gazillion dollar factory, with established assembly lines, defined departments and expanded production capacity. The engineering department had a precision surface plate large enough to accommodate an entire vehicle. Again, say what you will about the “polarizing” styling, but these weren’t cobbled together vehicles, and people were more than willing to write six-figure checks “back in the day” to acquire one. I saw a lot of famous faces pass through on tours. Many were also sold to non-flamboyant, but very financially successful business owners, who wanted people to see that they had “made it”. The company reserved final approval over exterior paint combinations and interior colors to avoid some newly-affluent clients from requesting “Beverly Hillbilly” color combinations (and they were requested in some cases).
Socks and sandals !
Have you seen the kids now ? They all proudly wear them with high socks !
Valve cover is Cleveland
These look ok, but not my cup of tea, and that is a crazy price. And why is the transmission selector between P & R?
can you please explain : trans. selector between P & R ? dont know what your saying.
I worked at Clenet as an electrician, mostly on the second series, after this edition was sold out. There were never plans to build more than 250 cars of each series. Each one is individually serial numbered (ie: 1/250, 2/250, etc.). This is what we called a “2 pass”. The second series was a “4 pass”. The comments regarding the use of MG shells is correct. The second series used brand new, in the crate, OEM VW convertible body components. The body is all welded custom formed steel added to the MG shell, with fiberglass fenders. These shells were used as the door structure/latches were already FMVSS certified, saving Clenet $$$$ on testing- same with the VW parts. We hired ex-RR craftsmen to do the dash and wood accents. Brand new Recaros were stripped and redone in Connolly hides. The chassis evolved over time- the first Series I cars used Lincoln Continental chassis (a few with 460s). Ford OEM chassis and accessories (HVAC, wiring harnesses, etc.) were used, and warranty service was available through Ford dealers. Most came in for service in enclosed transporters, however. The Series II cars used a brand new Mercury Marquis chassis- the bodies were removed and sold. The frame was modified as needed to accommodate the Clenet body. We even trued the tires on a tire lathe for roundness. Say what you will about the styling (I am not a fan), but back in the day, people were climbing over each other to purchase the Series I cars, as there would only ever be 250 of them. A coworker scraped together enough money to buy a production reservation, which he resold at a huge profit. These were well-engineered, well-built vehicles, not some bastardized GM nightmare. We had numerous auto industry veterans doing design and engineering work. A development mule was being constructed for the proposed Series III car when I left to return to college. It had an Australian sports sedan body (I don’t remember the brand, but it looked killer) with a Porsche engine. I could go on, but two last items: the shifter on the dash rotates to unlock, then you pull it out to shift the A/T. Also, the rear taillights are Harley Davidson and the front are also motorcycle items (Kawasaki?). Too long ago to remember…
Helpful, Thx!
JO
I’ve always loved neo-classics, whether it’s Excalibur, Clenet or Tiffany. But I gotta ask…roller windows and not power? Why? Power windows were plentiful in ’79.
How interesting thanks for the story, John. I actually stopped by in December ’81 to try and get hired by Alain Clenet! I saw the fantastic facility but indeed, that (too) fast growth lead to the company’s failure.
Wonder what he did afterwards…
If you are going to sell any car like this you should be required to throw in a purple suit, a matching wide-brimmed hat sporting a giant feather and a cane.
Much as I like the styling of this one it just won’t work. With a handicapped wife who uses a wheelchair or power scooter to help with mobility, picking up either of these to put in the trunk or retrieve from the trunk would be impossible. Rats!!!
Never heard of this one, but I love it…. reminds me a lot of the Excalibur, but it has its own style….. Definitely out of my price range…. hmmm… also not enough garage space for it either…. somebody will have great fun with this one.
If money wasn’t a problem, it would be fun to own this to place custom licenses that would read “GAUDY”. A simple yet accurate acknowledgement of its presence. Still would love to have it for its collectability. Got the room… lack the cash.
A twenty five thousand dollar car at best.
OK, Enough with the critics & disparaging comments, especially if you hadn’t seen one of these up close and personal. Fit, form & function coupled with overall build quality were light years ahead of their contemporaries of the day.
I saw one at a car show in SanFrancisco and was truly impressed with the overall appearance, less the trumpet horns. The asking price in this ad is way out of line though. Unfortunately the market today is narrow band for such a car. The “bling factor” is such that the IRS will probably see it and pull your tax return for a thorough audit.
I love Clenets and would buy this one for about $10,000.00 and have a place for it in my garage. I am certain there are a few folks out there who can negotiate a reasonable price with the current owner.
I met a man in Stillwater OK back in the early 80s who was building his own version of this car (MG back half on full size ford and gm frames) and calling it a ‘Carmine’. He was a one man show, working all day to build cars, then sleeping on a pile of rags in the corner of the shop at night. I occasionally think of that poor b*****d, and wonder if he ever sold one.
Really, a Gazelle on steroids.
.
Not to ramble on, but for a great inside look at the various production facilities, see: https://www.clenetclub.com/clenet-factories.html
I worked in both Factory 1 and 2. You can see in Factory 2 that it was an actual production line, although each car was essentially “hand-built” to specification- not “garage built cars”. You can see the Series I cars (incorporating the MG tub) in the photos of Factory 1. All of the Series II cars (incorporating a new VW convertible passenger compartment/top assembly recovered in insulated Haartz cloth) were built at Factory 2, with a number built offsite while the new factory was being built (we were really backed up- lots of orders). For a photo of a typical Series II, see:
https://www.wallpaperup.com/74187/DiMora_Clenet_Series_II_Cabriolet_cars_1979.html
The odd color of the fenders in some photos were padded fitted fiberglass covers for the fenders. We all were required to wear lambswool belt buckle protectors- a scratch was a serious screw up. The paint quality on the all-steel body and fiberglass fenders was world class. If you are wondering, the grille shell was from a then-current Lincoln.
I left after returning to college, as I was offered a position with an engineering firm that was a subcontractor to Disney Enterprises and worked on numerous vehicle projects for their theme parks around the world (busses, firetrucks, railroad cars, etc.), as well as some projects for Universal Studios (I met one of the original Cobra mechanics on this assignment).
I recently wrapped up a 30 year career in the fire apparatus industry- building, fixing and selling every type of apparatus except aerial ladders. My last assignment was selling vehicles like these to various government agencies (see the green trucks in the second photo from top):
https://www.bmefire.com/deliveries/usfs/
I never grew up and continued to “play with cars” my whole life.
Thanks for putting up with my ramblings…
Most interesting account! I recall an associate of my father’s had a son that worked for Clenet as a painter. Is the name Petrakus (not sure on the spelling) familiar? I believe that he too purchased a Clenet.
Contrary to “putting up with my ramblings” I, and many others I’m sure, find your ramblings absolutely fascinating. I have always looked at these Clenets, Zimmers etc. as crap motor cars and of no use to the serious motorist at all, however, after reading your comments and viewing the Clenet websites I now realise how serious the builders were, and how much work went into each vehicle to make it into such a quality car. Thank you for your dedication over the years to the motor industry.
I’m not sure what happened to second link in post above (although I like Queensryche). Try this instead: https://www.clenetcorner.com/regpix/s2-176.jpg
I believe Les Wexner had one of the first of these.
$64,500 and doesn’t even have power windows? I wonder what else it doesn’t have for $64,500?
At least the rear design is better than that squared off version on the Excaliburs and others. JMO
Is this a ground up or did they slap a fiberglass body on a Cougar or Grand Prix?
All steel body- see my comments above. Modified Ford chassis. The OEM MG Midget doors assemblies, with manual windows, were retained in the Series I cars. The Series II cars had power windows. There was no “slapping” going on while I was employed there- all engineered and hand built.
I think it’s remarkable that so many commenters have, like me, had some sort of first-hand involvement with Clenet when these cars were first built.
Excalibur did it so much finer
Hey John, I was hesitant to respond to your very well done recollections of working for Clenet. But after reading Solosolo UK ‘s last response with a change of heart towards Clenet quality, I wanted to add that I also worked for Clenet in the body department briefly in 81. That was after working in Atascadero for Ray Kinney where we built a custom dual cowled phaeton, all steel parade car for the King of Morocco, contracted through Clenet of Goleta. The parade car was done from renderings by a very well-known illustrator whose name escapes me. We used A&B pillars with doors stretched vertically from a Fiat sedan. The B pillar was stretched fore and aft and provided the base for the second windshield. Both windshields were from an MG midget. It featured front and back speedos.The grill was a reproduction steel unit built in Wisconsin.I sectioned it about two and a half inches and widened it at the top corners so it would form birdseye hood lines into more of a Vee then those straight back of a Duesenberg. We hand formed most of the rest of the body except the decklid which was sectioned from a 50s Jag sedan. The drivetrain was an Australian 351 Ford, all new. I have many photos of it in progress and finished. It took 6 months from start to finish. We were exhausted, a small crew, three sometimes four craftsman with no life for 6 months..
Johnny-
Thanks for your reply. I really enjoyed working there. Now, 40+ years later, people have moved on from this genre of automobile, but I still remember the feeling of pride building a high quality, hand built product- the same feeling that I was able to maintain my entire career. The body work that you guys did was stellar. I was always impressed with the finished and painted bodies when we received them on the production line (and I always worried about a scratch from me…). I have only seen photos of the dual cowl vehicle- impressive. All my wishes for your continued health and happiness. P.S.- I heard a story about a Series 1 car that belonged to a sports star (Leon Spinks?) that came in bashed front and rear- he left his kid in the car with the engine running, between two fixed objects. If true, were you involved with repairs? Take care.
Never heard about a smashed Spinks car or had any thing to do with it’s repair. Can hardly believe it’s all over 40 years ago. Thanks for the kind words.
My best wishes for you too.
Pictures requested
https://www.clenetclub.com/_uploaded_files/gallery745481477photo_1.jpg
Johnny-
Bring a Trailer had an ex-King of Morocco Rolls (I think) years ago for sale. I opined that it should have a bumper sticker reading “If this car is moroccan, don’t bother knockan”. Yeah, stupid, I know…
Might have helped the sale with the right crowd a bidden,..