During the height of the Malaise Era of automotive apathy in the 1970’s and 1980’s, there were a host of companies that churned out caricatures of classic 1930’s luxury car designs based on the cars of the day. You might remember our previous feature on these, which had you trying to guess what cars were chopped up to create these visions of feign opulence. Well, here’s another one for the list: the rare Kanzler Coupe. I found it for sale on Ebay, and they are asking A LOT of money for it.
What is a Kanzler Coupe, you ask? I’ve heard of quite a few of these Neoclassical marques, such as Excalibur, Clenet, and Zimmer, but never a Kanzler. From what I understand, these ones are very rare. They were comprised of parts from a number of different vehicles from different manufacturers. The engine was a smog-era 351 Ford V8, the chassis was from a Lincoln (although it’s unclear which Lincoln), and that swoopy center section of the body? At first, I thought it was a Porsche 911, but after further research, it is actually an Opel GT. I bet that threw you for a loop two, didn’t it? The design was penned by Ernie Kanzler Jr., whose father was a former Ford executive and relative-by-marriage to the Ford family itself.
According to the ad, there are only two of these known to still exist: the one in the ad, and one formerly owned by none other than Liberace. If its one thing Liberace loved, it was over-the-top opulence. He had a few different Neoclassicals in his motor pool, including one of these. This silver one here is the one he actually owned. Notice that it’s fitted with a little grille on the nose. The one for sale is missing that piece.
When this car was new, it cost $65,000 in 1980 money. That is a ridiculous amount for a car back then. Let’s put it in perspective: a Ferrari 308 back then cost right around $50,000. Base price on a Corvette was right around $13,000. You could have bought a whole fleet of awesomeness (well, as awesome as 1980 model year cars were) for the same price as the Kanzler Coupe.
I think if I’m going to plunk down a decent amount of money on an exuberant status symbol of the late 1970’s, I’m going to make sure the thing is perfect. These chrome wire wheels are original, but they have seen better days. Ouch.
In comparison to an Opel GT, the Kanzler is nearly 50 inches longer, 15 inches wider thanks to the huge running boards, and thanks to the underlying Lincoln chassis, the wheelbase is stretched from 95.1 inches to 120.4 inches. This tank weighs in at a hefty 4420 pounds.
Here’s the heart of the whole operation: a smog-era Ford 351. This one is rather ratty, with mismatched plug wires, a parts store chrome aisle air cleaner, and an Accel coil. I also spy a 1980’s vintage car alarm siren under there. Remember when I said that the seller was asking a lot of money for this vehicle? Well, folks, this is the engine bay of a vehicle that is being offered for $105,000. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, you just read $105,000! Wow….
The funny thing about this particular Super-Brougham is I don’t particularly hate it. Kanzler seemed to have some sort of talent, as the many curves of this thing somehow seem to work together. That ginormous continental kit is almost comical though. If I had an unlimited amount of income, I’d buy the thing, toss in a turbocharged Coyote V8, and troll some supercar owners!
So, what do you readers think of this strange Neoclassical? I was thinking about these cars on a whole recently, and why they even exist. Remember the tuner muscle cars of the late 60’s-early 70’s, like the Yenko Nova and Camaro, the Baldwin-Motion Chevrolets, Mr. Norm’s Mopars, and the various Hurst cars? Of course you do, because they are awesome! But when cars got fat and slow, and performance was not as much of an option anymore due to the various forces against big horsepower and torque, I think people wanted a more comfortable ride to get to their destination, albeit slowly. I mean, if you are stuck in some barge going slow anyway, you might as well be surrounded in endless acres of crushed velour or soft Corinthian leather, right? These Neoclassicals are the “tuner” cars of the Personal Luxury era. They went the other way; instead of performance, they cranked up the style (for better or worse, and usually worse), made the interiors even more luxurious, and then offered them for absurd amounts of cash. The Kanzler Coupe may represent the most exclusive of all Neoclassicals. But with the old muscle tuner cars going for crazy money these days, does this car have any business being sold for $105,000? I know what I think, but what do you readers think? Will they ever be heralded as collector’s items, or will they be the butt of automotive-themed jokes from now to eternity? Let us know in the comments below!
How I wish this deluded maniac had had a double hand amputation shortly after birth – then this wheeled abortion would have never been seen.
Shoulda stuck to the V8 transplant and not ruined one of the most beautiful small sports coupes ever made…..
Still – I’ll give him 10 bucks and use it as an emetic for severe Chevy poisoning!
With Lincoln underpinnings and a Ford powerplant, the Opel GT is a huge curveball for me.
I would laugh until my sides ached if this thing had a Mopar 8 3/4″ rear or a Torqueflite in the mix: complete Big 3 cross-pollination.
The design somehow works together a lot better than most neoclassical ’70s luxury cars. It’s a lot better looking than an Excaliber or a Zimmer. Not that any of its competition set the bar very high. But he seems to have put a lot more originality into the design, instead of copying a classic design and stretched it (badly) to fit the proportions of some other car, and the overall result is much better.
But I’m not sure who would pay $105,000 for it.
Marketed to the “bold individualist”…is that another word for screwball? I’m afraid mass-production “Opel GT” was the first and only thing I saw there, perched on top of a frame that’s wider than that body is and then with all that horrible, horrible fiberglass. Say you were standing on a sidewalk in Vegas and saw that thing at a light next towering to a stock Opel, it could only be comedic. The whole thing could only have been created as a means to separate Liberace from some of his money as his world closed in, that one single other person bought one (did they really?) would be amazing.
Now that I’ve stopped nauseously convulsing lets have an objective look at this turd.
1. It was almost 200 grand in 1980’s money.
2. Sold when white dudes with afros were waking up from blow coma’s in platforms, bell bottoms and butterfly collars.
3. Is the automotive equivalent of a hot 22 year old (Opel) thats now 50, had work done and looks like a fat bloated plastic faced monster.
4. Rumour has it that the white one sold its grill because they couldn’t find a replacement for the silver one after some guy named Lance in a Rabbit convertible was rear ended by Liberace.
5. Neo Classic is an oxymoron.
6. If Steve McQueen would drive it it’s collectable. If its driven by Nouveau Riche pompous jagoffs what do you think it’s gonna do? Btw what year was Will.I.Am born?
Killing it with fire would take more effort than it’s worth. $105k? Yeah, right.
If there are two left….and they have smogger 351’s they’d probably get 80 – 90 mph out of them…sooo…if you stuck them on a runway going flat knacker toward each other it’d be spectacular AND would take them both off the planet.. win win!
Looks like someone missed out on Cash for Clunkers.
Interestingly, this car is currently being “featured” on the Copart website. Having NEVER seen one before I was “intrigued” (read: bored) and had o do a little poking around on the web. Surprisingly, the current bid is at 23k!!!!! It will be interesting to see just how much this mutt brings.