Gerard DePersio is the owner of an uber rare 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt. The car, one of five ever made, was used as a promotional tool, touring the country to drum up interest in Chrysler offerings in the early 1940s Ironically, as WWII progressed and the country trained all of its resources onto the war effort, the promise and vision of cars like the Thunderbolt were lost for years as domestic manufacturers ceased car production to build tanks, planes, and whatever else our soldiers needed. The Thunderbolt really represents the last “dream car” produced prior to the outbreak of the war.
DePersio, who bought the car for $40,000 from the Harrah’s collection back in 1985 claims to have dropped $750,000 into the project of bringing it back to life. An expert quoted in the story believes that this car may be the nicest one in existence, and seeing as how the last one that sold fetched $1.1 million, the asking price, or in this case, reserve price, of $1.5 million may not be too far off.
We think the car is a total freakshow and honestly, we don’t get it. We get the significance of the piece with respect to Fiat Chrysler history, but to view it as some sort of rolling sculpture? Hell, it appears to be driving backwards from our vantage point.
As for the comment on the dressing habits of the 70-year old seller, just click the link below to see what we’re talking about. You’ll understand it then.
Source — OCRegister.com — Restored ’41 Thunderbolt is 1 of 5 ever built
