1-of-1 All-Original 1984 Cadillac Gucci Limousine Is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Barn Find

Jackie Gleason was known for his fear of flying. He was using planes regularly, but one incident left him unable to feel comfortable in the air. The actor was traveling to New York when two of the plane’s engines shut down. The pilots were forced to land as soon as possible, and it was a rough ride until they reached Tulsa Airport in Oklahoma and stopped with no one being seriously injured.

From that moment forward, Gleason preferred cars and trains. He didn’t want to board the next flight to New York. The actor was so keen on avoiding air travel that he ended up borrowing money from a stranger to finish the trip. Of course, the man was repaid in due course.

His love for cars was something the public knew about the actor. He even shared this little passion with President Nixon, but it was happening far from the public eye. The two also enjoyed talking about unidentified flying objects (UFOs). They got quite close thanks to Gleason’s charisma and popularity, but also because of the Long John Nebel radio show that focused on this topic almost every day. It was run by “The Great One,” the nickname the actor got from the public and accepted with no hesitation.

Jackie Gleason’s rise within the Hollywood ranks meant he was ready to spend more on cars he liked. Maybe it was a way of coping with the fact that he never got an Emmy, even though he was successful. The star of “The Honeymooners” TV series owned models like a 1968 Lincoln Continental Lehmann-Peterson limo or a tailor-made 1978 Lincoln Continental that signaled the man’s interest in custom, American-made luxury vehicles.

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One of his last orders was a Cadillac Gucci Limousine.

The Warren-based Manufacturer started a collaboration with the Italian fashion house before the 1980s happened. The Seville Gucci Edition, for example, got quite popular among the well-known and rich Americans of that period. But Gleason wanted something special, a long-wheelbase car with the proper amenities that was only his and no one else’s.

Cadillac listened, asked the actor for almost $100,000 in 1984 (that would amount to $276,000 in 2022), discussed the project with Gucci, and delivered a one-off that met all the criteria. It had everything the actor wanted: style, impressive looks, branding from the Italian fashion house, a fridge, TV, and top-level comfort.

Unfortunately, Gleason never took delivery of the 1984 Stretch Fleetwood Limo Gucci. Yes, that was the car’s official name after Cadillac took care of the whole conversion. The V8-powered vehicle sat on the showroom floor for a couple of months, then it was bought by a gas station owner and taken to an undisclosed location where it spent most of its life. It was discovered last year by some passionate people, and they used it for a couple of private events, but the car surfaced in the online world recently. Now it can be seen by almost anyone that’s interested.

Unfortunately, there are no proper, verifiable photos available that can show the car being stored away somewhere and collecting dust. We're going to have to take the new owner's word for it, even if he says the Gucci Caddy still has "the original oil" in it.

Gleason’s custom limo was bought by a Miami businessman. His focus is modifying cars and trucks. The man explains that the car is in mint condition. The only thing that was replaced was the battery. It even has the dealership stickers that show when servicing was done and the original tires. The literature is intact, and nothing looks broken on the inside or the outside of the Cadillac. That’s also one of the reasons why this car is precious. Spare parts are nowhere to be found, as neither Gucci nor Cadillac kept track of it.

The 1-of-1 Gucci limo has 5,000 on the odometer. It took Cadillac two years to make it with the help of the fashion house, and here it is, after 38 years, looking like it just left the factory. The video down below shows the vehicle runs properly and looks like it fits the Miami scenery. The new owner decided to fit new wheels on the car. We’ll let you be the judge of that.

If you're planning to visit Fayetteville, Georgia, in late May, then you'll have a chance to see this special, unique limo. It will join the Promise Land Car&Bike Show.