Photo: RM Auctions
The King of the Cowboys was a good friend of Nudie Cohn, a renown designer identified as the creator of the image of the country-western star. The designer’s Rodeo Tailors in Hollywood produced its first colorful suit for Western singer Tex Williams in 1947. Many other projects followed, but in the auto industry he will be remembered as the creator of the highly customized Nudie Mobiles, one of which is the one we’re talking about here.
Ordered or bestowed upon only his best clients, these vehicles were custom-built machines that would use the same designs as Nudie’s suits, frequently based on white Cadillac or Pontiac convertibles. Only 18 were produced between 1950 and 1975, with nine known to have survive to this day.
These country machines are rare and most of them are still located in museums, but not this one. As opposed to what is regularly the case, the fact that it wasn’t meant for Rogers at first makes it carry the same features most of the other models did. The stock upholstery was removed and replaced with hand-tooled leather, which, along with the steering wheel, dashboard, and virtually every other surface, is decorated in genuine, collectable silver dollars.
Its value comes from much more than the actual dollars they used. Nudie Mobiles were quite famous for using firearms as decorative art. Sure, none of them was in any way dangerous, as they were non-operational. No fewer than 14 guns were used in the Pontiac in question, many of them integrated into the engineering of the body and chassis. For instance, the driver has to “fire” the guns to shift the transmission, open the doors, sound the horn, and so on.
According to RM Sothebys, each of the six-shooters and Derringers employed in this Pontiac were heavily modified with chrome plating and, as such, are fully safe, as are the authentic bullets used in the cartridge belts. If all these and many more don’t seem too intriguing, petrolheads will definitely observe the six-foot-wide pair of genuine Texas Longhorns the front of the car was fitted with.
The car was not only owned by the famous cowboy actor but Nudie’s friends and clients signed the tonneau cover, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Johnny Sands, and, of course, Dale Evans. The rare vehicle is estimated at between $250,000 and $350,000 and will go under the hammer on December 10, 2015.
These country machines are rare and most of them are still located in museums, but not this one. As opposed to what is regularly the case, the fact that it wasn’t meant for Rogers at first makes it carry the same features most of the other models did. The stock upholstery was removed and replaced with hand-tooled leather, which, along with the steering wheel, dashboard, and virtually every other surface, is decorated in genuine, collectable silver dollars.
Its value comes from much more than the actual dollars they used. Nudie Mobiles were quite famous for using firearms as decorative art. Sure, none of them was in any way dangerous, as they were non-operational. No fewer than 14 guns were used in the Pontiac in question, many of them integrated into the engineering of the body and chassis. For instance, the driver has to “fire” the guns to shift the transmission, open the doors, sound the horn, and so on.
According to RM Sothebys, each of the six-shooters and Derringers employed in this Pontiac were heavily modified with chrome plating and, as such, are fully safe, as are the authentic bullets used in the cartridge belts. If all these and many more don’t seem too intriguing, petrolheads will definitely observe the six-foot-wide pair of genuine Texas Longhorns the front of the car was fitted with.
The car was not only owned by the famous cowboy actor but Nudie’s friends and clients signed the tonneau cover, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Johnny Sands, and, of course, Dale Evans. The rare vehicle is estimated at between $250,000 and $350,000 and will go under the hammer on December 10, 2015.
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