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This Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe Could Be the Perfect Car for Halloween, Is Up for Grabs

Initially, the Golden Spirit Coupe was a 2011 Ford Mustang GT. Zimmer – a company that currently specializes in transforming Fords or Cadillacs into neoclassical pieces of art – worked on it and gave several attention-grabbing attributes. Since this one is for sale right now, it is worth taking a good look at it. Buckle up! There is a lot to uncover.
Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe 9 photos
Photo: NAIUSA on Bring a Trailer
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When talking about neoclassicism, people usually refer to architecture. But intricate building design isn’t the only thing this cultural movement brought. It influenced music, theatre, painting, and even industries that wanted to get back in one shape or another, the detailed greatness witnessed only during the classical age. That’s when things like the Parthenon were built.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so there is not much to add here. We could critique its appearance, but art is subjective. We’re not experts in establishing what went right or wrong with designing this particular model, but what we can do is tell you more about it. Furthermore, this car is not meant to make someone feel like the star of their neighborhood, but it can surely boost the owner’s confidence and give them a reason to start telling an interesting story at a Cars & Coffee gathering.

In the end, you will decide if its existence is worthy or not.

Even though it looks like something Xzibit would have featured on his famous show on MTV, the Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe is more of a reminder that putting art on wheels is still possible. This particular 100% American vehicle might not be the best embodiment of what true automotive beauty can be. But it surely provides a portion of the car market with something it needs – a different kind of appearance.

Zimmer's complicated existence

Zimmer was originally headquartered in New York back in 1978. A year later, a car that was first imagined on a tissue went into production at a small auto shop in Syracuse. The V8-powered Golden Spirit looked exactly like the name suggests – aristocratic and exquisite. But the auto manufacturing company did not manage to find the successful recipe it badly wanted. So, even after having Frank Sinatra as a customer, the affair ended in bankruptcy a decade after its inception.

Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe
Photo: NAIUSA on Bring a Trailer
In 1997, Art Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company was established after the rights to the original entity were bought by a newly formed company. The new one was owned by nonother than Shirley Zimmer, the original founder Paul Zimmer’s wife.

We tried to trace the company online, but it has no such presence whatsoever. Their web domain ownership expired and is currently unclaimed.

Today there is another Zimmer car company that has as its Chairman a man named Eran Heyman. However, he hasn’t been particularly active in any online environments as well. Back in 2016, Heyman gave an interview at the New York International Auto Show in which he said that he owned Zimmer – a company that aimed to make “all-American cars hand built in New York State (…) that are top of the line sports and luxury cars.” However, Heyman’s Zimmer is not Art Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company. The man admitted that he tried to buy the company, but the deal fell through.

Surprisingly enough, Zimmer is reportedly still making these impressive conversions. How and where exactly they are being made remains a mystery.

Now let’s see what the car that’s up for grabs right now is all about.

Striking, yet somehow familiar

This Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe started life as a 2011 Ford Mustang. But it didn’t stay that way for long. The second owner sent it to Zimmer for a proper rework. The Carfax report doesn’t include any accidents but shows it has been owned by four different people during the last 11 years.

The modified car retained the Coyote 5.0-liter V8 beating heart, the brakes, the suspension system, and the six-speed automatic gearbox from the fifth-generation Mustang that it is based on. The chrome accents, swooping lines, and massive fenders have been added by Zimmer, who installed faux exhaust pipes, a Shaker audio system, retrimmed the seats, the steering wheel, and the door-panel inserts.

Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe
Photo: NAIUSA on Bring a Trailer
The vehicle also has a new grille that boasts an impressive hood ornament, a modified rear quarter, side-mounted spare wheels, six horns, polished bumpers, and Zimmer door sills. Other than that, it’s still a 2011 Mustang, and the roofline immediately gives it away. However, the vehicle is a reminder of the times when coachbuilders did not care about production numbers and speedy manufacturing.

The 2011 Ford Mustang GT-Based Zimmer Golden Spirit Coupe had an MSRP of $238,400, according to the information provided by the seller on Bring a Trailer. The same source argues only five of these were ever built by Zimmer.

Now it has been listed on the auctioning platform with no reserve set. It could have ended up being bought for a very low price since many auction watchers deem it an “abomination,” but, at the time of writing, the highest offer sits at $9,999, and there is no reserve for it. Since there are six days left until a new owner will be found for this outrageous-looking machine, a price increase is almost guaranteed. That being said, it’s unlikely it will ever reach its original cost ever again.

The automotive world is great because it caters to everyone’s needs, and this transformed Mustang does exactly that for a select group of enthusiasts – or partygoers.

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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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