A Cadillac built especially for President Trump almost three decades ago is up for auction in Britain this weekend.
The 1988 Trump Cadillac Golden Series (pictured) was tailor-made for him and is said to be unique because of various features which he requested. At the time it was produced, Trump said with characteristic modesty that it was “the most opulent stretch limousine made.”
The car boasts some quintessentially 1980s touches such as a VCR player, fax machine and bar. It also contains a safe. It is kitted out in Italian leather seats and Rosewood paneling. It also bears Trump’s name on several badges dotted around its exterior.
Auctioneer Bonhams is selling the vehicle with a guide price of £10,000 to £12,000 (about $12,500 to $15,000) on Sunday at Goodwood in Sussex.
The car’s history is not totally clear. It has spent the last decade or so in the possession of mechanic Craig Eyres, who has kept it in his workshop in Gloucester, in the west of England. Mr Eyres bought it in Newcastle, northern England, but it isn’t known how it came to be there.
The car was apparently first mentioned in 1987 in Trump’s book The Art of the Deal, where he explained that he and John Grettenberger, the head of Cadillac at the time, agreed to design two distinct versions of the limousine – the Trump Golden Series and the Trump Executive Series.
It was thought that Trump would buy 50 of the cars but after the production of two prototypes he bought only one.
The car is built on a stretched GMC C-platform. What makes it unique is that the floor was designed to be lower – and the roof higher – than other cars of the period, offering more interior space.
The bodywork was built by a coachwork company Fisher, which specialized in custom-build cars for the GM group. The limousine is powered by a 5-litre V8 engine.
From the Bonhams catalogue:
This unique Cadillac limousine was commissioned by none other than Donald J Trump, billionaire property tycoon turned reality TV star, and now President of the United States. Back in the 1980s, Trump suggested to Cadillac that having his name attached to an exclusive series of special limousines would be a good marketing move. Cadillac agreed and two prototypes were built: one each of the proposed Trump Executive Series and Trump Golden Series, the latter being the car offered here. ‘A decision has been made to go into production on two Cadillac-body limousines using my name,’ he announced. ‘The Trump Golden Series will be the most opulent stretch limousine made.’ As its name suggests, the Golden Series reflects Trump’s well-known fondness for all things gilded, with this precious metal being represented to excess in the ultra-luxurious interior. Built by Dillinger Coach Works, whose modifications involved raising the roofline, the Trump Cadillacs debuted at the Limousine & Chauffeur Show in Las Vegas in January 1987, and in January 1988 Cadillac and Dillinger presented the Golden Series car to Donald Trump at the Limousine & Chauffeur Show in Atlantic City. The proposed two series never materialised. Trump’s Golden Series has been owned by the current vendor for the last ten years. Currently MoT’d and said to drive very well, the car is only offered for sale due to a lack of storage space and the vendor’s advancing years. A unique opportunity.
