There cannot be many people who have an interest in classic cars who have not heard of the in – famous American gangster by the name of Al Capone. Well, his Cadillac that was bullet proof is up for sale.
This 1928 Cadillac V-8 Town Sedan had added to it bullet proof glass, steel armour weighing 300lbs, holes for machine guns and a window that drops down to allow the car’s occupants to mow down any rival gangsters with their machine guns.
It was specifically done in green paint and had black fenders so that it resembled cars driven by the Chicago police force. The Cadillac of this Chicago gangster was also equipped with a police siren, police lights and had a radio receiver that picked up the police band so that the whereabouts of the Chicago police could be monitored.
Al Capone was sent to prison for evading tax after which it is thought his car was used by President Roosevelt for a short period of time. Whilst he was in prison the car was displayed in various countries around the world including the UK where it was on show at places such as Blackpool funfair and Southend-on Sea’s amusement park
Perhaps rather amusingly the Cadillac can now claim to be tax exempt as it is a classic car.
The car was last in the ownership of John O’Quinn who was a motor enthusiast based in America but he sadly died last year.
On 20 August the Cadillac is to be auctioned at an RM Auction and has an estimated price of £325,000.
The auctioneers have tracked down 92-year-old Richard Capstran whose father attached the armour.
Richard said that Al Capone’s colleagues arrived to explain what work their boss wanted doing on the car.
Richard commented: “My dad said ‘we don’t do that kind of work here,’ and they said ‘you do now'”.
Apparently Al Capone arrived and paid the bill for the work on the car and also gave Richard ten dollars.
