When I was a kid, during late spring, summer and early fall weekends, wedding parties would use the park next to where I lived for their photos. Afterwards, they'd pile back into stretched Cadillacs and Lincolns, horns blaring, "Here Comes the Bride" and sometimes, part of the fleet would include a car like this 1979 DiNapoli Coupe.
Back in the 1970's and '80s, "nostalgia cars" were "a thing" for a moment or two and it seemed whenever you saw one, a wedding wasn't far behind it or in front of it; you didn't see these every day. I don't remember if these were still popular when my wife and I got married in 1992, even if they were, there's no way she would have wanted one there. Not that I would have either, frankly.
Their design inspiration, allegedly, came from the "classics" of the Great Gatsby era like the 1929 Rolls Royce Silver Phantom I Robert Redford drove in the 1974 movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby". Leonardo DeCaprio drove a replica of a 1929 Duesenberg Model J in the 2013 remake. In the novel, F. Scott describes what Gatsby drives but never tells us what it was exactly.
All of the cars had a similar look to them and none of them seemed quite right, all looking more like cheap, flimsy kit cars. That's because they were beholden to the chassis and body shell of the donor vehicles that were their foundations.
These were anything but cheap, though. This car sold new in 1979 for approximately $70,000, that's like $310,000 today. No wonder only 6 or 7 of these were ever sold. They had plans for 100 or so.
There were a number of manufacturers that built "nostalgia cars" using various chassis and running gear from Ford Fox-body Mustangs and Cougars, third- and fourth-generation Chevrolet Corvettes, third-gen Camaros, Nissan 280 and 300 ZX' and in the case of our DiNapoli here, of all things, a 1979 Buick Regal Sport Coupe. Turbocharged, 3.8-liter V-6 and all. Well, that's what it was sold with originally.
Our DiNapoli was designed by Nicholas DiNapoli, a former General Motors designer who was commissioned by Minicars Inc. to design it and was built Minicars subsidiary Pacific Coachworks of Southern California; not be confused with the present-day Pacific Coachworks that builds RV's.
DiNapoli, for whom the car is named, was enamored of the 1978 Buick Regal's formal rear roofline and designed "his car" around it. The similarities to the Regal aren't readily apparent but once they're pointed out, it's hard not to see them.
The wheelbase of the Regal was extended some three-and-a-half feet to give the DiNapoli its Great Gatsby long hood, most of the bodywork made from fiberglass or aluminum. Being the impetus for the design inspiration, the rear roof line from the Regal was used along with the exterior door panels and A-pillar's that house the windshield.
Underneath, she's all 1978-1987 GM A-body, after 1981 they were known as "G-bodies". That means this will ride and handle like one although the Regal Sport Coupe for 1979 did come with heavier duty shocks and sway bars. The performance of the turbocharged V-6 no doubt hampered by the DiNapoli's added weight. That engine huffed out all of 165-horsepower, I shudder like this thing probably did to imagine how slow it would be if had Buick's non-turbo V-6.
This wedding favor is for sale on Facebook Marketplace up in Montrose, Michigan, about ninety-minutes northwest of Detroit. Asking price is $5,800 and that seems like a lot for any domestic, non-running car from the late '70's. The seller bought this out of California about three years ago and I figure they thought better of it. Bonus, there's little to no rust on it.
Scariest thing to me is the interior, especially the dash. On the right is what it would have looked like new. Good luck finding the plans for the original wooden dash or a carpenter who'd custom make it for you. If you do, you're going to pay through the hood ornament for it. Looks like the interior door panels, or "door cards" are included and you could, in theory, refurbish them. A Regal or any 1978-1988 A/G-body dash should bolt right in there. I'd pull the cards off the donor car you'd use for the dash instead.
It's funny with things like this, odd houses too that you might fall in love with, you have to keep in mind how resalable this would be. Initial cost is one thing, but to sort this out might right you nearly twenty-grand if you don't do most of the work yourself. There's no market for these cars so, if you'd be buying this to flip it, buyer\investor beware.
These days, Stebel sells a "Wedding March Musical Car Horn" horn for $49.99. Wish I had known about this when my son got married last October but just as well.
From the Marketplace ad: 1979 Buick regal rare dinapoli kit car needs complete restoration. Purchased 3 years ago from California. Minimal rust. But needs complete overhaul, non running would need a trailer, would make a bad ass hot rod for someone mechanically inclined. Asking $5,800 or best offer
No comments:
Post a Comment