So what the hell are we looking at here? This unusually grotesque creation is a modern example of a neo-classic car. Think Excalibur, late Elvis, Swarovski crystals; a once-wretched, now ironic depiction of opulence. Driving a neo-classic lets the world know that you know that it knows that all that glitters is bullshit. You’re in on the joke and it’s bringing down the house. As for this particular neoclassic car, it’s a Zimmer Golden Spirit. While occasionally known for doing some rather interesting things to Pontiac Fieros, Zimmer took some twists and turns, died, was born again, and ended up eventually churning out this fine automobile. Zimmer started with a 2011 Ford Mustang GT, then brought the front axle forward, fitted massive fenders and special bodywork, ultimately churning out this fascinating incarnation of questionable taste. To make matters stranger, the greenhouse and doors remain unchanged, so it really does look like a Mustang with a preposterous nosejob. However, since it’s a 2011 Mustang GT underneath, it’s still blessed with all sorts of good stuff. A five-liter naturally-aspirated V8 churning out 412 horsepower, a limited-slip differential, and a nice 7,000 rpm redline. Throw in Zimmer’s wheelbase stretch and you end up with a car that looks like it’s made for abducting Dalmatians and should go sideways quite nicely. See, cars with longer wheelbases and a front-engine rear-wheel-drive layout typically have a high moment of inertia about the up-down-axis. What this means in the real world is that they’re less eager to yaw, meaning they’re slower to rotate in drift. Slow rotation makes transitioning from drifting clockwise to drifting counterclockwise easier, which means that this Zimmer should be a big, friendly sweetheart to slide around. Granted, you won’t be able to clutch-kick this creation due to its automatic gearbox, although drifting a Mustang with an early MT-82 manual gearbox is like driving around in a hand grenade with the pin pulled. One good event and then oops, all neutrals. The 6R80 six-speed automatic is really the only thing holding this car back from banging doors with Nissan 350Zs and E46 BMW 330is, although not having a clutch to kick shouldn’t be a huge impediment to drivers who prefer to rely on weight transfer, handbrake initiation, or just power oversteer. Should you want this hilarious conversation piece, it’s currently on Bring A Trailer with a high bid of $14,000 and three days left on the auction. I’d expect this one to stay fairly cheap as the customer base is really just the seller, the handful of people who’ve already bid on it, and perhaps you. I’m really hoping that the next owner of this Zimmer Golden Spirit keeps sliding it, for fun is fun to have. Lead photo credit: Seller Also, I kinda love this thing. It’s an abomination but a fun one. From the Mitsuoka UK website (I’m guessing auto-translate, but it is still awesome!): “Enjoy the car. It is not enjoying themselves? While fondling engine run. Just rub it to be a happy feeling.” Haiku? Senryu? I will defend to death that Mitsuoka is the best current car company out there. Sure, most of their cars are ugly but they’ve been doing their retro styling thing for ages now and just keep on doing their thing no matter what and I love them for that.
