84 Zimmer Convertible

Art Mulder

Member
Messages
3,383
Location
London, Ontario
spotted this in the grocery store parking lot this evening. (cellphone camera only, sorry)

Looked pretty cool from the front:
zimmer1.jpg

Then I walked to the back .... and ugh, it was boxy:
zimmer2.jpg

It had a "Zimmer" name plate, :dunno: never heard of that.
I got a bit closer and it said "84 Zimmer Convertible" on a plate affixed to the glove compartment.

The interior looked like a very plane Olds or Chrysler or some other standard big-3 car from the early 80s. So I guessed that it was a kit/conversion of some sort. And a Google search confirmed it.

Found a link to another 84... except for the name plate on the glove compartment this one would pass as a twin for the one I saw, and better photos also. :eek:
 
That's a cool-looking car. I agree with Randal...it looks like a dead ringer for the Excalibur, which was a take-off on the 1928 Mercedes SSK.
 
Art,

To the best of my recollection, those were based on a Mercury Cougar body, with MANY modifications. Some models looked decent, others were kind of boxy.

Thought I had a picture of one, but no can find.

They were different.

Vaughn, you and Randal have it right, but I don't recall which came first. One of the others was based on a GM car.
 
Tony, you're close. Here's a bit from the Wikipedia entry:

Wikipedia said:
It is the first four-door convertible on the market in decades and is based on a Lincoln Town Car chassis. The company also offers a two-door model that is built on a Ford/Mustang chassis which retails for $109,900.
 
Well Vaughn,

Who am I to dispute what Wikipedia says. There have been several spinoffs made of that style car, I am sure I must have seen or read about a few of them and one could have been built on a Cougar. I do know that's definetly not a Mustang windshield or door. T-bird, maybe, Lincoln, no. Eh, whatever. It would be fun to drive, for a while.

Aloha, Tony
 
Tony, I think what they're saying is that it uses the chassis, but the body (windshield, doors, etc) is what's custom-made. (The Cougar and Mustang shared the same chassis in the early years of both models. Later, the Cougar and T-Bird were on the same platform.)
 
Tony, you're close. Here's a bit from the Wikipedia entry:

read on...

There were TWO completely independent Zimmer car companies -- the first was from 78-88, and built a bit over 100 a year. Then in '95 this guy from Syracuse, NY named Art Zimmer (no relation to the other Zimmers) came across the car, and then started up ANOTHER Zimmer car company doing a similar sort of thing, though only about 10 cars a year.

It's kind of a weird story.
 
Top