In 1988, years before anybody knew that Donald J. Trump had his eye on the Oval Office, our president-elect got together with Cadillac in an attempt to make stretched executive transport great again. We have no idea what the project cost General Motors and Dillinger/Gaines Coachworks, but we do know that along with the first Golden Series limo off the line, Trump got a sweet gold Allanté out of the deal.
The deal, predictably enough, began in Florida. Trump and then Cadillac general manager John Grettenberger were in Palm Beach when the future president of the United States of America started in on limos, saying to Grettenberger, “John, what Cadillac ought to do is come up with a design for an incredible limousine that has the big headroom and all of the assets that anyone could want.” The result, the Cadillac Golden Series and Executive Series limousines, were announced at the Las Vegas Limousine & Chauffeur Show in November 1987 and formally debuted in January 1988 at the Limousine & Chauffeur Show in Atlantic City. Who knew the limo scene of the 1980s was so action packed that it required two trade shows within mere months of each other?
The Trump Series limousines dispensed with the tight egg-crate-pattern grille Cadillac had been using in the 1980s in favor of a unit made of stately vertical bars. They also featured brushed-steel side pillars for maximum elegance and a raised roof that offered additional headroom for those large of stature and/or immense of coiffure. Those who opted for the Golden Series also got a set of Vogue gold-line tires and, of course, gold-plated metallic accents.
Inside, the amenities were state-of-the-stretched-Cad art, featuring wool carpeting, Italian leather upholstery, an NEC cellphone with two handsets in rosewood side panels, a Blaupunkt sound system, and—for the most timely and sensitive business transactions—a mobile fax machine and a paper shredder. Most important, the Golden Series featured an alcohol dispenser, the business end of which was constructed from what was presumably the finest medium-density fiberboard on the Eastern Seaboard. The seats also bore a classy embroidered Trump crest, so occupants would be aware just who brought such opulence into their heretofore unfathomably puny lives.
At the time, Trump remarked of the cars: “You can see the kind of quality there is. We left nothing out. I’m very honored that they built me the first one and, frankly, I deserve it.”
According to Grettenberger, the first limo actually went to Trump’s father, while the former Cad honcho lost track of the Executive Series prototype. Perhaps because The Donald had his eyes aimed skyward—Trump Shuttle would launch in 1989—the deal fell apart shortly after that auspicious day in Atlantic City, with Trump initially balking and then eventually flatly declining to order the other 49 cars.
We don’t know what happened to the president-elect’s Pininfarina-bodied convertible, but the sole known Trump Golden Series limousine surfaced in the United Kingdom under the care of a man named Craig Eyre, while the Executive Series prototype popped up for sale in New England before making it into the same British hands that hold the Golden Series. Both, according to the New York Post, are now for sale. Perhaps Nigel Farage might be interested?
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