In 1928 my grandfather met Al Capone and worked on his 1928 Cadillac in his Father's Chicago garage.
Together they performed some of the modifications that made the car famous and gave it a final coat of paint when all the modifications were completed.

My grandfather is 88 years old and is still in great shape - so much so that he still works everyday.

We are trying to track the current location of the car. The last published reports show the car being sold in Arizona to a buyer in California. We had unofficially heard that the car had been sold again to a buyer in Indiana but we have not been able to track the vehicle.

My grandfather's personal knowledge and stories of the car would make a great addition to the vehicle and it's owner since he is probalaby the last person still alive that worked on the car when it was new.

If anyone has any information as to the location or owner of this vehicle please contact us as soon as possible at cappyscreations@sbcglobal.net or at (414) 442-4111.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Richard Capstran

Maybe Geraldo Rivera can help you track it down, he seems to know where Capone hid lots of things.... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

This was sold by RM in Arizona a couple of years ago. I think it might have gone to England?? Anyway, if you go to their website you will see some contact info for RM. Drop them a line and they might be able to help you find the current owner.

regards, A.J.

Seems to me that this was offered again by RM in their Toronto (?) auction within the past year. Can't say that it's the same car or whether it sold. As I recall - and I'm often proven wrong - I don't think its 'provenance' helped at all. I don't remember it being bid all that high??

Geoff

It was covered in an HMN auction review, they were surprised it only went for $400K, I believe. I Could have the number wrong but it stuck in my mind mainly because I read a recent bio on Capone, and they do mention the car a few times. I no longer have the issue but it seems to me it was within the last year.

It may be worth a quick email to HMN.

For many years Al's Bullet-proof armored Caddy. was owned by Jenny Craig's (the weight-loss lady/ chain owner) husband (Sid.) I believe was his name??? It was the centerpeiece of his collection! He had a life size "Big Al" standing next to his car... I saw this car in the 70s...It had small gun-ports in it's doors. I had heard it was possibly sold by R M Auctions ...You might want to contact them.

By the way...
Very few people who ever met "Big Al"
Lived to tell the story today !

Please have your Grandfather tell US a bit of this story!

If I recall right the one that the Jenny Craig fellow bought was the 1930 or 31 V-16 that was black and silver. I was at the sale. It was in Las Vegas but quite a number of years ago so I could be wrong. I am almost certain though that this was the car the Franklin Mint patterned the model after. So this would be a different car than the 28. I guess Al could afford to change Cadillacs pretty often. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Charles, I tried to find specific references to the car, I believe the 28 because much of the activity described in the book occurred between '20 & '30. Unfortunately, the Cadillac is not in the index and the book is 627 pages. Fascinating if you are at all interested in the history. The true bio is much more interesting than movies. "Capone, The Man and the Era" by Laurance Bergreen.

BTW I applaud your efforts to put your connect your grandfather with the new owners of this car. This would be a very rewarding visit for both parties, I would imagine. Well worth the efforts you are putting forth here!

The car is in the John O'Quinn collection in Houston. A visit is being arranged.

Check with the town of Moose Jaw Saskatchewan.This was Als main area for Import and export of alcohol to the U.S.during the prohibition period.He had underground tunnels built there for storage and underground night clubs.I do believe the car is in a museum in Moose Jaw.More info call me 1-877-556-6974.J.Engle

I may be misunderstanding this but my math says 1928 was 79 years ago and you state your 88 year-old grandfather worked on the car? He would have been 9 years old at that time. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

the 1928 Capone car was on the cover of the February 2006 issue of Car Collector magazine, and inside with a story on "gansta" cars.

Here's the car on RM:

http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=az06&CarID=r159

Thanks Mika. The way the link was heading I was worried I dreamed it up.....

Great article! Thanks for sharing that!

To complete the circle, the fellow did come to Houston with his grandfather, and they visited the car at the O'Quinn collection. I'm told that the grandfather did sort of work on the car at age 10 (and did meet Al Capone), but it was under the supervision of his father who was really the guy doing the modification work.

This past Sunday morning on the SPEED channel's Dream Car Garage show featured Al Capone's V8 Cadillac along with another feature on the Porsche plant in Germany. Perhaps, contacting the show directly might lead you to the owner of the car currently.

I believe at one time the car was owned by Harley Neilson the son of Willaim Neilson the ice cream manufacture.
I remember seeing the car as I used to live near the main plant on Gladstone Ave Toronto, mid 50s. Harley would on occasion drive the vehicle to work. I was told it was Capone's car, did Al have more than 1 vehicle?. I did a google but came up dry. So not sure if my facts are correct...I was just a young healthy boy in those days. Any way of getting a list of past owners.