The venerable Ford LTD was a a stalwart of The Blue Oval’s lineup for over 20 years. Over that time frame, it was offered in a variety of configurations, including some more luxurious variants. Despite its many positive qualities, the LTD was never what one might consider a collector’s item, however. But it’s certainly easy to assume so given the fact that this 1983 Ford LTD wagon up for sale at Mobile.de carries a cool price tag of €1,999,999, or around $2.3 million U.S.
That insane price has nothing to do with the car itself, however, and more to do with the fact that it’s a rolling piece of artwork that was hand-painted by the late Tanzanian artist George Lilanga back in 1996. Lilanga is considered by most to be the most influential East African artist in history, and this is the only car in existence decorated with his famous Shetanis, or spirits of East African mythology.
Interestingly enough, the car belonged to the owner of a hotel Lilanga was staying at during an exhibition in Fürth-Germany. The owner offered to let him stay at the hotel for free in exchange for his services, an offer that Lilanga obviously accepted. He proceeded to paint the entire Ford LTD wagon, save for the hood and tailgate. Those sections were completed by Lilanga’s friend and fellow artist, Poni Yengi.
Humorously enough, the car itself doesn’t currently run, so those that intend on purchasing it are literally doing so because it is a piece of art, not a car. But with a price tag as high as this one, that’s to be expected.
Even better, as the ad notes, “the price is negotiable, but we won`t sell at any price. If you want, you can offer us more than the asked price. In fact, this is art – and art is always priceless.” Even when it’s adorning an old Ford LTD wagon, we suppose.
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Comments
They ruined that poor LTD.
We had one of those in a company fleet. Trust me: it was already a poor car.
Guess there’s a market for just about everything…
No, they tried it already in 2017 without success because the price is insane.
Now that’s funny, fred! I concur.
Must have been good dope involved on this job.
If Afrokins aren’t knocking over 7-11’s looting shopping malls or jacking cars at the point of a gun, along comes THIS criminal endeavor, an LTD covered in juvenile crayon pics. What a trash rip!
Now, an LTD that I configured went like this: lifted the body off the frame and dropped it onto an F-150 4X4 chassis and running gear. Then I filled the engine bay with a blueprinted and heavily modded 351 Cleveland. Dynoed at 675 hp +! Now THAT LTD was worth $2 mil… in my opinion!
Keep cool. This offer is a hoax.
Just like everything else from that continent, apart form the nature, Afrikan “art” is definitely not something to be admired.