1953 Lincoln Capri ‘Golden Sahara II’ Heading To Auction

Recently, Ford Authority visited the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, where we spotted all sorts of cool, unique, and interesting Blue Oval models. That included the 1953 Lincoln Capri known as the “Golden Sahara II,” which was derived from a model owned by George Barris and built by the Delphos Machine and Tool shop out of Dayton, Ohio for Jim Street. Now, this very same custom Lincoln Capri is slated to be auctioned off, giving one lucky person the chance to bring home a piece of automotive history.

This 1953 Lincoln Capri is set to cross the block at Mecum’s Larry’s Legacy auction next month, and it’s certainly a one of a kind creation, if nothing else. It was damaged after an accident involving a flatbed truck when it was in the possession of Barris, after which the legendary car customizer turned it into a functional sculpture. Two years later, Street – another automotive customizer – transformed it into what we see here, a futuristic machine with loads of unique features, spending a whopping $75k to make that happen.

Originally, those features included things like an automatic braking unit with antennas as sensors in the front bumperettes and autonomous remote-controlled acceleration, plus illuminated Neothane show tires (which have been replaced with solid urethane tires equipped with programmable LEDs), a wraparound windshield, half-bubble top, 24-karat gold and pearlescent white paint, and gold-plated rear fenders

Inside, one will find gold and white seats, a padded dash and door panels, plush white mink carpeting, remote door poppers, a yoke steering wheel, an in-dash TV, and even a cocktail lounge in the rear. Power comes from the 317 cubic-inch Y-block V8 – also finished in gold – and it’s mated to an automatic transmission.

Golden Sahara II was treated to a restoration not too terribly long ago, and has been on display at the Petersen for a while. Now, someone will get the chance to own it themselves, and needless to say, that opportunity doesn’t come along very often.