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HomePick of the DayPick of the Day: 1970 Cadillac Del Caballero fit for 'Super Fly'

Pick of the Day: 1970 Cadillac Del Caballero fit for ‘Super Fly’

The gleaming coupe has been festooned to resemble that most-famous of pimpmobiles

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If you’ve always wanted to drive like Super Fly, now’s your big chance with this Cadillac decked out with the custom gear made famous in that 1972 “blaxploitation” film.  Can you dig it?

The Pick of the Day is a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado transformed into a Del Caballero, a garish pimpmobile loaded with custom flourishes fit for the super-bad Super Fly movie dude Youngblood Priest, played by Ron O’Neal wearing a pair of enormous sideburns.

“How about this beauty,” the Tampa, Florida, dealer advertising the Caddy on ClassicCars.com says in a classic understatement. 

Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but for most folks, the Del Caballero is just plain weird, though oddly emblematic of the period.  I’m still unsure whether the custom Cadillac was created for the movie, then caught on, or if Del Caballeros existed before filming. 

Whatever, the seller says it is “one of 22 George Barris Edition” models, so perhaps the King of Kustomizers was somehow hooked up with this Hollywood creation, as he often built unique craft for movies and TV.

cadillac

Other than its obvious embellishments, the Cadillac is painted Emerald Green and propelled by an 8.2-liter engine rated at 400 horsepower, the seller says. 

The “Super Fly” kit includes the huge, faux “headlights” meant to resemble early classics, many yards of shiny chrome, a thickly padded white vinyl roof with faux landeau bars and a spare tire laid smack in the middle of the trunk lid.  The Cadillac would make quite an entrance, as Youngblood Priest did many times in this iconic film.

Cadillac

The interior is lushly appointed in white leather, as one might expect, though with an unexpectedly attractive wood-rimmed steering wheel.

The Cadillac has been driven just 34,000 miles, according to the seller, no doubt racked up during evenings of urban cruising, blasting Curtis Mayfield from the audio system (which should be an 8-track in keeping with the era). 

This super-bad machine is priced at $36,000, and the next owner is pretty much guaranteed to have the only one on the block.  A car-show appearance would require extra-wide bell bottoms, aviator shades, broad-brimmed hat and a cocky strut, so that everyone would exclaim, “He ain’t just fly, he’s Super Fly!”  

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day

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Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

12 COMMENTS

  1. I love it !
    Think of it, no one else in your hood … plus 1,000 miles ( 3,000 kilometers in my case ) would have anything like it . Fantastic colour and the finish looks like new. Not sure what the side lights are just aft of the doors ?
    You’re right about the prerequisite attire Bob but I think I would add a long sleeved dress shirt with at least a 3″ tall open collar !
    Keep ’em com’n Bob !!!
    Cheers, Paul

  2. In a different time those cars were everything ! Most youngsters wouldn’t understand but all true OG’s would !!!! True Superfly !

  3. Recently “Live And Let Die” James Bond films was on TV. They had several Cadillacs even the green El Dorado shown above. It’s worth checking out just to see the cars. There’s a scene where they go to Harlem and all these caddies are parked out in front of a bar. I checked it out on the net under images from the James Bond movie live and let die for automobiles u can see quite a few of them.The modification companies are listed also.

  4. My favorite Auto Soundtrack Combo I watch frequently. That’s no the correct year of original car an dosent look as FLY. I grew up when those cars were rare but throughout bronx an harlem. Issac Hayes has Pimpmobile he commissioned an Soundtrack called “Pursuit of Pimpmobile.” – UTUBE

  5. I remember these well, they seemed the coolest back then. Some also had belts complete with huge buckles on the trunk lid. BTW I still have a pair of platform shoes.

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