How Fast Can The Iconic Zimmer Mustang Go?

The Zimmer Mustang, technically called the Golden Spirit but colloquially referred to as the "Rolls-Stang," has an interesting origin story. Paul (father) and Bob (son) Zimmer came from a long line of entrepreneurs who had made their money from mobile homes and travel trailers in and around Florida, so fabrication was in their blood. 

It's said that Paul bought a 1976 Excalibur roadster to cure a mid-life crisis and then decided he wanted to build his own line of ornately detailed, curved-bodied modern neoclassic cars that harkened back to the beautiful pre-war era cars of the 1920s and 30s. While he and his son were sitting in a restaurant, they sketched out the design for this new ride and subsequently started Zimmer Motorcars Corporation in 1978 to build it. The first iteration debuted in 1980 and, despite no official numbers or specs (including its top speed) having ever been released, it's believed roughly 1,350 were sold before going out of production in 1988.

They used "a completely stock Mustang GT" Fox-body chassis pulled from whatever year it was built, so it was powered by that year's Ford third-gen 302-ci (4.9-liter) V8 (sold as the 5.0-liter High Output). Horsepower was defined by the model year and ranged from 118 (in the 1980-81 model only) to 225 hp in 1987–1988. The fastest GT from that period (1986, weighing 3,139 pounds) went from zero to 60 in six seconds flat, and posted a quarter-mile speed of 92 mph in 14.70 seconds. The Golden Spirit weighed around 3,800 pounds, so it would have been slower thanks to that extra 600 pounds.

Ford officially provided the third-gen Fox-body Mustang chassis and powertrains. Once received (with its standard 100-inch wheelbase), the Zimmers stretched it 38 more inches to achieve the neoclassic length they were striving for. The rest of the car, though, was completely hand-built and came with incredible custom fiberglass bodywork, leather interior that was both hand-stitched and fitted, dash panels inlaid with burled walnut, Mouton wool carpeting, and steering wheel spokes plated in 24-karat gold. 

Zimmer Motorcars hit its stride in the mid-80s, when it employed 175 people, built as many as 300 cars a year, and reported $25 million in annual revenue. In 1986, it released the Quicksilver, built around a Pontiac Fiero chassis. It was powered by a 2.8-liter V6 producing 138 hp with a top speed of 121 mph. Unfortunately, the good times were brief, and in 1987, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In 1997, a man named Art Zimmer (weirdly unrelated to the original Zimmer's) resurrected the company and made second-generation versions of both the Golden Spirit and Quicksilver until 2020. Exact quantities are unknown as the company has never released any official data. The second-gen Zimmer Mustang could be based on a Ford Mustang or a Lincoln Town Car, and came with much more powerful engines that ranged from a 4.6-liter V8 (producing 215 to 315 hp) to a 5.8-liter supercharged V8 (650 to662 hp) which, when equipped in 2013 GT500, blasted from zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds and blistered the quarter mile in 11.6 seconds at 125.7 mph. The Zimmer Mustang goes down as one of our Top 10 Strangest Cars Built by Luxury Car Brands.