This Ultra-Rare Classic Car Screams 1970s, And It's For Sale

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It's rare for the internet to turn up a car that very few people know much about. However, when a bright purple 1979 Kanzler Coupe popped up on Facebook for sale, such was the case. That's not to say nothing is known about this unique ride, a so-called Neoclassic from the Malaise Era, just that the information out there is spotty at best. This particular Kanzler Coupe is said to be one of just seven — including a prototype — ever made. It's one of at least two Kanzlers previously owned by folks who had trouble with the law. 

A third model was purchased by popular entertainer Liberace, and another appears to be rotting in the California desert. The stories are hard to believe, and hard to prove, but facts include a father whose brother-in-law was Edsel Ford, as in Henry's son, along with a company founder who dabbles in mysticism and believes himself to be the illegitimate love child of Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn. The car is a wild one that blends systems from Mercury, Ford, and Opel into a customized, fiberglass and steel creation unlike anything else out there. 

Today, we're focused on the unique purple Kanzler Coupe up for sale. The information presented has been sourced from original press materials, as well as emails and phone calls with current Kanzler Coupe owners, including one who has spoken to Ernest Kanzler, Jr. several times. I could not verify Mr. Kanzler's current whereabouts, nor speak with him directly.

Neoclassical is a term that you may readily associate with art or architecture, but it's also been applied to the world of automobiles. Specifically, a stretch of car history in the late '70s and early '80s dubbed the Malaise Era. It was a time of increasingly stringent emissions regulations, decreasingly powerful car engines, and designs that could best be described as polarizing. That last part is extra true of the so-called Neoclassical rides that stormed the scene with exotic names like Excalibur, Spartan, and Clénet. 

Blending sweeping lines of 1930s cars with modern underpinnings, these Neoclassics were known for avant-garde styling and opulent interiors. Often lumped into the kit-car bucket, the debate over which models were garage builds and which had a more factory process is a conversation for another day. However, the Kanzler Coupe was decidedly not a car to be built in your driveway. Instead, company founder Ernie Kanzler Jr. envisioned a full-scale production facility, turning out 250 cars to start.

It didn't turn out that way, in part due to the eye-watering 1980 price tag of around $70,000 (that's 275 large today), but the handful of Kanzlers that made it to the public were certainly striking. Love it or not, the Kanzler Coupe has got to be one of the visually arresting cars to ever roll off an assembly line.

Ernest Kanzler, Sr., Ernie for short, was a Ford Motor exec in the early 1900s, and close friend of Edsel Ford. Ernie and his wife Josephine adopted Ernie Jr, who would go on to work at Ford. The story goes that he left Ford in the late 1950s for Southern California and, after dabbling in offshore racing boats, set to building his own car. Founded as Newport Coachworks in Santa Ana circa 1975, this fledgling automaker was focused on high-luxury, low-volume production vehicles. 

Per original press materials, Ernie Jr. was an "eccentric" and a "genius," who did everything from crash-test cars and work on extreme depth submersibles to study architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright. The story goes that Ernie got a hold of Henry Ford II, then CEO of the Blue Oval, to ask for help. Henry agreed to do so in the form of a donated Lincoln Continental chassis and Ford 460 V8.

Ultimately, the Lincoln platform was swapped for a Mercury Cougar setup and the big block was downsized to a Ford 351. Six more are said to have been built: Two red, two black, and two white. However, the astronomical price ($30,000 more than a period Ferrari 308) is pointed to as the main reason these cars never gained serious traction. Sometime in the early '80s, Ernie Kanzler skipped town for Washington State and later, disappeared into the desert of Arizona.

Of the seven Kanzler Coupes thought to have been made, four are currently accounted for. The original maroon prototype is with a gentleman named Darrell Van Weerdhuizen. He has owned the car since 1991, after purchasing it from a bank repossession auction in the Seattle area. Though I have not yet seen photos, he says it retains the original 460 CID V8 and maroon paint.

The entertainer Liberace is said to have bought a Kanzler Coupe new, which makes sense to those familiar with his exceptionally wild car collection. What appears to be one of the original black-finished Kanzlers is currently located in Sun Valley, California. In extreme disrepair, it is fairly described as a project car and is up for sale on eBay with a price tag of $11,399. Finally, there is the purple Kanzler Coupe, which was the first one ever made. It is located in Minnesota and is currently offered for sale on Facebook. 

The details of how it came to be purple are murky, but it was originally one of the two white coupes built at Newport Coachworks. Possibly the same white Kanzler that popped up in 2015 on eBay with an asking price of $105,000, leaving three other supposed production Kanzler Coupes with unknown whereabouts.

If you, like me, are only familiar with the name Liberace from Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" karaoke special, know that this guy was a mega entertainer in the 1950s and beyond. Like his stage personality, Liberace's cars were supremely flamboyant. A museum that paid tribute to this collection closed in 2010, but contained all manner of bedazzled custom rides. The Kanzler Coupe was one of them. 

Once thought to have been white, sources say Liberace ordered his model with special features. Namely the silver paint, red pin stripes, and front grille seemingly lifted from a vintage Jaguar. Note that these cars did not come with a grille of any sort from the factory. Liberace's Kanzler Coupe currently resides in North Carolina, where Adam Edwards is taking care of it, on behalf of the owner, at his shop, On-Site Automotive. 

Adam notes that this silver Kanzler has poker chips from Liberace's favorite Vegas casino, The Riviera, still glued to the body. Though showing signs of wear, there's no arguing that Liberace's silver Kanzler Coupe has a dramatic presence and is still a head-turner 45 years after it left the factory.

Which brings us to the purple 1979 Kanzler Coupe up for sale in Frazee, Minnesota, for $35,000. If you want a striking car guaranteed to draw attention, this is your ride. Ken Carlson, the gentleman who has owned it since 2019, confirmed that anytime he takes it out, folks cannot get enough of the Kanzler. He told me it is car 001 and was sold in the early '90s at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Chicago. At some point, this Kanzler Coupe ended up in the Minneapolis area and was painted its current shade of purple. 

It's unclear why, but Ken reasonably guesses there is a tie-in with the Vikings football team and famous Minnesota musician Prince. The car was later put up as collateral by its owner due to troubles with the law. This led it to the barn of a bail bondsman, who kept it stored and running for some 20 years until Ken picked the Kanzler up. The original 351 V8 was previously modified with a 400 CID block and features a four-barrel carb. Fresh air is pulled into the grille-less engine via vents between the hood and bumper, along with an under-car damper. 

Other neat features include the dual radiator setup: one facing forward, the other rearward, plus the 100-spoke wire wheels that Ken added due to impenetrable rust on the original 70-spoke units. For the right buyer, this purple Kanzler Coupe represents a fascinating, little-known chapter in American automotive history.