Zimmer Car Company
Two companies made Zimmer cars, and neither was founded in 1978 in Syracuse. A Florida mobile-home maker built the Golden Spirit and the QuickSilver at Pompano Beach from 1980 until its Chapter 11 of May 1988; 10 years later an unrelated Syracuse publisher, Art Zimmer, revived the name.
In November 1980 a company that built mobile homes in Pompano Beach, Florida, put a car on its stand at the Miami Auto Show. It was long, gold-trimmed and unmistakably meant to look like a classic of the 1930s, and it was called the Golden Spirit. For seven and a half years Zimmer Motor Cars Corp. built it, and later the QuickSilver beside it, until its parent company went into Chapter 11 on 10 May 1988 and the plant closed. Ten years after that a publisher in Syracuse, New York, who shared the name but not the family, started building Golden Spirits again, and the name lasted, in his hands and then another company's, until about 2016.source 1source 2source 3source 4
The mobile-home maker
The car came from a company that had never made one. Paul H. Zimmer had gone into the mobile-home business in 1949, Forbes reported, and took it public in 1964; by 1980 it was Zimmer Homes Corp. of Pompano Beach, a maker of mobile homes and recreational vehicles that also converted vans. On 10 May 1982 it renamed itself Zimmer Corporation, and its shares traded on the American Stock Exchange. By 1986 its divisions also made motor homes, motor coaches and yachts. At its height, in the middle of the 1980s, the Miami Herald later wrote, it had 1,500 employees in 15 plants.source 5source 6source 1source 7source 8source 9source 10
The sketch and the Excalibur
The idea, by every period account, was Paul Zimmer's. Forbes told how in 1976 he bought an Excalibur roadster, a car built in Wisconsin in the style of the pre-war Mercedes, and was so struck by the way people reacted to it that he decided his own company could build such a car. UPI's version, in 1982, has him drawing that year "a picture of a fanciful car, a combination of the early Dusenberg and Mercedes", and adds that "two years later they put the idea on paper". The Fort Lauderdale News said in 1981 that the car began as his sketch, which the company's engineers worked up, and that the plans had begun to take shape about two years before.source 5source 11source 1source 12
The debut, November 1980
The car company was Zimmer Motor Cars Corp., set up as a subsidiary of Zimmer Homes, with its own plant in Pompano Beach. The first car was finished in the autumn of 1980. On 26 November Zimmer Homes announced a limited-edition car, the Golden Spirit, and planned 300 for the first year; that month it showed the car at the Miami Auto Show. Series manufacture began, by the federal recall records, on 29 December 1980.
By March 1981 the plant had 43 production workers and 11 managers, 17 dealers were selling the car and 83 cars were on order. Paul Zimmer's son, Bob Zimmer, was the car company's vice-president, and the Fort Lauderdale News noted that "Neither father nor son owns one of the cars they produce."
There is an increased demand for the specialty autos that Detroit no longer produces, … The American love affair with the automobile continues
Growth, 1981–1985
The car sold. By the company's count about 250 Golden Spirits were sold in 1981, and by April 1982 the plant was making about one a working day. Liberace was a customer, Bob Zimmer told UPI in 1982, when it called the plant "an 85-man factory". A T-roof came that summer, at $1,600 more than the $59,500 coupé.
The range widened in 1983. A convertible was shown at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show in January, and by the summer a Formal coupé with a painted roof. In April Zimmer Corporation made C. R. "Dick" Brown, formerly president of DeLorean Motor Cars of America, its executive vice-president. In September Forbes counted 75 dealers and a coupé at $62,500, and on 5 November a four-door, the Personal Limousine, made its debut at the South Florida Auto Show; the company ended the year with 85 of a planned 150 dealers. The May 1984 specification lists the fuel-injected V8 and a four-speed automatic, and for 1986 the company offered three roofs on the coupé, a convertible and two four-doors.
The parent, though, had begun to lose money in 1984.source 11source 7source 15source 16source 17source 18source 5source 19source 13source 20source 21source 22
The QuickSilver and the losses, 1986–1987
In February 1986 Zimmer showed its dealers a second car, the QuickSilver, a modern two-seater built on the Pontiac Fiero, and it went on sale that April. Venture counted 42 dealers in 28 states that July, and the Crain News Service 55 in September. The cars were doing well: the car division's sales rose 23 per cent in 1986, the Palm Beach Post reported, while the parent as a whole lost $7.9 million.
I've got all my eggs in one basket, … I'm completely committed to this company.
Carl Severe was now president of Zimmer Motor Cars, and the price list of 1 December 1986 offered the Golden Spirit Classic, the QuickSilver and the Four-Door Sedan to order. Car and Driver road-tested the QuickSilver in April 1987. When the Miami Herald visited the plant in September it found about 60 workers on the line and a Golden Spirit numbered 1,310 being built, and in October Zimmer announced a Performance Model of the QuickSilver. For 1987 Zimmer Corporation lost more than $9.9 million.
Chapter 11, 10 May 1988
The failure came from the parent's other businesses, not the cars. The period reports name a depressed market for manufactured homes in the oil and farm states, losses on recreational vehicles and motor homes, and engineering problems with the motor coaches, whose division lost more than $13 million from 1985; then the lenders called in $13.1 million. The car division was the one bright spot. On 10 May 1988 Zimmer Corporation filed for Chapter 11 in the federal bankruptcy court, listing Zimmer Motor Cars Corp. among its subsidiaries, and the Pompano Beach car plant closed with the filing and was put up for sale. The Fiero, the QuickSilver's donor, ended that year too.
In August Terry McMahan, the company's general counsel since 1979, became its president and chief executive. On 30 September Zimmer Corporation paid off the $13.1 million it owed its lenders, and in October Paul Zimmer said he would stand down as chairman at the start of 1989, citing his health, and stay on the board. By then the workforce was down to 150.
Chapter 11 is an animal all to itself,
Emergence, 1989
By October 1988 everything had been sold or was for sale except the van-conversion plant at Cordele, Georgia, and in July 1989 the bankruptcy court approved the reorganisation plan. Zimmer Corporation came out of Chapter 11 as a van converter with that one plant; the car company was not part of it.
The company's Pompano Beach manufacturing operation, which was closed when the company filed for bankruptcy, is still up for sale.
What became of the car company's moulds and tooling, no period source read records. The revival company said in about 2000 that the tax authorities and the bankruptcy court had "hauled everything in the car company factory and offices to the dump".source 24source 10source 32
The gap years, 1989–1996
No Zimmer car was built from May 1988 until late 1998. The cars went into the used-car trade, where the photographs here caught a QuickSilver and two Golden Spirits on a lot in Los Angeles in 1992, and into collections: the Imperial Palace Auto Collection in Las Vegas was showing Liberace's Golden Spirit by 1992. Zimmer Corporation's old ZIMMER registration, for van interiors, stayed on the trademark register, unused for cars. No source read follows Zimmer Corporation, or the people who built the cars, after 1989.source 24source 3source 33source 34
Art Zimmer's club and company
The name came back from outside. Art Zimmer, owner and publisher of the Syracuse New Times from 1984 to 2010, was no relation of Paul Zimmer. By his company's account he first saw a Zimmer in Syracuse in 1995, bought a Golden Spirit of the 1987 model year in March 1996, and that September started a club for owners. In the summer of 1997 he founded the Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company.
His company did not buy the old one. It filed a new trademark, ZIMMER GOLDEN SPIRIT, on 7 July 1997, and in August 1998 it petitioned to cancel Zimmer Corporation's old ZIMMER registration; Zimmer Corporation could not be reached, and the registration was cancelled by default on 15 December 1999.source 35source 32source 3source 36source 33
The revival cars, 1998–2013
The first new Golden Spirit was finished in November 1998, on a new Ford Mustang. Where it was made, the company said two things in turn: a factory in Pompano Beach at first, then Cambridge, Maryland, from April 1999. From about 2000–01 the cars were built in Syracuse by Sam's Auto Body: two-doors on new Mustangs and, from 2001, four-doors on Lincoln Town Cars, mostly new, only to order, five or six to a dozen a year by Art Zimmer's own account. Lincoln ended the Town Car in 2011, and with it the four-doors.source 3source 37source 38source 39source 32source 4
Heyman Motors and the end of the name
On 16 October 2012 Art Zimmer, as president, assigned his company's Zimmer marks and their goodwill to Heyman Motors, LLC of Closter, New Jersey, and Hagerty reported two years later that he had sold the company to a software developer, Eran Heyman. From January 2013 the website spoke for Heyman Motors. It advertised new two-doors on the Mustang GT and, for 2015–16, four-doors on the Cadillac CTS, but no car built under Heyman Motors has been found. The last new Zimmer on record is a silver two-door convertible in videos posted in May 2013, and who built it is not known.
The website went quiet after March 2016. The old company's ZIMMER registration had been cancelled in December 1999, and the revival's ZIMMER GOLDEN SPIRIT registration, owned by Heyman Motors, was cancelled on 4 March 2022. No live Zimmer car company, website or registration has been found since.source 40source 12source 4source 41source 36source 33
Why "founded 1978 in Syracuse" is wrong
Many accounts say Zimmer was founded in 1978 in Syracuse, New York, by Paul Zimmer and his son. Hagerty wrote "founded in 1978" in 2020, Hemmings dated the cars "1978–'88" the same year, and The Truth About Cars put the founding "1978 in Syracuse". Both halves are wrong. Paul Zimmer's idea dates from 1976, and the car company and its first car from 1980, in Pompano Beach, Florida. Syracuse was Art Zimmer's town, and his company dates from 1997.
The date has several possible origins. UPI's 1982 story put the idea on paper "two years" after 1976; the revival company's history, written about 2000, dated Paul Zimmer's Excalibur to 1978; the website under Heyman Motors spoke of Zimmer cars "1978 to 1988"; and Zimmer Corporation's ZIMMER registration for van interiors dated from 1978. Which of them started it, no source says. The same company history also called the parent "Zimmer Manufacturing" and dated it to the 1950s; the period reports know it only as Zimmer Homes Corp. and, from 1982, Zimmer Corporation.source 42source 43source 44source 5source 11source 6source 1source 3source 32source 4source 33source 7
Before and after
Before the car there were mobile homes, recreational vehicles and converted vans, and the van side gave the car company its first vice-president: Bob Zimmer had been sales manager of the van-conversion division. The car that started it all was another maker's, the Excalibur. After the cars, Zimmer Corporation went on as a van converter. The revival company of 1997 was the original's successor in name and look, not in law or ownership: a new company that took the name by a new filing and a cancellation by default, and started, by its own account, from scratch. After it came only Heyman Motors' claims, and today there is no successor at all. The QuickSilver never had one: the Fiero ended in 1988, and the revival company's parts depot had no parts for it.source 5source 1source 24source 33source 32source 28
Other markets
Zimmers were American cars, built on American Mustangs, Fieros and Town Cars to one American specification; no export version, right-hand-drive model or metric edition appears in any source read. Both companies said they sold abroad. In 1982 UPI reported that Bob Zimmer had closed "a $3-million export deal to Europe". In 1985 a promotional feature had cars going to Saudi Arabia and Japan, and one changed for Australia: "We sent one to Australia," Bob Zimmer said, "but had to make some adjustments in that vehicle first . . . converting it to a right-handed drive." The 1987 press kit spoke of owners "on the European continent and the Middle East". No shipping record of any of it has been found, and no source read identifies the Australian car.
The revival listed one dealer abroad in 2000, in Amman, Jordan, "serving the Mid-East area", and Art Zimmer told of buyers from the Gulf: a Saudi buyer in 2009, and four-door convertibles that found takers, SFGate reported in 2006, "mostly Middle Eastern potentates". Those stories rest on his word. Zimmers have since turned up in many countries: in Britain, where a revival four-door has been since 2009, and in Germany, France and the Netherlands, where the film below shows one made ready for Dutch roads.source 11source 21source 25source 20source 32source 39source 45source 31
Sources
Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.
- Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
- Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
- Uncheckedencyclopaedias and enthusiast sites: cited beside a good source, named in the sentence, or marked Unchecked
- Michael Langberg, "Zimmer has 'Golden Spirit'", Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, 22 Mar 1981 (Sunday), p. 3F, p. 3F, Zimmer Homes and its car company; p. 3F, the vans; p. 3F, the sketch and the engineers; p. 3F, the first car, the staff, the dealers and the quotations; p. 3F, Pompano Beach; p. 3F, the van division. Primary
- Ed Lopez, Report on Zimmer Corporation's Chapter 11 filing, Miami Herald, 11 May 1988, the filing of 10 May 1988; the loss of 1987; the filing and the subsidiaries. Primary
- Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company, on nyautos.com, Zimmer Golden Spirit coupé and convertible pages on nyautos.com, Wayback Machine captures of 6 Dec 1998, 28 Jan 1999, 24 Apr 1999 and 12 Oct 1999, the revived company, 1997; the first revival coupés, 1998; "reborn during the summer of 1997"; Pompano Beach, then Cambridge, Maryland. Primary
- Heyman Motors, LLC, Zimmer Motor Cars website (zimmermotorcars.com, 2013–2016), Wayback Machine captures, 17 Jan 2013 to 16 Mar 2016, the website under Heyman Motors, to 2016; the Town Car discontinued; the claims, 2013–16; "1978 to 1988". Primary
- Anne Bagamery, "The egomobile", Forbes, 26 Sep 1983, pp. 90–94, pp. 90–94, Paul Zimmer and the company; the Excalibur roadster of 1976; the price and the dealers; the Excalibur of 1976; the mobile-home business; the Excalibur. Primary
- Miami Herald, Business brief: Zimmer Homes to build the Golden Spirit, 26 Nov 1980, Zimmer Homes; the announcement of 26 November 1980; the announcement, 1980. Primary
- Mike Langberg, "Prospering in recession no problem for Zimmer", Fort Lauderdale News, 27 Apr 1982, the new name, Zimmer Corporation; the 1981 sales; the new name; Zimmer Corporation from 1982. Primary
- Monrovia News-Post, "Quicksilver Introduced By Zimmer", 20 Apr 1986, the American Stock Exchange; the launch in April 1986. Primary
- Daily Oklahoman, from Crain News Service, "Firm Hopes Sports Car Will Help Pocketbook", 7 Sep 1986, the divisions; the convention, the first sales and the dealers. Primary
- Rebecca Ross Albers, "A new chance for a shattered empire", Miami Herald, 17 Oct 1988, the company at its height; the loss of 1987; the causes, the plant for sale, Terry McMahan and the staff; the Cordele plant. Primary
- J. P. Faber, "He produces immaculate autos for the filthy rich", St. Petersburg Times, from United Press International, 17 Oct 1982, the drawing of 1976; "two years later"; Liberace; the 85-man factory; the export deal to Europe. Primary
- Jim Koscs, "All that Glitters is probably Fiberglass", Hagerty, 23 Oct 2014, Excalibur section; Zimmer section. Reference
- Zimmer Corporation, Zimmer Update, premiere issue, Jan 1984, p. 3, the introduction in November 1980; p. 3, the limousine and the dealers. Primary
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (US Government Printing Office microfiche), via Internet Archive, Safety Related Recall Campaigns for Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Equipment, Including Tires, quarterly report, 1982, campaign 82V-073, the first date of manufacture. Primary
- Kathleen Hamilton, "Zimmer's flashy cars swimming in almost-dry market", Automotive News (Crain Communications), via Internet Archive, 28 Jun 1982, p. 3, p. 3, the T-roof and the price. Primary
- Automotive News (Crain Communications), via Internet Archive, "Sunnier Golden Spirit", 3 Jan 1983, the convertible at Los Angeles. Primary
- Zimmer Corporation, Interim Report, second fiscal period 1983, chairman's letter of 3 Aug 1983, chairman's letter: the Formal. Primary
- Fort Lauderdale News, Business brief: C. R. Brown joins Zimmer Corporation, 19 Apr 1983, C. R. Brown. Primary
- Fort Lauderdale News, Business brief: the Zimmer limousine's debut, 27 Oct 1983, the limousine's debut. Primary
- Zimmer Motor Cars Corp., Pompano Beach, Florida, "Zimmer Motor Car Features and Specifications", revised May 1984, the engine and gearbox; the one specification. Primary
- Miami Herald, "Luxury automobile still the prime success indicator", 1 Nov 1985 (promotional feature), the 1986 line-up; Saudi Arabia, Japan and the car for Australia. Primary
- Charles Elmore, "Zimmer looking for improvement in 1987", The Palm Beach Post, 25 May 1987, the losses from 1984; the car division's sales; Paul Zimmer; the car division. Primary
- Jack Hayes, "Ostentatious — and priced accordingly", Venture, Jul 1986, 42 dealers in 28 states. Primary
- Ellen Forman, Report on Zimmer Corporation's reorganisation plan, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 18 Jul 1989, the losses; the coach losses; the plant closed with the filing; the plan approved; the plant still for sale; the van converter of 1989. Primary
- Zimmer Motor Cars Corp., Pompano Beach, Florida, 1987 press kit (Golden Spirit and QuickSilver), covering letter of 31 Jul 1987; price list of 1 Dec 1986, price list of 1 December 1986; Carl Severe; the releases: owners abroad; the technical data. Primary
- Patrick Bedard, "QuickSilver!", Car and Driver, Apr 1987, vol. 32, pp. 36–40, April 1987. Primary
- Joe Rhodes, "Autos as Art", Miami Herald, 20 Sep 1987, the plant in September 1987. Primary
- Collectible Automobile, "1986–88 Zimmer QuickSilver Sport Coupe: The First 'Neo-Modern'", Aug 1993, pp. 85–87, the Performance Model; the end of Fiero supply. Reference
- Miami Herald, Report on Terry P. McMahan's election as Zimmer Corporation's president, 6 Aug 1988, Terry McMahan elected. Primary
- Miami Herald, "Zimmer pays off debts, announces CEO will quit", 6 Oct 1988, the debt repaid; the chairman's resignation. Primary
- Antony Ingram, "Express yourself, with this Zimmer Golden Spirit", Hagerty UK, 13 Mar 2023, "closed in 1989"; the 2002 four-door in Britain. Reference
- Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Co., Syracuse, New York, Zimmer Motor Car Company website (zimmermotorcars.com, 2000–2012), Wayback Machine captures, 3 Mar 2000 to 13 May 2012, history page: the moulds; history page: the 1987 car and the club; the models and prices; history page: the Excalibur dated 1978; "Zimmer Manufacturing"; "from scratch"; "No Quicksilver parts are available"; the dealer list of June 2000. Primary
- United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTABVUE), Cancellation No. 92027992: Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company v. Zimmer Corporation (registration 1177989), 1998, the 1978 ZIMMER registration; the petition and the default; the old registration cancelled, 15 December 1999; the 1978 registration for van interiors; the new company's petition. Primary
- Automobile Quarterly Publications, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, Automobile Quarterly's Directory of North American Automobile Museums, 1992, the Imperial Palace Auto Collection, Nevada entries. Reference
- Christopher Malone, "'M' is for Memoir: The A-B-Cs of Art Zimmer", Syracuse New Times, 16 Sep 2015, publisher, 1984 to 2010; no relation. Reference
- United States Patent and Trademark Office (Trademark Status and Document Retrieval), ZIMMER GOLDEN SPIRIT, serial 75320076 (registration 2480221): status and prosecution history, 1997, filed 7 July 1997; cancelled 4 March 2022. Primary
- Art Zimmer and Shirley Sherburne Zimmer and Lois Gridley, Making It Count: From A to Z, The Life and Times of Art Zimmer, Log Cabin Books, 2015, the reprinted Post-Standard article. Primary
- Sam's Auto Body, Syracuse, New York, "Zimmer" page, captures of 3 Aug 2002 and 1 Nov 2010, the manufacturing facility. Primary
- Clifford Atiyeh, "Q&A: Art Zimmer explains his lavish, 'neo-classic' car craft", Boston.com (Boston Overdrive blog), 18 Sep 2009, the output and the method; the Saudi buyer. Primary
- United States Patent and Trademark Office (assignment recordation), Trademark assignment, reel 4882, frame 0146, executed and recorded 16 Oct 2012, the deed of 16 October 2012. Primary
- YouTube, Three videos of a Zimmer Golden Spirit convertible ("Zimmer Golden Spirit"; "Zimmer Golden Spirit 2014 Convertible"), posted 20–21 May 2013, the videos of May 2013. Primary
- Greg Ingold, "Zimmer Quicksilver: Cool neoclassic or expensive Fiero?", Hagerty, 7 Jan 2020, "founded in 1978". Reference
- Jeff Koch, "A neoclassic like this 1983 Zimmer Golden Spirit provides a double dose of retro", Hemmings, 3 Sep 2020, "1978–'88". Unchecked
- Corey Lewis, "Rare Rides: Extended Luxury With the 1986 Zimmer Quicksilver", The Truth About Cars, 3 Apr 2020, "1978 in Syracuse". Unchecked
- Ezra Dyer, "Neoclassic cars -- big, head-turning fakes", SFGate, 19 Nov 2006, the four-door convertibles' buyers. Reference