How Many Zimmers Were Made
No factory record of Zimmer production has been found, and the totals most often quoted were first written by the revival company, years after the factory closed. What the evidence of the time allows: about 1,250 Golden Spirits, by this site's reckoning.
In September 1987 a reporter from the Miami Herald walked the line at Zimmer's plant in Pompano Beach and found a Golden Spirit numbered 1,310 taking shape. Eight months later the plant closed, and no record the company kept has been found since. How many Zimmers were made has been answered many times since, mostly with round numbers that no one of the time ever gave.source 1source 2source 3
The evidence, and how good it is
No production record of either company has been found, and neither published a final total. What is left is of four kinds, and they are worth keeping apart. The first is the federal record: the recall of July 1982 counted every Golden Spirit built from 29 December 1980 to 20 July 1982, and that count, the one federal count of a whole run of production, is among the Golden Spirit's production readings. The second is what reporters saw: the Fort Lauderdale News reported the cars finished by March 1981, and the Miami Herald saw car No. 1,310 in September 1987. The third is what the company said at the time, plans and rates and running totals, which were often what it hoped rather than what it built. The fourth is what was said later, and most of that comes from the revival company, which, by its own account, had nothing to count from: it said everything in the plant had been hauled to the dump.
A Zimmer's own production number tells only where it came in the sequence. The numbers, as the next sections show, ran ahead of the cars.source 4source 5source 1source 6source 3
Golden Spirit, year by year
| Year | What changed | Counts, plans and claims at the time |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Announced on 26 November and shown at the Miami Auto Show | A plan of 300 cars for the first year; series manufacture began on 29 December |
| 1981 | The first full year: the coupé, on new Mustangs | 83 cars on order and 17 dealers in March; about 250 sold in the year, the company said in 1982; a "first edition" of 144, Forbes wrote later |
| 1982 | The T-roof; the parent renamed Zimmer Corporation | One car a working day in April; "about 300 cars a year" in June; an 85-man factory in October; the federal count of the cars built to 20 July |
| 1983 | The 5.0 V8, the convertible, the Formal and the Personal Limousine | "two a workday, 500 for the year", Forbes reported in September; 85 dealers of a planned 150 by December |
| 1984 | Fuel injection and the four-speed automatic | One dealer in Pasadena sold 18 Golden Spirits in the year |
| 1985 | The 1986 models announced in November, the company's fifth-anniversary line-up | The company's running count of the cars built in its first five years |
| 1986 | The QuickSilver added; the limousine dropped | "About 250 cars a year" since 1980, Robert Zimmer told Venture; the car division's sales up 23 per cent |
| 1987 | The "refined Golden Spirit" | The company's count of the cars "in the field" in July; 300 to 400 a year for both models, and 60 line workers, in September |
| 1988 | The plant closed on 10 May | none |
The company's figures for a year run well above the federal count: by our arithmetic on it, the plant averaged fewer than 200 cars a year in its first 19 months. The company's figures were orders, capacity or salesmanship as often as output. The running counts of 1985 and 1987 are among the Golden Spirit's production readings, with their sources.source 7source 4source 8source 5source 9source 10source 11source 12source 13source 14source 15source 1source 16
How many Golden Spirits?
The best evidence for a total is the company's own count in the middle of 1987, set against the numbers on its cars.
Built for the automobile aficionado, this coach-built motorcar boasts a production of over 1,200 cars in the field today.
Two months later the Miami Herald saw No. 1,310 being built. The release's count and the number the Herald saw are about 100 apart, two months on, so the numbers seem to have run about 100 ahead of the cars, and a car's number is not a count. The plant built on for eight months more, until May 1988; the Herald's 300 to 400 cars a year was for both models, and no source counts what the line built in its last months. On that evidence this site puts the Golden Spirits at about 1,250, with a few four-doors besides: somewhat more than the company's count of July 1987, and well short of the totals that came later. It is a judgement, not a count: it assumes the last months added few cars, and it is no better than the company's count and the reporter's sighting it rests on.source 6source 1source 5source 4source 12
Where the larger totals came from
The larger totals were first written about 2000, on the revival company's website, more than 10 years after the factory closed.
In 1985 a second car was introduced. The Zimmer Quicksilver was a more modern vehicle. About 170 Quicksilvers were built and over 1400 Golden Spirits.
Other pages of the same site put the figure higher still. The history page dated the QuickSilver a year early and the old company's founder's Excalibur two years late, and by its own account the revival company could have had no records of the old one; the totals have no source of the time behind them. They spread all the same, and Hemmings, for one, repeated the history page's Golden Spirit figure in 2020. The figures belong to the later story of the cars, not to their production, and the Golden Spirit's production readings list them as what they are.source 3source 17
The four-doors
No count of the Personal Limousine or the Four-Door Sedan has been found. The limousine was to be built in small numbers from its launch in 1983, and was dropped in 1986; on the price list of December 1986 the Sedan could be had only on order, with the company's approval. They were few, and no source read says how few.source 12source 1source 6
QuickSilver
The plans at the launch, in April 1986, were for 300 cars that year and 1,000 the next. Sales by September were about 12, and a year after the launch the company's president, Carl Severe, expected about 110 a year. Looking back in 1993, Collectible Automobile found that sales had fallen far short of the plans, and it quoted Zimmer's own release of 1988.
less than 150 of the exclusive QuickSilvers will be produced. Owners of this limited-production model can rest assured that they are driving a designer original.
That is the company's figure, made as the end came. The larger figure that most accounts give comes from the revival company's history page of about 2000, quoted above, and has no source of the time; Hagerty repeated it in 2020. The QuickSilver page gives both readings with their sources.source 18source 19source 20source 21source 3source 22
Both models together
Putting the two estimates side by side, about 1,250 Golden Spirits and a few four-doors, and fewer than the company's 1988 figure for the QuickSilver, the original company made roughly 1,400 Zimmers in all between December 1980 and May 1988. That is our arithmetic on two estimates, and it is the total for both models, not a count of either.source 1source 21
The revival years
The revival company of Art Zimmer, Zimmer Neo-Classic, never published a total. Its own pages give a few counts: two coupés for its first model year, built in 1998; two or three convertibles planned for 1999; and, in October 2001, a tally of six two-door convertibles and one four-door made and sold, with "several" coupés. The hopes were bigger: 30 to 40 a year once the factory was running and, in the company's words of 2000, 25 to 50 a year within four or five years, before the targets shrank; its adverts of 2002 and 2006 used the same words, "One of only 15 Zimmers to be manufactured", in both years, so they are not counts. In 2009 Art Zimmer himself put the output at between five or six cars and a dozen a year, and Hagerty in 2014 about a dozen a year on order; Wikipedia's 10 to 20 a year gives no source.
Videos posted in May 2013 show a convertible that looked new, by a builder no source names. Heyman Motors' price list of 2016 offered more, but no car of those years has been found.source 23source 24source 3source 25source 26source 27source 28source 29
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
- Joe Rhodes, "Autos as Art", Miami Herald, 20 Sep 1987, the plant visit: the car numbered 1,310; the car numbered 1,310; the rate and the workers in September 1987; the limousine taken out of production; both models in 1987. Primary
- Ellen Forman, Report on Zimmer Corporation's reorganisation plan, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 18 Jul 1989, the plant closed with the filing of May 1988. Primary
- 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 totals; history page: the old factory's contents; history page, captures of 2000–06; club page; Golden Spirit page; history and QuickSilver pages; history page, 2000 and October 2001; the adverts of 2002 and 2006. 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 cars built 29 December 1980 to 20 July 1982; campaign 82V-073, the first date of manufacture; campaign 82V-073. Primary
- Michael Langberg, "Zimmer has 'Golden Spirit'", Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, 22 Mar 1981 (Sunday), p. 3F, p. 3F, the cars completed by March 1981; p. 3F, the orders and dealers in March 1981. 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, release "Zimmer intro's refined Golden Spirit for 1987"; release "Zimmer intro's refined Golden Spirit for 1987"; the covering letter of 31 July 1987; price list of 1 December 1986. Primary
- Miami Herald, Business brief: Zimmer Homes to build the Golden Spirit, 26 Nov 1980, the plan for the first year. Primary
- Anne Bagamery, "The egomobile", Forbes, 26 Sep 1983, pp. 90–94, the "first edition"; the plan for 1983. Primary
- Mike Langberg, "Prospering in recession no problem for Zimmer", Fort Lauderdale News, 27 Apr 1982, the 1981 sales; one car a working day. 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, "about 300 cars a year". Primary
- J. P. Faber, "He produces immaculate autos for the filthy rich", St. Petersburg Times, from United Press International, 17 Oct 1982, the 85-man factory. Primary
- Zimmer Corporation, Zimmer Update, premiere issue, Jan 1984, p. 3, the dealers at the end of 1983; p. 3, the Personal Limousine; p. 3, the Personal Limousine's launch. Primary
- Jack Hayes, "Ostentatious — and priced accordingly", Venture, Jul 1986, the Pasadena dealer's 1984 sales; "about 250 cars a year". Primary
- Miami Herald, "Luxury automobile still the prime success indicator", 1 Nov 1985 (promotional feature), the 1986 line-up. Primary
- Charles Elmore, "Zimmer looking for improvement in 1987", The Palm Beach Post, 25 May 1987, the car division's sales in 1986. Primary
- Ed Lopez, Report on Zimmer Corporation's Chapter 11 filing, Miami Herald, 11 May 1988, the filing of 10 May 1988. Primary
- Jeff Koch, "A neoclassic like this 1983 Zimmer Golden Spirit provides a double dose of retro", Hemmings, 3 Sep 2020, the Golden Spirit total, repeated. Unchecked
- Monrovia News-Post, "Quicksilver Introduced By Zimmer", 20 Apr 1986, Robert Zimmer's plans. Primary
- Daily Oklahoman, from Crain News Service, "Firm Hopes Sports Car Will Help Pocketbook", 7 Sep 1986, the cars sold by September 1986. Primary
- Popular Mechanics, "America the Beautiful" (designer cars), "Zimmer Quicksilver", Apr 1987, p. 80, p. 80, "only about 110". Primary
- Collectible Automobile, "1986–88 Zimmer QuickSilver Sport Coupe: The First 'Neo-Modern'", Aug 1993, pp. 85–87, the plans, the sales and the 1988 release; the 1988 release. Reference
- Greg Ingold, "Zimmer Quicksilver: Cool neoclassic or expensive Fiero?", Hagerty, 7 Jan 2020, the total repeated. Reference
- 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 first model year; the 1999 convertibles. 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: "30 to 40". Primary
- Clifford Atiyeh, "Q&A: Art Zimmer explains his lavish, 'neo-classic' car craft", Boston.com (Boston Overdrive blog), 18 Sep 2009, the output in 2009. Primary
- Jim Koscs, "All that Glitters is probably Fiberglass", Hagerty, 23 Oct 2014, Zimmer section, the rate on order. Reference
- Wikipedia, Zimmer (automobile), the revival's output. Unchecked
- 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
- Heyman Motors, LLC, Zimmer Motor Cars website (zimmermotorcars.com, 2013–2016), Wayback Machine captures, 17 Jan 2013 to 16 Mar 2016, the 2016 price list. Primary