ZimmerMotorcars

Who Made the Zimmer Golden Spirit?

Paul H. Zimmer, chairman of the Florida mobile-home maker Zimmer Homes, sketched the Golden Spirit, and his company's car subsidiary built it at Pompano Beach from 1980 to 1988. The Golden Spirits sold new from 1998 came from an unrelated man and company.

About the pictureAn original Golden Spirit coupé at El Segundo, California, 2018: the car he conceived, not the man.

A yellow Golden Spirit coupé in a museum, showing its chrome grille, gold eagle, two large headlamps, trumpet horns and flared wings over wire wheels.
Stand-in An original Golden Spirit coupé of the 1980s at the Automobile Driving Museum, El Segundo, California, in May 2018: the car he conceived, not a picture of the man.Daderot, CC0

The Golden Spirit of the 1980s was made by Zimmer Motor Cars Corp. of Pompano Beach, Florida, the car company of the mobile-home and recreational-vehicle maker Zimmer Homes Corp. The car was the idea of the parent's chairman and president, Paul H. Zimmer: it started as a drawing of his, and the company's engineers turned it into a lengthened new Ford Mustang with the looks of a 1930s classic. His son Bob ran the car company until at least 1986, and it built Golden Spirits, and from 1986 the QuickSilver, until the plant closed in May 1988. The Golden Spirits sold new from 1998 had nothing to do with them.⁠1​2​3​4

A mobile-home man

Sources for Paul H. Zimmer

Anne Bagamery, "The egomobile", Forbes, 26 Sep 1983, pp. 90–94⁠5; J. P. Faber, "He produces immaculate autos for the filthy rich", St. Petersburg Times, from United Press International, 17 Oct 1982⁠2; Michael Langberg, "Zimmer has 'Golden Spirit'", Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, 22 Mar 1981 (Sunday), p. 3F⁠1; Mike Langberg, "Prospering in recession no problem for Zimmer", Fort Lauderdale News, 27 Apr 1982⁠6; Miami Herald, Business brief: Zimmer Homes to build the Golden Spirit, 26 Nov 1980⁠7; Monrovia News-Post, "Quicksilver Introduced By Zimmer", 20 Apr 1986⁠8; Ed Lopez, Report on Zimmer Corporation's Chapter 11 filing, Miami Herald, 11 May 1988⁠9; Miami Herald, "Zimmer pays off debts, announces CEO will quit", 6 Oct 1988⁠10; Rebecca Ross Albers, "A new chance for a shattered empire", Miami Herald, 17 Oct 1988⁠11; Ellen Forman, Report on Zimmer Corporation's reorganisation plan, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 18 Jul 1989⁠3; Christopher Malone, "'M' is for Memoir: The A-B-Cs of Art Zimmer", Syracuse New Times, 16 Sep 2015⁠4

Paul Zimmer came to cars from mobile homes. The son of a Detroit boat and auto parts maker, he left Florida Southern College in 1949, Forbes reported, to go into the mobile-home business with his brother, and in 1964 he took the business public. The company itself, listed on the American Stock Exchange and renamed Zimmer Corporation in 1982, is followed in the history. He held about 15 per cent of its shares in 1983, Forbes said, and 14.4 per cent in 1987, by the Palm Beach Post's count.⁠5​12​6​8

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From an Excalibur to a sketch

The car began with someone else's. In 1976, Paul Zimmer told Forbes, he bought an Excalibur roadster, one of the American cars built in the style of a pre-war Mercedes, and the way people reacted to it decided him.

I was absolutely amazed at the reaction, … From a 9-year-old boy to a great-great-grandmother, it was always the same: 'Beautiful!' 'Oh, wow!' Thumbs up. I sold that car, but before I sold it I said to myself, 'God, we can do that.'

Paul H. Zimmer, Forbes, 26 September 1983

UPI dated his first drawing of a car of his own to the same year. The Fort Lauderdale News told how the drawing became a car: Zimmer's engineers worked it up on a new Mustang from what the paper called the most memorable features of the great classics, and Zimmer Homes put the result on show in Miami in November 1980.

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Chairman of a car maker

He spoke for the parent; his son spoke for the cars. Bob Zimmer was vice-president of the car company from its first months and its president from 1982, and Paul Zimmer's own recorded lines are mostly about the market and its buyers: "the market we serve pays cash", he told the Fort Lauderdale News in 1981. In May 1983, after the parent's earnings had more than tripled in the 16 weeks to 16 April, he told shareholders to expect record sales and earnings for 1983.

The cars were never the parent's only business. By 1986 Zimmer Corporation's divisions also made motor homes and coaches and built yachts, and by the Palm Beach Post's account the cars' sales were still rising that year while the parent lost money. One of his managers described him to the Miami Herald the next year.

Mr. Zimmer, … is a very strong-willed individual who is very proud of the vehicle and very proud to have his name on it.

Tim McRoberts, director of marketing support, Miami Herald, 20 September 1987⁠1​2​16​17​12​18

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The collapse, 1987–1989

Zimmer Corporation lost $5.7 million in 1985, $7.9 million in 1986 and more than $9.9 million in 1987. At the annual meeting of May 1987 Paul Zimmer would not forecast a recovery; he would promise only to "work hard with total dedication and determination", the Palm Beach Post reported. A year later, on 10 May 1988, the company filed for Chapter 11, and the car plant closed. The period reports put it down to the parent's losses on manufactured homes, motor homes and coaches.

The company's running passed to others first: in August 1988 its general counsel, Terry McMahan, became president and chief executive, and in October, with the lenders paid, it announced its chairman's departure. Paul Zimmer stood down as chairman at the start of 1989, citing his health, and stayed on the board. When the company left Chapter 11 in July 1989 it made no cars, and no source read follows him after that.

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The later Golden Spirits

The Golden Spirits sold new from 1998 were made by another man and another company. Art Zimmer, a Syracuse publisher with no family link to Paul Zimmer, bought a Golden Spirit in 1996 and in 1997 set up the Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company. How his company came by the name is told on Art Zimmer's page. It finished its first coupés in late 1998, and in 2012 it assigned its marks to Heyman Motors, which let the last of them lapse in 2022.⁠4​21​22​23​24

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Roles

  1. 1976

    Designer

    Drew the sketch, in 1976 by UPI's account, from which his company's engineers developed the Golden Spirit; Zimmer Homes announced the car in November 1980

    J. P. Faber, "He produces immaculate autos for the filthy rich", St. Petersburg Times, from United Press International, 17 Oct 1982⁠2; Michael Langberg, "Zimmer has 'Golden Spirit'", Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, 22 Mar 1981 (Sunday), p. 3F⁠1; Miami Herald, Business brief: Zimmer Homes to build the Golden Spirit, 26 Nov 1980⁠7

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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
  1. Michael Langberg, "Zimmer has 'Golden Spirit'", Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, 22 Mar 1981 (Sunday), p. 3F, p. 3F, the sketch, the car company and its plant; p. 3F; p. 3F, the sketch and the engineers; p. 3F, "the market we serve pays cash". Primary
  2. 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; Bob Zimmer, president of the car company. Primary
  3. Ellen Forman, Report on Zimmer Corporation's reorganisation plan, Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 18 Jul 1989, the plant closed in May 1988; the losses of 1985–87; the reorganisation approved. Primary
  4. Christopher Malone, "'M' is for Memoir: The A-B-Cs of Art Zimmer", Syracuse New Times, 16 Sep 2015, no relation to the original Zimmers; Art Zimmer, no relation. Reference
  5. Anne Bagamery, "The egomobile", Forbes, 26 Sep 1983, pp. 90–94, pp. 90–94; pp. 90–94, his career and his shares; the Excalibur of 1976, "I was absolutely amazed". Primary
  6. Mike Langberg, "Prospering in recession no problem for Zimmer", Fort Lauderdale News, 27 Apr 1982, the new name, Zimmer Corporation. Primary
  7. Miami Herald, Business brief: Zimmer Homes to build the Golden Spirit, 26 Nov 1980, the announcement of 26 November 1980. Primary
  8. Monrovia News-Post, "Quicksilver Introduced By Zimmer", 20 Apr 1986, the American Stock Exchange. Primary
  9. Ed Lopez, Report on Zimmer Corporation's Chapter 11 filing, Miami Herald, 11 May 1988, the filing of 10 May 1988. Primary
  10. Miami Herald, "Zimmer pays off debts, announces CEO will quit", 6 Oct 1988, the debts paid; his resignation as chairman. Primary
  11. Rebecca Ross Albers, "A new chance for a shattered empire", Miami Herald, 17 Oct 1988, the losses in housing, motor homes and coaches. Primary
  12. Charles Elmore, "Zimmer looking for improvement in 1987", The Palm Beach Post, 25 May 1987, his years at the head of the company; his shares; the car division's sales in 1986; the 1986 loss; "I won't make predictions". Primary
  13. Zimmer Corporation, Zimmer Update, premiere issue, Jan 1984, the introduction in November 1980. Primary
  14. Ronald Ahrens, "Standing on their own", with the sidebar "Neoclassic movers and soakers", Automobile, Jan 2016, vol. 30 no. 10, pp. 65–70, sidebar, "Neoclassic movers and soakers": the napkin. Reference
  15. Wikipedia, Zimmer (automobile), the napkin story. Unchecked
  16. Automotive News (Crain Communications), via Internet Archive, "Sunnier Golden Spirit", 3 Jan 1983, 16 May 1983, p. 50, "Zimmer reports gains, forecasts record '83". Primary
  17. Daily Oklahoman, from Crain News Service, "Firm Hopes Sports Car Will Help Pocketbook", 7 Sep 1986, the parent's divisions. Primary
  18. Joe Rhodes, "Autos as Art", Miami Herald, 20 Sep 1987, Tim McRoberts on Paul Zimmer. Primary
  19. Forbes, "Zimmer's bummer", 3 Oct 1988, vol. 142 no. 7, "Follow-Through" column, the 1987 loss, "exceeded $9.9 million". Primary
  20. Miami Herald, Report on Terry P. McMahan's election as Zimmer Corporation's president, 6 Aug 1988, Terry McMahan elected. Primary
  21. 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 car bought in 1996 and the company of 1997. Primary
  22. 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 revival coupés. Primary
  23. United States Patent and Trademark Office (assignment recordation), Trademark assignment, reel 4882, frame 0146, executed and recorded 16 Oct 2012, the assignment of 16 October 2012. Primary
  24. United States Patent and Trademark Office (Trademark Status and Document Retrieval), ZIMMER GOLDEN SPIRIT, serial 75320076 (registration 2480221): status and prosecution history, 1997, the ZIMMER GOLDEN SPIRIT registration cancelled, 4 March 2022. Primary

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