Sep 17, 2015  •  For Sale Name That Car  •  44 Comments

Can You Identify This Crazy Cruiser?

Crazy Cruiser

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Here’s a car that I bet few of you have ever seen. That’s because only five were ever built. It was designed in the late seventies, it cost more than a Ferrari 308, and it had a top speed of 125mph! Any guesses as to what it could be? Keep reading for the answer. Thanks goes to Doug M. for the submission!

1980 Kanzler Coupe

It is a 1980 Kanzler Coupe and it’s currently listed for sale here on eBay. This unique machine was designed by Ernie Kanzler Jr. who was a distant relative to Edsel Ford. Not sure how that gives you credibility, but it must have given them motivation. The engine came from a Cougar, the chassis from a Lincoln, and the body was based off an Opel. See the resemblance? There were some odd cars being constructed during this same time period, but this could have been the king of them all!

Comments

  1. Brian CMember
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:16pm

    Now I know exactly what to do with my Opel GT!

    Like 0
  2. BILL GRAHAM
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:17pm

    I think I saw something like that in a bad dream once!..

    Like 1
  3. Charles
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:19pm

    That’s interesting!

    Like 0
  4. randy
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:21pm

    Yep, I also see the GT hiding under all of that….whatever it is.

    Like 0
  5. Stuart
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:24pm

    I saw the Opel GT before I read the details…but the rest of it? Yikes, the perils of steroids!!

    Like 0
  6. David Frank DavidMember
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:28pm

    $105K? There were lots of folks building cars in the 1970s, many based on the Lincoln Chasis, so what makes this thing so valuable? Here’s one from the museum that needs to be sold. Who knows what it might be worth, perhaps a tenth of the asking for this Kanzler?

    Like 0
    • jaygryph
      Sep 17, 2015 at 1:43pm

      That looks like a variant of the Gazelle that several builders stamped out in the 70’s. I have one, though overall slightly different in design than that in subtle ways, that would normally be pinto or VW powered but currently has a Toyota 20R and 5 speed as it’s powerplant. It cost me around $1800 to winch it from the garage it’d been parked in for a decade. Luckily they’re pretty light weight since it slid one tire all the way onto the trailer.

      Fun car tho, can hardly wait to get that back on the road!

      Like 0
    • 57Wayne
      Sep 17, 2015 at 7:36pm

      David, is that a Squire?

      Like 0
  7. e55
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:29pm

    Opel gt

    Like 0
  8. tirefriar
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:38pm

    the builders of the Kanzler should be charged with multiple offenses: poor taste, inflicting undue stress, indecent exposure and the main one: mutilating a real sports car! $105k??!! They should pay that in restitution…

    Like 0
  9. Bob
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:39pm

    I’m surprised five were made. Apparently nobody looked at the first one before they built the others.

    Like 0
  10. sunbeamdon
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:45pm

    What’s a Couger???

    Without looking at the answer, I thought it was a long-lost relative of the Bizzarini!

    Fuggly comes to mind!

    Like 0
    • Doug M
      Sep 17, 2015 at 5:47pm

      had a work colleague years back named Don and he was into Sunbeams…..Cent. Pa. apololgies if your not him!

      Like 0
  11. MiniCooperMk1
    Sep 17, 2015 at 1:54pm

    The only cheesy styling cue they missed was the Duesenberg-style exhaust pipes. Poor little Opel GT…

    Like 0
  12. That Guy
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:03pm

    It makes perfect sense that Liberace owned one. I’ve always wondered if his taste for over-the-top gaudiness was for real, or if he was in on the joke and just having fun being Las Vegas in human form.

    But I just can’t imagine anyone taking this car seriously, ever. It’s an amusing rolling laugh track, but only at a what-the-hell-I’ll-take-it price.

    Like 0
  13. DolphinMember
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:18pm

    The latest issue of Road & Track is their “design” issue, and the best commentray in the issue is by Bob Lutz. His point is that the chief of design at any car company should make the highest salary, higher than the CEO. That’s almost never the case, but it should be because good design is necessary for building appealing cars that people will want to buy.

    I’m guessing that the guy who designed this car had a real low salary.

    Like 0
  14. randy
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:26pm

    Come on guys, it’s not all that bad, this could be some widows’ car, and her husband absolutely loved it. They’d take cruises over the mountain and look out over the city on moonlit nights.

    Like 0
    • Bob
      Sep 17, 2015 at 4:35pm

      They should have pushed it over the side.

      Like 0
  15. Mark E
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:46pm

    Okay, looking at it from the rear I can see the Opel GT in the windows and particularly in the vents above the rear window. But if I look at the front I stick to my story about Glastron looking for a way to repurpose their boat molds…

    Like 0
    • Chuck Foster Chuck F 55chevy
      Sep 17, 2015 at 8:45pm

      Mark E got it right, you’ve heard of boat tail cars, this one’s a boat nose, inverted with goofy headlights, doesn’t match the Opel GT curvy body at all. It looks like a schizophrenic Phantom Corsair, the front clip is on LSD. The faux running boards between the front and rear fenders look like they were molded from little blow up balloons clowns use to make animals, they have kinks in them. It’s rare, only 5 made because the builder realized no one wanted to buy a butt ugly car. You could improve the appearance by getting rid of the center lower lights, (fog lights?) and scallop behind them, curve the front end to match the GT curves, no angular center point/boat bow, make it look a little like a XKE. I think they added a zero, 10,500 is about right.

      Like 0
  16. Matt Tritt
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:48pm

    I remember this. A penilmobile! The stretch version.

    Like 0
  17. MikeW
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:52pm

    I hope it’s not the Bobcat engine, maybe a 302 or better yet the 351. OK, I looked and it’s the 351. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/10/21/from-the-archives-kanzler-coupe/

    Like 0
  18. Cassidy
    Sep 17, 2015 at 2:54pm

    The outriggers look like they are fiberglass, so its worth the risk to take down the boat ramp. If it floats, great, I hope it comes with paddles. If it sinks, even better!

    Like 0
  19. Chris A.
    Sep 17, 2015 at 3:01pm

    “The Donald” needs this car.

    Like 0
  20. roger pence
    Sep 17, 2015 at 3:07pm

    This reminds of some of the model cars I built as a kid. I had a period where I slapped fat fenders on every model I made. They were poorly conceived and the execution always left a lot to be desired. Just like this abomination!

    Like 0
  21. Matt Tritt
    Sep 17, 2015 at 3:21pm

    Most definitely.

    Like 0
  22. splod
    Sep 17, 2015 at 4:06pm

    Automobile Abomination

    Like 0
  23. Blindmarc
    Sep 17, 2015 at 4:45pm

    Another that someone think “rare” = $. No demand for this = no money.

    Like 0
  24. Rex Kahrs Rex KahrsMember
    Sep 17, 2015 at 5:16pm

    I was going to say Tatra-calibur.

    Like 0
  25. Tim
    Sep 17, 2015 at 5:21pm

    Some cars are rare for a pretty clear reason

    Like 0
  26. brakeservo
    Sep 17, 2015 at 5:25pm

    Best argument I ever saw about the dangers of cocaine . . .

    Like 0
    • SoCal Car Guy
      Sep 17, 2015 at 6:04pm

      …or eating too much canned chili with beans and washing it down with a couple six-packs of PBR.

      Like 0
  27. Andrew S MaceMember
    Sep 17, 2015 at 5:29pm

    Finally — a truly awful limited production car that wasn’t built around a Spridget tub! ;)

    Like 0
  28. jim s
    Sep 17, 2015 at 6:33pm

    listing has ended.

    Like 0
  29. Steve
    Sep 17, 2015 at 6:35pm

    Looks like it just escaped from the circus.

    Like 0
  30. Vince Habel
    Sep 17, 2015 at 7:34pm

    Should have left the Opel GT alone.

    Like 0
  31. josh h
    Sep 17, 2015 at 10:03pm

    Grotesque comes to mind. Hard to look at. So ugly it hurts my feelings.

    Like 0
  32. Daymo
    Sep 18, 2015 at 2:37am

    I thought it was a Renault Alpine at first. There are certainly a few resemblances!

    Like 0
  33. Dave Wright
    Sep 18, 2015 at 2:39am

    I thought so too at first glance

    Like 0
  34. Barry T
    Sep 18, 2015 at 3:53am

    What a crime and a shame to do this to an Opel GT, which was a rather nice little car.

    Like 0
  35. Doug M. (West Coast)Member
    Sep 18, 2015 at 7:43am

    BAD DESIGN!! Almost ruined my breakfast! The back isn’t all that bad, but the front reminds me of some mud dobber lizzard with weird eyes! And from any angle, all I can see is appendages stuck onto an Opel GT! Bad!

    Like 0
  36. Mitch
    Sep 18, 2015 at 10:33am

    There is a 911 body in there somewhere.

    Like 0
  37. D. King
    Sep 18, 2015 at 11:54am

    I thought I saw 911 in there, too. The Opel GT was the poor man’s Porsche, back in the day…

    Like 0
  38. Italia 227
    Sep 18, 2015 at 3:22pm

    That is the thirteen ugliest cars I’ve ever seen.

    Like 0

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