Public Enemy No. 1, Al Capone, made his fortune through the laws of Prohibition, affording him wealth that few of us enjoy. And what did the wealthy drive in the U.S.? Sure, there were some foreign jobs like Hispano-Suiza and Isotta Fraschini that were tops in styling and engineering, but America also had her “Standard of the World:” Cadillac. While a few years away from the V-16 monsters of the 1930s, Al’s 1928 Cadillac Model 341A Town Sedan was at the forefront of America luxury.
It also was at the forefront of armored car history, being one of the first built. Said to weigh 7,000 pounds and modified to run 110 mph (a stock, two-ton Caddy struggled to hit 100), Capone’s Caddy had other special features such as regulation police siren and radio to help his henchmen breeze through traffic and evade the law. See the green and black paint? Done in a similar scheme to Chicago’s police cars.
The U.S. Treasury Department impounded and kept Capone’s Caddy after he was arrested in 1931. When FDR went to Congress to ask for a declaration of a state of war on December 8, 1941, he rode in this Cadillac.
Comments
The story of FDR using Al Capone’s cadillac is totally false. I have researched and will run a piece on my site with photo of FDR’s motorcade leaving the White House towards Congress to give his speech on Dec. 8. 1941 and the photo clearly shows that it’s not Capone’s caddy.
Thank you for the feedback.
This wouldn’t be the first time something like this has proven to be false. What’s your site?
Any idea where the Capone car is today?
I have it.
I have researched this story and found out it’s just a myth. See
http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id196.htm
The man in your video clip above was my great-uncle, Harry Elmo LaBreque, who purchased Al Capone’s car in Chicago in May 1933 and brought it to England to show it in Southend Essex. Harry’s own account of how he purchased the car and brought it to England is described here
http://worldwidegenealogy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/al-capones-bullet-proof-car-and-my.html
Capone’s car and FDR’s car are two totally different cars.
Kindly send the green color name or code..
The fact that the car was in England in 1941 was also attested to by Sotheby’s when the car sold in 2012. http://www.rmsothebys.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1052417
there are lots of classic bikes here check the link
http://royal-enfield-history.blogspot.in