1930’s Chique Or Eighties Escapism? This Tiffany Coupe Is Rare

By Max Holder Mar 25, 2019

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By Max Holder Mar 25, 2019

This 1988 CMC Tiffany Classic Coupe sports a Ford Windsor V8 and an intriguing company story from Miami

The 1980s were an eclectic time for car design. For those of us who couldn’t afford the best, boxy saloons with the charisma of a wart were commonplace across the country. For the rest of us, hardcore sports cars with sharp edges were the order of the day.

For the rest who wanted some additional flamboyance, or who wanted to reminisce in the days of art deco yore, there was a third (and rather drastic) option, and it came from a company in Florida.

Classic Motor Carriages was a company in Miami who turned out to become the biggest builder of replica cars across the nation. With examples of classic Porsches, Mercedes and Ford products, they certainly weren’t short on choice.

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Although most of these models reflected dream cars from yesteryear, one of their models known as the 359 was a convertible replica of the Porsche 959. What we have here offers no resemblance, however.

CMC is a company that carries an intriguing story and one of success, crime and consequently failure. The company was in turmoil towards the end of the 1970s, and a wealthy man named George Levin bought the company. Having pushed out a marketing stampede, the cars on offer were made instantly recognisable across the country, and their revenue shot through the roof.

By the 1980s, the company was booming with revenues exceeding $20 million. Sadly this all took a hairpin ten years later, where the Floridian Attorney General filed a lawsuit on behalf of thousands of defrauded customers. The company eventually pled guilty in 1999.

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Modelled as the Tiffany, this Mercury Cougar platform coupe appears as the of the type of car piloted by Cruella De Vil. Built until the early nineties they are few and far between, with this model being one of the only offered by CMC to be factory built.

Rumour has it that just 50 examples were produced, a speculative point that can never be proven as all documents relating to the company were destroyed.

Look at the doors and roofline and you will recognise the Mercury immediately, venture inside and your suspicions will be confirmed with Cougar dashboard and interior finishing. Under the hood you’ll find the robust Ford Windsor 5-liter V8 to propel you via a rebuilt four speed automatic transmission. Listed with 85000 miles on the odometer, one needn’t worry about longevity.

For more information visit the Motorious classifieds where this Tiffany Coupe is listed for $27,000.