The Truth About Al Capone’s Bulletproof Cadillac
Tools of the trade. Michelangelo had his chisel. Wyatt Earp had his Buntline Special (or not). And besides (we admit we’re speculating here) a hope chest full of tommy guns and brass knuckles, Alphonse Gabriel Capone – ol’ Scarface himself — had wheels.
Such wheels. You don’t get to control Chicago in the 1930s by sitting in one place and twiddling your thumbs. Whassa madda f’you?
Quick recap for those of you who just joined us: Capone was born in 1899 in New York City. A move to Chicago in his 20s — also the ’20s, as in Roaring — was a step in his ladder of questionable success, eventually running mob operations (the “Chicago Outfit”) and, in many respects, running the police as well. He built the organization on bootlegging — alcohol was illegal in those days — and, well, let your imagination run; you probably won’t be wrong — and a willingness to kill or have killed anyone who got in his way or disagreed with him. Which was, actually, a smaller and smaller number as time went on. Imagine.
It stands to reason, that Big Al — golly, he had a lot of nicknames, but to us, he’ll always be Mr. Capone — needed to act, shall we say, prudently.
Maybe one of the bodyguards is on a break
According to Biography, Mr. Capone was never armed himself. But he always traveled with at least two bodyguards who, probably safe to assume, were.
He also owned a 1928 Cadillac Town Car, which he bought used and then had modified. We’ve never heard “thrifty” applied to Capone, but the guy was complicated.
We aren’t talking Adam West Batmobile here. The Caddy in question, one of the very first bulletproof cars, has glass almost an inch thick and nearly three tons of armor plating. But as we all know, the best defense is a good offense, so the vehicle also sports a rear window that drops quickly, and the other windows can raise an extra inch or so, exposing a port that’s just right for the barrel of a machine gun.
As of February 2020 it’s on the market again, with an asking price of a cool $1 million.
On the other hand, who knows what you might find between the seat cushions?
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