*** As a car guy, I’ve been known to scour the countryside looking for unusual car finds to purchase. That in the automotive industry is often referred to as “barn finds.” But this custom-built James Bond 007 Corvorado Cadillac was not one I was looking for; however, it came knocking on my door for sale. And stupid me, I passed up this one-of-a-kind car called a Corvorado Cadillac Pimpmobile.
This 007 Corvorado Cadillac barn find story goes like this:
Many years ago, a dear friend (and car salesman) phoned up and mentioned, *“You ought to have this car!” He offered to sell me this custom-made 007 Cadillac from ‘Dunham Coach Works’ in Boonton, New Jersey, USA.
He proceeded to say that this unique Corvorado car was featured in a famous Hollywood James Bond movie. This half-Cadillac, half-Corvette car was debuted in the 007 movie, ‘Live and Let Die,’ starring Roger Moore.
Now, while giving this opportunity a lot of thought, within minutes of that phone call, there I was standing at his doorstep and looking over this interesting barn find car. Did you one of the unusual parts was, ‘it had big, round headlights’ that looked like a train coming down on you? It was so ugly and different. it looked cool?
To top off the authenticity of this 007 car, the glove box was signed by (James Bond) Roger Moore himself.
But as I inspected this neglected, ripped vinyl roof overhaulen project, I remember saying to myself: *“I’ve seen all those Bond films, “I never noticed this white Caddy pimpmobile in any episode.”
And so when I should have but didn’t, I turned down the offer. My bud did not waste any time and the car was soon sold over the phone to a dealer in Toronto, Canada. A long way from Hollywood, California… and a long way from my garage.
Today I am surrounded by car enthusiasts overhauling their projects, and many days it will be a reminder of this unusual James Bond 007 car I could have bought, but didn’t.
**** Today I have to wander, whatever happened to that James Bond 007 Corvorado Cadillac? Is this custom Caddy still out there? Ah, I say to myself, it’s probably sitting in some dusty old barn, hidden away, never to be seen again by human eyes, waiting for some picker that heard a rumour from a friend of a friend that there is a unique car in that barn right over there. 👉 👉 🚜
Who knows after all these years, but that’s exactly how Barnfinds works?
My thinken is, this James Bond pimpmobile could have been restored by some collector and tucked away in some musty old museum. But despite an extensive Google search, hell, even AI searches come up empty to the whereabouts of this Iconic Cadillac.
However after saying that, I did hear a rumour that goes this way. Out of seven pimped mobiles caddies/corvettes ever made by this New Jersey company, there are only five accounted for.
The star of this story, the one I could have purchased with big round headlights, ‘that’s the one still unaccounted for.’
One more time, I asked, Where is this lost 007 Car?
So today, while the memory is still fresh in the gray matter of this 007 pimpmobile, I asked online:
In a James Bond movie, “was there a Cadillac with big round headlights? “
The answer:
The James Bond Corvorado Cadillac did not have conventional round headlights. Instead, it was fitted with large aftermarket ‘Super Fly’ headlight assemblies—a signature feature of pimpmobiles everywhere. These were sometimes called “frog-eyes” or “bug-eye lights.”
There you have it folks, ‘frog-eyes, that works.’
Extra History of James Bond 007 Custom Caddy
>> The Corvorado was a custom made car created by Les Dunham of Dunham Coach Motor Car Company in New Jersey. It was a mashup of a 1970s Cadillac Eldorado and a C3 (third-generation) Chevrolet Corvette chassis and tube, meaning where the driver fits.
This unique vehicle appeared in the James Bond film Live and Let Die and was one of only ”seven Corvorados ever built”. Each one is different from the other.
The first, a pearl-white Cadillac (the very one I was offered to buy), featured “Super Fly” headlights, large fake exhaust pipes, a spare tire mount on the trunk lid, and other extravagant touches. Some versions had two-tone paint, spare-tire racks mounted on the front fenders, and even “pedestrian-slicer” wire wheels. Each was customized in its own way.
These wild modifications reflected the 1970s craze for turning luxury cars, especially Cadillacs and Lincolns, into flamboyant ”pimpmobiles.” Garish, over-the-top, and unmistakably bold, they were loved by some and hated by others. Today, it’s a collector’s dream.
Conclusion: This is the story of a James Bond pimpmobile that barely made a one-minute debut in the movie ‘Live and Let Die.’
We have all heard the term ‘we should have, could have, but didn’t’, well, here is a prime example of that term.
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