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Mr. Di Dia, apparently, did not care for the design of automobiles in the early 1950’s. The original Cadillac V8 engine was replaced by a Ford 427/365 hp V8 engine. The body and chassis are hand-formed in aluminum with an aluminum alloy welded tube frame. The car has hidden rain sensing windshield wipers, retracting headlights, swiveling turn signals, floating front and rear bumpers and doors that opened with a push on panel outside of the car (there are no door handles) and a trunk that is hinged from the driver’s side. The Dream Car was also equipped with the first backseat-mounted radio speakers. The interior is rust-colored to contrast with the ruby colored exterior. The car has 30 coats of paint with ground industrial diamond dust to add sparkle.
We saw these photos of Bobby Darin’s “dream car” and just HAD to share them. The Bobby Darin “Dream Car” is a one-of-a-kind custom car designed by a friend of Bobby’s - Detroit clothing designer Andy Di Dia. It was hand-built by four workers and took seven years to build (1953 to 1960) at a cost of $93,000 (over $700,000 today).
Bobby Darin's Dream Car
Once completed, Di Dia brought the car to Los Angeles to debut it at George Barris's third annual Bakersfield Motor and Boat Show, arriving two months early, he showed it wherever he could until the event. Darin loved it and told his friend he’d buy the car if he ever “hit it big”. He DID and paid $150,000 for the car in 1961. and as a result, it became forever known as Bobby Darin’s Dream Car.
Darin enjoyed the car for years and finally donated it to the St. Louis Museum of Transportation in 1970 (now known as The National Museum of Transportation), where it remains today. He died three years later in 1973.
