1985 Armaretta Coupe

We never tire of the “neo-classical” cars of the 70s and 80s, which were so perfect in their day. After all, luxury car buyers in that time frame grew up with the cars of the 1920s and 30s before giving birth to the Baby Boomer generation. Today’s feature is one of the strangest among these neo-classics and it’s the first of a claimed thirty made. While this means it’s “rare” today, it also confirms that the Armaretta failed in the marketplace in its day.

A bit of good news here is that the seller isn’t entirely unrealistic about the car’s value, despite the “rarity.” Even better – offers will be considered; so perhaps a deal will be reached. Any buyer will have a true conversation piece which will be mistaken for a Cadillac Seville at times, but which has Chevy Monte Carlo and Ford Pinto bits under it. This is, after all, the first Armaretta, so it’s something of a prototype or pilot build, meaning the body was hand-built and not all parts necessarily match the other 29, or so, examples.

What’s particularly surprising and refreshing here is that the car has over 200K miles on it, which is to say it has been driven and can, ostensibly, continue to be driven. The humble underpinnings should mean that most mechanical bits can be maintained or replaced fairly easily.

This car is almost unique and has a lot of luxurious details, but I’m not sure anyone would call it beautiful. It is loosely based on a Cord – also generally not considered beautiful; so one could argue it hit its mark. We’re intrigued by this oddball and love the color combo, so we’d love to see it live on with a proud, new owner.

Click for Hemming’s ad
Burbank, CA, USA
$25,000 OBO

Yes, there are a lot of neo-classic cars from the 70s and 80s, but this one is particularly well finished – possibly because it was a prototype for show purposes.

Rear 3/4 starts to reveal some Seville, which also might have inspired the color combination.

Profile shows beautiful fenders and “puffy top”, which, apparently, doesn’t drop.

We see the Cord influence and maybe a bit of Barris’ The Car.

Most angles are truly unique or blatantly Cord-inspired, but you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Seville from this angle.

Dash is a nice chuck ‘o wood and everything’s well finished. We’d prefer a better matching steering wheel, however.

Leather looks soft and supple, even if the design is a bit plain.

Yes, there is a small back seat!

Tach is comically small, but auto trans means no one’s looking at it to pick precise shift points, anyway. Was Classic Instruments around in 1985??

No one can say this car lacks details!

Not much is known about the engine, other than it was rebuilt about 100K miles ago. We assume it’s related to the donor Monte Carlo.

Ad text:

FIRST ARMARETTA EVER MADE. PROTOTYPE.

This is a 1985 Armaretta By Lerini Coach Corp. of Reseda, California. About 30 Armarettas were built in coupe, convertible, and sedan configurations. The fibergalss bodies were built to resemble the cords of the 1930’s. Riding on a 1987 Monte Carlo chassis and extended to a wheel base of 129 inches.

This is the vehicle which was in LA Auto Show; the prototype, which the pre-orders were based off of. The vehicle has been with the same owner since day 1 (investor in Armaretta). The car cost over $250,000 to make. Current miles are 219,917. This model has air conditioning. Engine has been pulled out and fully rebuilt at around 100,000 miles, nearly a $10,000 bill. Maintained on the regular basis. All service records are available since the beginning. The Armaretta has been very well taken care of. The car has been used in multiple movies by Universal Studios. Car is currently being driven daily. If you don’t like being asked “What is that?”, that might not be the right car for you.

Vin number is a California assigned vin, added the monte carlo vin for system requirements. Vin number is CA395898.