Palazzi Motorcars in Kingsville, Ontario (Canada) is a custom car shop headed by Tony Palazzi. Over the years, Palazzi has given the “Godfather” treatment to an eclectic mix of late-model automobiles, transforming them to look like a classic car.
Rather than mass-producing a neoclassic style automobile such as Excalibur, Zimmer, and other manufacturers, all of Palazzi’s cars are hand-built one-offs. They have done a Lexus SC430 coupe, a 10th-generation Ford Thunderbird, and a Lincoln Towncar in the past.
One of Palazzi’s most unusual creations is the Godfather Roadster, which began as a 2008 Cadillac XLR roadster and was highly customized to resemble a classic automobile.
The XLR roadster was a one-generation car produced by General Motors between 2004-2009 as a retractable hardtop 2-door sports/luxury car. It was offered as a base model with the 4.6L Northstar V8 producing 320 hp, and as a V-model with a supercharger making 443 hp.
The high cost of the car didn’t make sense to many buyers, who preferred the Corvette and its smaller price tag. Production of the Cadillac XLR ended in 2009 with a little more than 15,000 vehicles produced.
The XLR has distinct, angular body lines with hard edges from the grille to the taillights. While it is an interesting car, it is in my opinion perhaps the worst platform to start with for trying to make a gracious and curving neoclassic automobile.
The wide fender flares, white wall tires, and combination of curved bodywork with the angular roofline really looks bizarre. Confusingly, the car wears the hood ornament from an Excalibur, which is a competing brand of neoclassic automobile.
This car was offered at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale 2023 no-reserve collector car auction. The seller description says that the “Palazzi package cost $79,000” on top of the purchase price of the car. It says the car was built with a retro look that resembles a Mercedes 540K from the late 1930s. The car shows just 10,866 miles on the odometer.
I was surprised to see this car sell for $44,000 at auction! What are your thoughts on the custom “Godfather Roadster?”
