A car dealer is selling Al Capone's bulletproof 1928 Cadillac sedan for $1 million - see inside

Brittany Chang

Feb 11, 2020, 00:29 IST

A car dealer is selling Al Capone's bulletproof 1928 Cadillac sedan for $1 million - see inside

1992 Cadillac Al Capones bulletproof Town Sedan

The 1928 Cadillac owned by Al Capone.

Al Capone's former vehicle, a bulletproof 1928 Cadillac, has been listed for $1 million with Celebrity Cars.
Celebrity Cars claims the Cadillac is one of the earliest bulletproof cars.
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Al Capone's former vehicle, a bulletproof 1928 Cadillac, has been listed for $1 million.

Al Capone was an infamous gangster in Chicago that garnered a reputation for being a feared mob boss before his final conviction in 1931, according to the FBI. Celebrity Cars, the company selling the infamous mobsters vehicle, claims his former Cadillac is one of the earliest bulletproof cars after it was outfitted with an inch thick bulletproof glass windows and almost 3,000 pounds of armored plating.

The 1928 Cadillac can also hold a machine gun that could be fired out of a cutout in its modified windows, and the back windows have the ability to open so the occupants of the vehicle can fire out the back of the car.

The four-speed manual transmission Cadillac has logged 1,111 miles now that it's up for sale. Keep scrolling to read about the history of the car that belonged to one of the US' most notorious mob bosses:

The history of the vehicle has been tracked through old newspapers, the IRS, and stories provided by its owners, according to Celebrity Cars.

Al Capone purchased the vehicle from Emil Denemark, a relative of Capone.

He was the owner of a Chicago Cadillac dealership who was "well connected to the underworld," according to Celebrity Cars.

The US government had been aware of Al Capone's vehicles, especially two of his V-16s that had previously made headlines, according to Celebrity Cars.

However, the armored Cadillac apparently evaded its notice.

The car was first armored in a body shop owned by Ernest Capstran, his son Richard Capstran recalled to Celebrity Cars.

It was dropped off at Capstran's shop, even after Ernest originally didn't want to "do that kind of work (there)," Capstran told Celebrity Cars.

The car was held in the back of the shop so other customers wouldn't see the project.

The rear of the car was cut open to insert a steel plate.

Al Capone paid Ernest Capstran double the price and gave his son $10 for his help.

After Capone's arrest, the Moores couple purchased the vehicle in 1932 from a Chicago-based agent who was believed to have been an affiliate of Capone.

The Moores owned the car for a year before putting it up for exhibition with the carnival they were traveling with.

The car was then passed through several hands.

It ended up with Harley Nielsen.

Nielsen restored the vehicle and removed most of the heavy armor.

However, he kept the bulletproof glass.

It then went through a series of museums and displays, including the Niagara Falls Antique Auto Museum.

It also received another light restoration after it was acquired by Ontario. B.H. Atchley's Smoky Mountain Car Museum.

"This example is not only a silent witness to the bloodiest era in American organized crime, it also represents the development of the modern armored sedan," Celebrity Cars claims.

Prospective buyers need to put down a $20,000 deposit before price negotiation.

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