Cadillac Elegante Special

Vehicle Overview

In 1953 a new Series 62 Cadillac convertible chassis was shipped from the U.S. to his Turin, Italy facility. Within 30 months time he hand-fabricated the aluminum body and mounted it on the lightened and lowered (by 8-inches) 128-inch wheelbase chassis. Motto crafted the Italian inspired egg crate grille, and hand-formed the front Cadillac-like bumpers. Starting with 1954 Cadillac bumper bullets, the metal master cut-n-fit tubing to form the twin front bumpers that nicely accent the sweeping body design and Italian-like grille. Following the provided designs, the two-piece folding aluminum hardtop was also built by hand, as was the top operating mechanism. In the little Turin shop, quad headlight rims, the sleek swept back windshield frame, door handles, front and rear “V” hood and trunk trim, as well as a recessed license plate insert, were hand-fabricated in bronze and plated in 24 karat gold. The aluminum body was painted iridescent white mother-of-pearl, and for a further degree of elegance, the brushed aluminum top skin, the side-trim body inserts, the wheel covers and much of the dashboard trim were gold anodized.