00:00It definitely was one of America's most famous cars.
00:13Welcome to Claremont Collections.
00:16Home to over 300 antique, classic and unique vehicles.
00:26One of the gems in this incredible collection.
00:30is the Golden Sahara.
00:36Back in the late 50s, going into the early 60s,
00:39it definitely was one of America's most famous cars.
00:43It really caused a stir.
00:45People were spoken to and asked what they thought of the vehicle.
00:49One person thought it was a movie star's car.
00:52Another person thought it was just too much.
00:55Other people were interested. It looked like the car of the future.
00:58This is the second Golden Sahara and its inspiration came from an unlikely source.
01:04George Barris thinks up this car because of an accident, a car accident he has.
01:10They drive underneath a flatbed truck, demolish the roof, blow the doors out, basically take a new car and trash it.
01:22George took the car and turned it into the Golden Sahara One.
01:27Golden Sahara One started the story, but it was the sequel that cemented the legend.
01:33After owner Jim Street took it out on the road, but then at the height of its fame, it disappeared from the public eye.
01:41After touring the United States for four or five years, Jim just retired the car, put it back in his collection.
01:49And after the late 60s, the car was spoken of and different stories were told, but no one really got to see the Golden Sahara.
01:57Jim Street kept it in his own collection for about 50 years.
02:00And when he passed away, we decided to buy it.
02:04Bought in 2018 for a reported $350,000, the car had seen better days.
02:13Here comes this car and it's an antique yellow gold car. It had duct tape all over it.
02:20The natural beauty of the vehicle was evident. This car is a timepiece.
02:24The car deserved to be restored to its glory.
02:29And rebuilding such a unique custom vehicle was challenging to say the least.
02:34The hardest part of the restoration was accurately remaking some of the parts that were custom.
02:40We had a problem with one of the rear tail lenses.
02:43We had a piece that was actually 3D printed, a mold created, and we cast it out of acrylic.
02:48And you couldn't tell which of the tail lenses that I had cast.
02:51The other part of the car that was challenging was the cones on the vehicle.
02:56They're really prominent on the front of the car and some people call them bumper cones.
03:00We had some receipts from the vehicle and it told us that the cones were custom made and they were made at a place that spins metal.
03:07And we did find a company and they spun the metal and remade the cones and they're beautiful.
03:14And recreating some parts took a little detective work.
03:18After we decided to get a hold of Goodyear and to say can you please make these tires, Keith Buckley did the research.
03:27He found in the archives there was no longer a process to sincerely make neothane tires like they did back in 1960.
03:34So our collaboration with Goodyear brought again the neothane tire.
03:42We use today's technology as they did back in 1960.
03:46So instead of wrapping the rim with a traditional bulb, we used LED lights that we can now change the colors.
03:52We probably spent close to $200,000 to restore this vehicle.
03:57Along with its incredible look, this car also has some interesting controls.
04:04There's actually four different ways of steering the vehicle.
04:07The traditional steering wheel.
04:09Micro switches on the dashboard. There's one on the driver's side. There's also one on the passenger side.
04:15And you can use the Unitrol to accelerate the vehicle, brake, or left to right.
04:21The steering wheel actually detaches. So you can take it off.
04:26So if the steering wheel was not attached, you'd still be able to steer the vehicle.
04:31This particular vehicle had a small TV embedded into the dashboard.
04:37It also had a reel-to-reel recorder and player in the center position.
04:42And they even mocked in a phone to give you the idea that one day people would be making telephone calls from their car.
04:51That will never catch on.
04:53Everything about the Golden Sahara was over the top.
04:56It had poppet doors, a vibrating seat, hydraulic trunk.
05:03Even the interior of the vehicle was accented in 24 karat gold trim, mink carpeting.
05:09It even had a bar in the rear, although it may be frowned upon today.
05:16And if you thought there was something familiar about the rear end of the Sahara, you'd be right.
05:21Take this car, take the pearl paint off it, paint it black. What does it look like?
05:26George Barris' company also built a car for Gotham City's most famous resident.
05:32It looks like the Batmobile. That's what's iconic about this car.
05:35There are no other Golden Saharas. There are no other Golden Sahara IIs.
05:41This vehicle would easily fetch over a million dollars.
05:45But to us, it's priceless.
05:46It's priceless.
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