Al Capone’s bulletproof 1928 Cadillac for sale for $1 million

The most infamous gangster of them all, Al Capone earned the reputation of a tough, ruthless and feared mob boss. One of the last cars he owned before his conviction for tax evasion in 1931 was, according to the company selling the car – Celebrity Cars, one of the earliest bulletproof cars in existence – a 1928 Cadillac.

According to Celebrity Car, the Cadillac was custom fitted with inch-thick bulletproof glass and nearly 3,000 pounds of armor plating. Capone didn’t just want to sit in the car while being shot at so it also has a rear window that folds down for easy machine gun firing. The windows were also modified so that the glass could be raised about an extra inch revealing a cutout large enough for the muzzle of a machine gun. Heavy spring lifts were added to allow the side windows to operate.

Considering the car is almost 100 years old it looks like it’s been preserved and maintained in pristine condition. Not only that, this three-speed manual transmission Cadillac has only logged 1,111 miles.

Celebrity Cars say the car’s history is well documented through old newspapers, the IRS and stories provided by its owners.

Capone purchased the car from one of his relatives, Emil Denemark who was the owner of a Cadillac dealership on the south side of Chicago.

According to Richard Capstran, the car was first armored in a body shop owned by his father Ernest Capstran. He remembers when his dad was told the type of work needed, he said “we don’t do that type of work here” and Capone’s men said, “you do now”. He also remembers the asbestos wrapped steel plate being delivered to his dad’s shop with lead embedded in it presumably from a test Capone’s men must have carried out.

Richard Capstran, then 10 years old helped work on the car. When the job was finished and Capone came to pick up the car he asked who the boy was. His dad introduced him and explained how he had helped. Capone then gave Richard the exceptionally large sum (for a 10-year-old boy) of $10.

According to Sotheby’s, the car last sold at auction in 2012 for $341,000. This time around you’ll have to dig even deeper as they’re hoping to get a cool million for it.

The car is a Series 341-A. 90 bhp, 341 cu. in. L-head V-8 engine. 3-speed manual transmission, beam front axle and full-floating rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and four-wheel mechanical drum brakes. Wheelbase: 140”

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