Zimmer Motor Cars was a manufacturer of neo-classic automobiles. The company was originally incorporated in Ohio in July 1980 as the Zimmer Motor Cars Corporation. In August 1980, it was registered as a Foreign For Profit Corporation in the State of Florida under file number 846776. The company was a subsidiary of the Zimmer Corporation, then based in Pompano Beach, Florida.
The company declared bankruptcy in 1988 and restructured on a smaller scale. In 1997, the brand name and remaining company assets were sold to Art Zimmer (who is no relation to the original Zimmer family that founded the company), whose Art Zimmer Neo-Classic Motor Car Company, continued producing Zimmer-branded automobiles until 2020.
History
Zimmer Motorcars Corporation was established in 1980 as a manufacturer of neo-classic automobiles.
The idea for this automobile was initially drawn on a napkin at a private dinner between Paul Zimmer, chairman and President of Zimmer Corporation and Robert "Bob" Zimmer, Paul Zimmer's son, an employee and shareholder of the company. Paul Zimmer drew what was to become the Golden Spirit on a napkin, handed it to Bob Zimmer and told him that not only were they going to build a neo-classic automobile, but that the younger Zimmer would be responsible for all functions of the operation and ongoing supervision of Zimmer Motor Cars Corporation. By 1982, Bob Zimmer had become the president of Zimmer Motor Cars Corporation.
At its peak in the 1980s, Zimmer Motor Cars Corporation had 48 dealers in 28 states, employed 175 people and generated $25 million in annual revenue.
Zimmer Quicksilver
The second Zimmer Motor Cars Corporation product was the mid-engined Pontiac Fiero-based Quicksilver, which was built between 1986 and 1988. The Quicksilver is a two-seat personal luxury car designed by former General Motors designer Don "D.A." Johnson. Each Quicksilver was constructed from a new Fiero donor car, which was dismantled and structurally modified at the Zimmer factory by adding a 13" section behind the rear wheels and an additional 16" just behind the front suspension. Power steering, which was not available on the Fiero, was added by Zimmer. The Fiero bodywork was replaced by a new fiberglass body with dramatic new styling with a long, sloping nose and pop-up hidden headlamps. Large chrome front and rear bumpers were manufactured in Taiwan and plated in Florida. The re-designed interior was trimmed in leather and wood, and the new body had increased luggage space in the front and rear. The Fiero Vehicle Identification Number was retained as it met all the required US safety features at the time and while Zimmer sold the vehicles on their own Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin, depending on the jurisdiction in which the vehicle was first registered, it may have been titled as a Zimmer QuickSilver or a Pontiac Fiero. The retail price of the Quicksilver in 1986 was $51,950.
The car was built in Pompano Beach, Florida, on simultaneous production lines with the Zimmer Golden Spirit between the years 1980 to 1988. Though no factory production records are known to exist, it is believed based on a survey of surviving cars and their Zimmer Motor Cars-added production plates that approximately 1,500 Golden Spirits and 170 QuickSilvers were built.
Source: Wikipedia
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