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LES DUNHAM
Dunham Coach Motor Car Company
Les Dunham, born in 1941, started in 1957 to customize cars.
In 1973, he put the body of a Cadillac
Eldorado on a chassis of a Chevrolet Corvette,
the Corvorado (Corvette + Eldorado) was born...
The Corvorado was used in James Bond "Live And Let Die".
In 1977, Les Dunham started
another project, based (again) on a Corvette,
the Caballista.
MORE: http://www.madle.org/edunham.htm
Largely an American phenomenon, pimpmobile is a term used to describe a large luxury vehicle, usually a 1960s or early 1970s-model Lincoln or Cadillac vehicle, that has been customized in a garish, extravagant style. Aftermarket features or modifications such as headlight covers, hood ornaments, expensive stereo systems, unusual paint colors, and shag carpet interiors were used by car owners to advertise their purported wealth and importance. Once considered a pejorative[1], these customized vehicles were popular with pimps, drug dealers, and gang leaders in the ghettos of large cities of the US in the 1970s and 1980s, especially New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles as a symbol of their power. By the 1990s and 2000s, the term was used to describe any large, extravagantly customized vehicle, such as a customized SUV truck.
Pimpmobiles became part of popular culture when they were depicted in 1970s blaxploitation films that targeted the urban black audience with black actors and soundtracks of funk and soul music. Blaxploitation films tend to take place in the ghetto, dealing with pimps and drug dealers, often with stereotyped depiction of blacks. Heavily-customized pimpmobiles appeared in blaxploitation films such as Super Fly, The Mack, and Willie Dynamite as well as mainstream films like Magnum Force, D.C. Cab, Escape from New York, and the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. In the 2000s, they also appeared in the 2002 comedies Austin Powers in Goldmember and Undercover Brother. The conversions became popular with Americans of all races, and several companies manufactured kits to convert late-model cars to pimpmobiles.
The most popular cars for this customization were Cadillacs and Lincolns, especially the Cadillac Eldorado and Lincoln Continental produced between 1971 and 1978, although lower luxury models such as Chryslers, Buicks and Oldsmobiles, were also common. The cars used for these conversions were originally targeted at well-to-do retirees who wanted a large luxury vehicle; however, with the "pimpmobile" conversions, the cars came to signify menace, mystique, and glamor. One notable exception is the "Corvorado" used in the movie Live and Let Die, which was a Chevrolet Corvette with Eldorado body panels. Conversion was done by custom car shops across the country such as George Barris, E & G Classics and Auto Gard, Inc. as well as many smaller shops. A well-known pimpmobile fabricator was Les Dunham of Dunham Coachworks in Boonton, NJ. Les built the cars in Super Fly, as well as the "Corvorado" and the Cadillac Fleetwood in the James Bond film.
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimpmobile
Les and "THE SCORPION"
MORE: http://www.retrocycle.com/DunhamCoach.php
Dunham Coach, Boontown, NJ (USA) I love a good controversy; here's one that will keep enthusiasts on the edge of their seat. It relates to the Pimpmobile that was featured in the classic James Bond movie, Live or Let Die, starring Roger Moore [I'm a Sean Connery fan myself!]. Since I don't have access to the "real facts", I have to place my trust in those who claim to have them. In this case we have three enthusiasts each with his own opinion. I will not take sides; I shall give each of them the opportunity to air their views and then leave it up to Database users to decide who they think has is closest to the truth.
1. Rick Anderson from Boston, MA, was first to supply information about the Bond car. He wrote: I have found your site fascinating, fun and I marvel at the work that's been put into it! I do, however, have some corrections to inject, if I may. In the Movie section Live or Let Die, the white pimpmobile isn't a chopped or modified El Dorado. It's actually a Corvette with a fiberglass molding of an El Dorado attached. The builder is Les Dunham of Dunham Coach 234 Division St., Boonton, N.J. (973-299-1900). The Corvorado and the other exotic cars in the film were supplied by him (including the Fleetwood currently [2003] owned by a gentleman in Texas). The reason I know these facts is that my uncle still owns a '67 Eldorado customized by Dunham. Les owned also a newer edition Corvorado. The car in the Superfly movie was also a Dunham work and the original owner, "KC", is featured in the film wearing a red hat in a bar scene. He too, is from here in Boston. The car was later repainted to it's original color (white) after the movie was finished. Dispelling the rumor of it's existing anywhere else in the world, the good word on the street is that it was destroyed in Delaware, years ago. Dunham has supplied cars for several movies including Superman, Fort Apache, The Bronx (with Paul Newman) and others. Finally, in your Dream Cars section, the Black Eldorado pictured in the junkyard [below] says Dunham Coach, NOT El Deora, on the outside rear-view mirror]. BTW, the term El Caballero is the title we, on the East Coast, use for customized Eldorados; we use also De ["Del" ?] Caballero for the De Villes and Fleetwoods. It's obvious a lot of effort has gone into creating this database. And to that, I have supplied you with the correct information and sources to further verify it [Signed: Rick Anderson / On-Air personality, WILD-AM 90, Warren St., Boston, MA 02119]. Mr. Anderson supplied kindly these front and rear images of a genuine customized Eldorado (NOT a Corvorado); this is NOT the Bond movie car:
2. In September 2003, in the CLC forum, a Canadian enthusiast from Ontario (John Giles) contended that Mr. Anderson's claims were inaccurate. Mr. Giles claims to have THE movie Cadillac, on which Sir Roger Moore is said to have signed the dash "Congratulations Dunham Coach, well done, respectfully, Roger Moore". It is a rare, 2-door, 3-window custom coach coupe with a split rear window. He wants to dispel the rumor that the car, featured in the Bond movie, Live or Let Die, is a Corvette with a fiberglass Eldorado body. Mr. Giles indicated that his car had been registered previously to the Oh Cult Voodoo shop and sat in the garage beside the shop with the license tag 347 NDG [the movie still supplied by viewer #3, below, shows a Corvorado with that license tag]. He said it was a 1969 Eldorado customized by Dunham for the movie at a cost of some $30,000. The VIN is H9289308, which makes it a 1969 Eldorado, NOT a Corvorado. The original owner of Mr. Giles' car was Floyd Arnold Gogo; he was the first registered owner in Canada. Mr. Giles and his father acquired the car from the second owner who had it stored for many years in a barn, in Ontario, Canada. He says the Bond Pimpmobile was NOT destroyed in Delaware, as Mr. Anderson seems to believe, but is currently (2003) located in Canada. More recently, Mr. Giles' offered his car for sale on this Internet auction site, with a long, confusing description:
http://www.calcruisingauctions.com/Auction/XcAPViewItem.asp?ID=4233
Update: The following message was received from Mr. Giles on March 8, 2004.
MORE: http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/d/dunham_coach/dunham_coach.htm
MORE: http://thehawkandbuzzard.blogspot.com/2009/12/les-dunham.html
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