Aside from my well-known love of old cars, I am also a huge fan of Frank Sinatra. From his early days as The Voice to his twilight in the 1990s, Ol’ Blue Eyes was a singular force in the world of music. I have always been interested in the cars of all of my favorite musicians. Unfortunately, this information is usually very hard to come by, if available at all. Fortunately, Sinatra’s life is well enough documented that we can at least find a few of them.
Sinatra got his big break in 1939 when he signed with the Harry James big band. His first recording with the band (All Or Nothing At All) only sold about 8,000 copies that year, but it would go on to sell millions as he became better known. It seems that through his life, Frank Sinatra was, at least part of the time, a Chrysler guy. Although I have not verified this recently, I recall reading in a biography that when he got married to his first wife Nancy in 1939, they went on their honeymoon in a 1939 Chrysler.
Sinatra became famous with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and, in 1942, began his solo career. The Voice, as he was known then, had a string of hit records and could send most any teenage girl into a faint. What was he driving in those years? I have to speculate here, and if guessing, wouldn’t it have to be a Lincoln Continental? After all, if all the other big stars like Rita Hayworth had one, surely Sinatra did as well.
Some say that the greatest single record Sinatra ever recorded was I’m A Fool To Want You. Recorded in 1951 during a long, slow decline in his popularity and during his tumultuous relationship with Ava Gardner, Sinatra did the song in a single take. Then, without saying a word, he strode out of the Columbia Records studio into the night. Wouldn’t a real fan want to know what car he got into? It bothers me that I cannot complete this mental image. I like to think that maybe it was a new Hemi Imperial, but I am probably dreaming.
But I can move us into the high-flying 1950s when he revived his career with a fresh artistic wind. A series of successful records backed by Nelson Riddle on the Capitol label and starring roles in a series of critically acclaimed films, he was at the top of his game. In 1955 he recorded what is, in my opinion, one of the best up-tempo albums of his career – Songs for Swingin’ Lovers. And that year, he did his own swingin’ in this 1955 Thunderbird.
By the next year, he was moving up. In 1956, he co-starred with Grace Kelley and Bing Crosby in High Society, a remake of the 1940 Cary Grant-Katherine Hepburn picture The Philadelphia Story. With the combination of Cole Porter’s songs and Sinatra’s voice and natural acting abilities, the movie was a huge hit. Sinatra moved into automotive High Society with his next car, a Continental Mark II. At $10,000 in 1956, this was the car that Henry Ford II used to try to put Lincoln back onto the prestige car map. Although the Mark II failed at this mission, it was quite a car. And Sinatra had one.
Sinatra’s dice remained hot in 1957. His best remembered work of the year is probably his Capitol album Come Fly With Me. I have always loved the Lockheed Constellation on the cover. The album’s theme was a musical trip to exotic places, and then back home. Sinatra’s Dual Ghia was sort of an exotic place all by itself. The car is an interesting mix of Virgil Exner’s designs, Ghia’s prototypes and Chrysler drivetrains. It is an interesting story that we do not have time for on this tour.
1958 brought the acclaimed album Only the Lonely, a classic collection of songs about heartbreak. The 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was a kind of heartbreak for Cadillac, as the division lost a ton of money on each one of the $14,000 cars. The Eldo Brougham was a semi-custom built four door hardtop with suicide doors and a stainless steel roof. This is the one that graced the Sinatra garage.
By 1962, Sinatra was continuing his upward mobility. He now owned his own record label, Reprise Records, and his albums continued to spin on turntables everywhere, at least everywhere where there were adults and martinis. That same year, The Manchurian Candidate hit the movie screens in what became one of his most critically acclaimed movies. Sinatra’s Chrysler thread picked up again with the 1962 Dual Ghia L6.4, the second generation of Chrysler-powered semi-customs.
Frank Sinatra turned 50 in 1965. Everyone has a mid-life crisis, I suppose, and I guess he did too. This customized Mustang would seem to fit the bill for a midlife crisis car.
But apparently not. By 1969, he retired, he married a much-younger Mia Farrow (for whom he reportedly bought a 1969 Mark III) and he went way out there for his next car. A 1969 Lamborghini Muira
In 1980, Sinatra turned 65 and was enjoying a resurgence in his popularity and seemed to be returning to his musical and cultural roots. He had a hit song (New York, New York). He had a hit album (Trilogy). And even a new movie (The First Deadly Sin). And, of course, we know that he spent some time in his own 1981 Imperial (CC here). Does his musical commercial count as a hit?
But what was his last car? The answer will surprise you – it did me. Life has a way of coming full circle, and Sinatra’s automotive history does the same. His last car is reported to be a 1985 Chrysler LeBaron Town and Country wagon. Even Frank Sinatra eventually put the old flash and swagger aside as he got older and could be satisfied with a very modest car.
So, as it turns out, Frank Sinatra really was a Chrysler man at heart. Or maybe the T&C was a warranty replacement for the ’81 Imperial?
I gotta ask, was the T&C a turbo?
yes, mitsubishi 2.0 turbo engine…
I love Frank.
I regularly play “That’s Life” in the Lincoln when they day has whupped my ass. It fits my both my mood and the lazy motions of the car…
I need to get me an isolation capsule of a car. Haven’t had one since my Cutlass Brougham that was stolen in 2001. My truck tends to get cranked up with things like “Country Is My Rock” and “One Wing in the Fire”.
Do you remember the mid-80′s movie called “License to Drive”? Corey Haim’s character snuck his grandfather’s 1972 Cadillac Sedan de Ville out to take a girl on a date. Somehow the grandfather’s Frank Sinatra cassette got stuck in the aftermarket car stereo, so the whole time while they are cruising around Sinatra is playing. Near the end of the movie, they are stopped at a sobriety check point and a drunk ends up commendeering the Cadillac and drives it through a construction zone, utterly trashing the car. While the drunk swerves, slides, and launches the hulking Cadillac, its to “That’s Life”, and it did fit the lazy motions of that car as well.
One of my favourite movies ever, and the Sinatra soundtrack was incongruous and yet perfect.
In Corey Haim’s Movie “LUcas” He Drives a Brown Cavalier Convertible Identical to mine, Except If His Is Automatic, mine was 5 speed manual.
Loved The AQua Deville in Licence To Drive
Nice piece; thanks. Hard to imagine him in a K car, though.
Awesome idea!!!!!! Love it! Maybe we could incorporate the cars of Frank’s movies…. just think of all the wheels in movies like ‘some came running’, ‘Ocean’s eleven’ et al.
Like why were there no ventpanes on the 61 Ford Convertible he drove in Tony Rome? This always bothered me.
I always wondered that too-I assumed it was to allow a better view of him in the action shots.
Didn’t he own a Stutz Blackhawk at some point as well, or am I thinking of Dean Martin?
I shake my head to think that someone who owned some of the most desirable bespoke production cars ever made wound-up driving a K-car.
Dean Martin and Elvis had the Stutzes beginning in ’71. BTW Frank’s greatest record is “Wee Small Hours” from 1955 originally released on two 10″ Capitol LP’s. “Songs For Swinging Lovers” came out in the spring of ’56.
I checked my cd notes – we are both right. Some of the tracks were recorded October 1955 and the rest January 1956.
Sinatra had one hell of a mid-life crisis. Sinatra at Sands with the Count Basie orchestra and Quincy Jones arrangements. A customized ‘stang, marrying Mia Farrow and retiring with a Lamborghini Muira. 65-69 seem like some really good years.
The Mid-fiftiesh Ford cars always were my favorites of the era. A 56 Conti will always be supreme. For some reason the 57 Chev has become an icon of the period, but the Fords of the time were sharper in styling but possibly lacking in a V-8 whooph.
That hideous custom Mustang (by Barris obviously) appeared in an episode of Get Smart
(season 1, Satan’s Place ) as the Chief’s car.
Thanks JP! I suddenly feel like donning a suit and heading out for a few martinis..
I was surprised to find out about the T&C, an odd choice but at least it’s a turbo car.
Good research, JP. However, did you find out if there was a chauffeur’s glass between the front and back seats on the T&C?
Great piece. But I don’t think the T & C was his last car. This summer, at Monterey, Mecum auctioned off a red, late 80′s Jaguar XJS convertible that had been Sinatra’s. I also recall seeing photos of him in the 90′s behind the wheel of a Rolls.
I was going to say the same there was a red XJ-S and I have also seen a black early 90′s XJ-S at an auction was owned by Sinatra.
The Town & Country was probably the maids car for runs to the liquor store for booze and smokes.
I remember the XJ-S from a Sinatra bio I have around here somewhere.
C’mon – the T&C was probably there for the help to run errands in. Frank may even have used it himself from time to time. But does anyone really think that he rolled up in front of Spago in this car? Don’t think so.
No, that T and C K wagon was indeed ONE of his last cars. I saw a copy of the title. He did drive it fairly regularly as a low-profile vehicle, but he did have Jags and Rollers towards the end.
Old Coot Opinion.
K-car bought to allow moving around without attracting undue unwanted attention.
His “Cycles” written by Gayle Caldwell, who died not long ago and with whom I swapped some interesting e-mails awhile back, actually had an effect upon my persona;
http://obbop.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/5483/
I was surprised where he chose to be buried… a desert town, one of the “rough” ones where the laboring class serving the Palm Springs and ritzier resort towns of the area bake under the broiling sun tend to reside in shantys:
Burial:
Desert Memorial Park
Cathedral City
Riverside County
California, USA
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=2953&page=gr
Sonny Bono resides there.
Have a nice weekend and wear your seat belts!!!
Sinatra made several discs with Harry James; got ‘em all
This time you got me. I have fixed the text in the article. Unfortunately, I did not start on this piece until too late and was cramming to get it finished. I have the full set of his records with Dorsey, but never delved much into the Harry James stuff. Most of it (other than All or Nothing at All) seems to have pretty much sunk into the bogs of time. Other than for sharp-eyed (eared?) CC readers!
“In 1956, he co-starred with Grace Kelley and Bing Crosby in High Society, a remake of the 1940 Cary Grant-Katherine Hepburn picture The Philadelphia Story. With the combination of Cole Porter’s songs and Sinatra’s voice and natural acting abilities, the movie was a huge hit. Sinatra moved into automotive High Society with his next car, a Continental Mark II.”
Well, Sinatra was the comic foil to Crosby in the movie, But Crosby was the leading man who sang the duet with the leading lady, Grace Kelly, “True Love” which became a number one hit. Sinatra was paired up with comedienne Celeste Holm.
You also forgot to mention Louis Armstrong. The movie re-sets the story from Philadelphia to Newport R.I., and makes the leading man the impresario of the Newport Jazz Festival, then a staple of cultural life. Armstrong is jazz, in propre person, and has a big share in the music.
The Continental Mark II also appeared in the movie as the whip of Grace Kelly’s louche Uncle Willie.
The Continental and the Eldorado Brougham peaks of American automobile design in the 1950s. The Continental was a classical design that was the basis, at least emotionally for the classic Continentals of the 1960s. The Eldorado was the height of the baroque in American Automobile design. Neither car made money, but they were halo cars for their brands.
Their prices were just one clue. At that time, a Ford or Chevy would have cost less than $2,000, and a Cadillac Sedan was around $5,000. The Cadillac’s $14,000 price tag was something that would only have been seen on a Rolls Royce. At that time, the Roller was using a V8 and an automatic transmission that were based on Cadillac designs.
The Rolls Royce L-series V8 didn’t reach production until 1959. There were three Rolls Royce V8s built in 1905, but they weren’t related. Whether or not the L-series was really based on any Detroit design, and it is often debated, the engines they reverse engineered were Chryslers. Once they knew what made them tick, they went with a far more conventional combustion chamber and valve configuration than Chrysler used, but that doesn’t mean they were Cadillac knock-offs.
Paul:
Have you ever considered hitch-hiking to the Gilmore Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan?
They have several Deusenbergs there. We would all enjoy your reading your interpretation and analysis of this fabled automobile. You should not limit your talents to what happens to be found curbside.
Thanks for that thought. My problem is getting to the write-ups. I went to the Allure of the Car exhibit in Portland this summer, which included an SJ, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. Big job! Also, some of my pics didn’t turn out so hot…but I will get to it soon.
Paul: This has nothing to do with cars, but are you familiar with a book called Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording, by Charles Granata?
Aaron; Are you asking me or Jim Cavanaugh? I’m more a Frank Zappa guy than a Frank Sinatra guy. I can appreciate his talent, but something about his persona always gave me the creeps. Not familiar with that book.
Er, I meant Jim. (Note the posting time of the original comment…reading comprehension was apparently sub-par…) Sorry about that, Paul!
Its funny you should put that way as Zappa’s music and persona gave me the willies.
Hmmm, yeah, Sinatra didn’t name any of his kids “Moon Unit”…
The 66 Mustang wasn’t so much a Mid Life Crisis, more a Hollywood statement, ind of like the Prius is now. It conveyed a sense of social relevance.
I did a bit of Googling and found a couple more. A Barrister and a 41 Caddy 60 Special.
Like this (not actual car)
Also an 82 Barrister (George Barris) similar to this.
Iknow this is a little old,but I’m new to the site, and stumbled on this.I’m a big Sinatra fan,and you could actually order a Limited Edition Frank Sinatra Imperial. Chrysler I guess was trying to counter the Lincoln Mark Designer Series, and probably Frank was doing his buddy Lee a favor helping Chrysler getting back on track.
I have driven up the road to where he lived in Palm Springs, in my LeBaron Turbo Convertible, I Can imagine How difficult that must have been with a wagon Full.
Wonder if anyone Has Both The Cassette And 8 Track Versions of The Imperial FS.
in the first photograph, I’m surprised no one had commented on how much the roofline of the ’62 Dual-Ghia looks like the ’65 Barracuda.
The mid-life crisis car was not in fact Frank’s car, but the car of the character he played in the film Marriage on the Rocks. That photo is from the set of the film. His character was pretty much having a mid-life crisis!
Interesting. I have not seen that movie in a bazillion years. It is interesting that as much interest in Sinatra as there is out in the world, there does not seem to be any kind of site with any information on the subject. Are you aware of any links of interest? I thought that this would be a quick and easy topic, and it turned out to be anything but. Thanks for the new info.
In the liner notes of “Trilogy” Frank is described as driving a Mercury station wagon. In 1977 he hosted the “Tonight” show and on a subsequent “Tomorrow” show (remember that?) Tom Snyder talked about the buzz at NBC studios prior to Frank’s arrival and wondering what he would be driving and he seemed kind of let down to announce that instead of a limousine Frank drove himself in a Volvo wagon.
Also in photographs of the crew setting up for a live television interview with Edward R Murrow at Frank’s Bowmont Drive house in Coldwater Canyon there’s a white 1956 Thunderbird in the garage.
I believe there were a couple of Buick Reatta’s he owned towards the end.
One of Sinatras cars is in a car museum in Brooline just outside Boston MA. I think its a Ghia of some type, its about 15 years since I saw it, but its only one of a few made……..I was in Sinatras house in Palm Springs last year and took about 300 photographs. The house is almost exactly as Sinatra left it and the new owner did not modify it in any way. The house contains lots of photos and poster of his films, as well as his enormous train collection…..The only vehicle that was his and still parked in the garage was his golf cart, which has the words ‘ol blue eyes’ on the side…….Ive been a life long fan of FAS and to my knowledge, he was not a great user of cars, and was nearly always driven. Even when he left the compound in Palm Springs to move to Malibu, he left in a rented town car. He was a very complex guy, full of contradictions, and had surprisingly simple tastes in lots of things, including his wines….For more information, read The Way You Wear Your Hat, which is probably the best book written on FAS in terms of his preferences in goods etc….Ive read everything ever written on FAS, some of the most revealing books were the paperback or cheaper type publications, my favourites being My Life With Mr S written by his butler, and the one mentioned earlier. If anybody wants any more information on his Palm Springs house, let me know. I have lots of pics…..I was also in Elvis Presleys house in Palm Springs, which is surprisingly simple too,if not a tad tacky in terms of decor…..All the best from Dublin Ireland.
Those Ghia cars are works of art,I’ve always loved the idea of a big American V8 in a handbuilt European car.More please Bristols,Jensens,Facel Vegas and the rest.