The car started out as the already impressive Golden Sahara in the 1950s, before being reengineered into the Golden Sahara II in the early 1960s. It disappeared from public view for decades, and it’s now being sold in restored condition from the Klairmont Kollections Museum.
Fast Facts: The Golden Sahara II
- The Golden Sahara II began as a wrecked 1953 Lincoln Capri, purchased by Chicago businessman Jim Street and transformed by famed customizer George Barris in the 1950s into the first Golden Sahara. Featuring gold-anodized trim, an opulent pearlescent finish made with fish scales, and futuristic styling, it toured nationally and helped establish both Street’s and Barris’s reputations in the custom car scene.
- In the early 1960s, Street commissioned Barris to reimagine the car as the Golden Sahara II, incorporating advanced features for its time. The redesign included a longer, more radical body with a clear cockpit roof, sculpted fenders, a split grille, and a luxurious white leather interior complete with television, tape recorder, and cocktail bar. A Lincoln OHV Y-block V8 paired with an automatic transmission powered the car.
- The Golden Sahara II’s most famous element was its internally illuminated Goodyear Neothane tires, made of translucent synthetic rubber and lit from within. Other advanced systems included an aircraft-style control yoke, push-button transmission, remote control operation, hydraulic doors and compartments, and reworked suspension. Debuting in 1964, it toured widely, appearing on television, in films, and in magazines as the “Car of the Future.”
- Withdrawn from public display in the 1970s, the car remained hidden for decades until after Street’s death in 2017. Klairmont Kollections acquired it at Mecum’s 2018 sale and commissioned a full restoration by Speakeasy Customs & Classics with Goodyear reproducing the glowing tires. Debuting at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, it is now offered for sale in pristine condition, set to cross Mecum’s auction block on September 20 with no reserve.
History Speedrun: The Golden Sahara
The Golden Sahara II began life as a personal concept from Chicago businessman Jim Street, interestingly it can trace its earliest roots back to a wrecked 1953 Lincoln Capri. Street purchased the remains of the car and commissioned George Barris, already a major figure in the custom car scene, to create something extraordinary.
The above two images show the Golden Sahara in its original form, before it was modified into the Golden Sahara II. Images courtesy of Mecum.
Barris was tasked not simply with a repair job, but with building a rolling showcase of futuristic automotive design and experimental technology – perfectly capturing the optimism of the late 1950s when it seemed like household robots, flying cars, and personal space travel were just over the horizon.
Work on the first iteration of the car, known as the Golden Sahara (sans “II”), began in the mid-1950s. Barris’s shop reworked the Lincoln’s body into a long, low, finned creation, heavily influenced by contemporary Detroit show cars but unbound by their limiting production car constraints. The car had gold-anodized trim, a lavish interior, and a hand-applied pearlescent finish reportedly made with ground fish scales for an iridescent effect.
The car toured extensively, appearing at custom car shows and in magazines, helping establish Street as an innovator and Barris as a master of custom car styling.
The Golden Sahara II Makes Its Debut
By the early 1960s, Street decided the original car needed a technological overhaul. Working again with Barris, the car was stripped down and rebuilt into the Golden Sahara II. This version pushed far beyond styling changes, incorporating features rarely seen outside aerospace or science fiction.
The body was now even more radical, it was longer, with a clear cockpit-style roof, sculpted fenders, and a dramatically reworked front end with a split grille. The opulent cabin combined white leather upholstery with integrated television, tape recorder, and cocktail bar – features one might imagine in one of the best-selling Ian Fleming novels of the time.
The advanced technologies included in the car, as well as the fully stocked bar in the rear, made it seem like something a James Bond villain might drive. Images courtesy of Mecum.
The most famous feature of this new iteration was its set of translucent Goodyear Neothane tires that could glow internally thanks to internal lighting. These were paired with advanced driver-assistance concepts, including an aircraft-style control yoke in place of a steering wheel, push-button transmission control, and remote control operation.
While exact mechanical specifications varied over the car’s life, the Golden Sahara II always kept its hefty American V8, most sources claim it was a Lincoln OHV Y-block V8 unit which was mated to an automatic transmission. This engine fitment seems to be verified by the current for sale listing on Mecum (linked later in the article).
The chassis and running gear were heavily modified to accommodate the car’s extended body and electronics. Its lighting system, both exterior and within the tires, was powered by an onboard electrical network far more complex than that of any production car of the era. Hydraulic systems operated doors and compartments, and the suspension was re-engineered to give the car a much lower ride height than anything coming out of Detroit.
The glowing Neothane tires were developed in cooperation with Goodyear, and they were a genuine engineering achievement. The tires were made from a translucent synthetic rubber compound, they were illuminated by internal lamps and designed to be functional at normal road speeds, though they were primarily intended as a showpiece and a glimpse into what the future might hold.
When it debuted in 1964, the Golden Sahara II instantly captured the public imagination. It was billed as the “Car of the Future” and toured nationally, often displayed on a rotating platform surrounded by spotlights.
It appeared on television, in films, and in numerous magazine spreads. Its unique combination of space-age styling and fully-functioning gadgetry perfectly appealed to people in a decade fascinated by jet travel, computers, and the readily advancing American space program.
In both Golden Sahara and Golden Sahara II form, the car amazed crowds initially in the 1950s, and then again in the 1960s. Images courtesy of Mecum.
The End – And A New Beginning
By the early 1970s, Street withdrew the Golden Sahara II from public display. For decades it was largely unseen, stored in his private collection alongside other well-known customs. Its long absence only deepened the mystery surrounding it – occasional rumors surfaced about its location, but it was not until after Street’s passing in 2017 that the car reemerged into public view.
In 2018, Mecum announced the Golden Sahara II would be sold at their Indianapolis event. The car, though complete, showed signs of age from decades in storage. The sale attracted global attention, and the winning bidder was Klairmont Kollections, a Chicago-based museum dedicated to preserving automotive history.
Klairmont Kollections entrusted the restoration to Speakeasy Customs & Classics, working with Goodyear to reproduce the glowing Neothane tires using modern materials. The restoration focused on returning the car to its mid-1960s show condition, with all of its technology, including the remote control system, fully functional.
In 2019, the restored Golden Sahara II debuted at the Geneva International Motor Show, displayed alongside the futuristic Goodyear Oxygene concept tire. Unsurprisingly, it captured the imagination of a whole new generation of show-goers.
Now For Sale From Klairmont Kollections: The Golden Sahara II
The Golden Sahara II is now being offered for sale, still fresh from its restoration which was completed in 2019 before it went on public display at the Klairmont Kollections Museum.
The Golden Sahara II is now being offered for sale, still fresh from its restoration which was completed in 2019 before it went on public display at the Klairmont Kollections Museum.
The car is in remarkable condition throughout, of course it’s seen minimal use over the course of its life, with most of its low mileage likely accumulated rolling it into and out of trucks which carried it to the shows it’s been displayed at.
It’s now due to roll across the auction block with Mecum on the 20th of September, and interestingly it’s being offered with no reserve. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.