The Top 5 Mobster Rides

There were many cars over the course of the 1920s through to the 1990s that caught our eye, but we wanted to zone in on the 5 biggest cars that were used by some of the most notorious mobsters of the last century.

We look at getaway cars, to movie cars, right the way through to the elite cars that were spotted during the Great Depression. So sit tight, buckle up, and get ready to pull off, as we take you cruising back through time and show you the top 5 Mafia Mobiles from the 20th century.

#1 Ford Model 18 V8

The Ford Model 18 V8 takes centre stage here, built between 1932 and 1934.

The Model 18 was the world’s first accessibly priced V8, introduced by Ford in 1932. It quickly became associated with the Mafia and bank robbers of the 1930s. The Ford Model 18 sported that iconic flat-head design, along with superior power that made it the ideal getaway car for the Depression era’s most wanted criminals.

This power made the Model 18 the vehicle of choice for John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie and Clyde. Dillinger was so attached to the car that he allegedly wrote to Henry Ford personally to praise it — though the letter’s authenticity has never been conclusively established. What is beyond dispute is that Dillinger and his gang stole Ford V8s with remarkable consistency across their robbery spree throughout the Midwest, and that local police departments — whose own vehicles were generally slower and less powerful — frequently struggled to keep up.

This car was the ultimate in Mafia mobility — and the Depression-era criminal’s weapon of choice.

#2 Lincoln Continental

The Lincoln Continental comes in at number two. The version you are seeing here is the Mark III-VIII, often seen on the streets of New York from 1969 up to 1998. This car lasted four decades as part of the American Mafia — and you can see why by just looking at it. It’s menacing, it has prowess, and it gets heads turning.

If you are like Carlo Gambino, you like to keep a low profile — apart from a flashy ‘CG 1’ number plate that gave everyone that little shred of evidence he was wealthy and powerful. However, for some mobsters, the question was simple: what’s the point of being a successful criminal if you can’t flaunt your wealth?

Paul Castellano travelled in Lincoln Continentals, and Richard “the Iceman” Kuklinski famously spoke about travelling naked in one after carrying out a contract killing — stripping to avoid leaving forensic evidence on his clothing.

There was also the famous 1941 Lincoln Continental which featured in The Godfather, in particular the scene where Sonny Corleone was hit by Tommy gun fire at the Jones Beach Causeway tollbooth on Long Island. This car was a symbol of the Mafia. No doubts.

#3 1928 Cadillac Town Sedan

Made famous by Scarface himself — Al Capone. The Cadillac Town Sedan sported 90 brake horsepower which was, in 1928, genuinely powerful. But Capone’s car was something else entirely — heavily customised with inch-thick bulletproof glass and wrapped in steel armour that pushed the total weight to approximately 9,000 pounds. Hard to believe it moved at all with that kind of load.

The car was painted in green and black to match Chicago police cars of the time — helping it blend in on the city’s streets while carrying the most wanted man in America. The back window dropped down, allowing passengers to fire rearward at pursuing vehicles. The side windows contained firing holes so bodyguards could shoot from inside without rolling them down. It was, in effect, a rolling fortress.

One of Capone’s original armoured Cadillacs has been displayed at various exhibitions and museums over the years. It remains one of the most famous vehicles in the history of American crime. Read about Al Capone’s net worth →

#4 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

The Rolls Royce Silver Ghost is our number four, manufactured between 1907 and 1926. The Rolls Royce was a car in its own league — even today it’s associated with extraordinary wealth, so back in the early part of the 20th century you can imagine what a statement it made. This was a luxury car that peaked in appeal during the Prohibition era and the Roaring Twenties, costing $14,000 at the time — an almost unimaginable sum for most Americans of the period.

Just picture Johnny Torrio, Dutch Schultz and Arnold Rothstein travelling around town in such a spectacle of a car in the early to mid 1920s. At a time when most working Americans could barely afford a used Ford, arriving in a Silver Ghost was the ultimate power move — visible wealth deployed as a form of social dominance.

#5 Jaguar MK

Finally in at number five, the British-made Jaguar MK. This series was built between 1951 and 1960. Fast, loud and powerful, the Jag MK was the preferred car of British gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray during the 1950s — the most feared men in London at a time when the city’s underworld was every bit as organised and ruthless as its American counterpart.

These were four-door sedans that mainly rolled off the production line in black or British Racing Green, and they fast became a fixture of the British underworld for generations. The sound of a Jaguar MK pulling up outside a pub or club in 1950s East London would have commanded a very specific kind of attention.

Other Notable Mentions

There are of course other cars that we could go on to talk about here that didn’t quite make the top 5, such as the 1929 Buick.

The Buick was a four-door sedan mainly used as a social commuting car rather than a getaway or luxury vehicle. You would often see these cars take people to and from church on Sundays, rather than seeing them as part of gang warfare on the streets. A respectable car for a world that liked to maintain the appearance of respectability.

You also have the Mercedes 260D from 1936, which had a very daunting presence that would make it the perfect Mafia car. This car initially rose to fame in Germany and was better known as the ‘Death Mobile’ rather than as the first diesel passenger car — a nickname earned because the SS and Gestapo used them for sinister purposes during the Nazi period. When you saw one of these approaching in the area, trouble was not far behind.

Watch The Video

Frequently Asked Questions