Heading to Monterey this month? You’ll want to take some time to stop by and see the DiMora Vicci 6.2 at Concorso Italiano.
The most recent supercar from DiMora Motorcar out of Palm Springs, California, will be displayed during the 31st-anniversary of the Concorso, Aug. 20. The Concorso Italiano is the world’s largest Italian exotic auto show, at the Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, California, a few miles from Monterey.
Among the 1,000 vintage and contemporary cars, most of Italian origin, the DiMora Vicci 6.2 should be an easy find. Inspired by classic custom roadsters of the 1920s and 1930s, the DiMora Vicci 6.2 incorporates the highest level of automotive technology, luxury, performance, safety and communications.
True to its connotations of victory and power, the DiMora Vicci 6.2 on display during Pebble Beach is a triumphant automobile with a perfectly stitched red/black custom leather interior that features artwork by highly sought-after Taiwanese artist Master Lee Sun Don, reproduced on the hood and side panels. The artwork is transposed onto the automobile by skilled DiMora Motorcar artisans, requiring more than 700-man hours to replicate every exacting detail of the original.
Even among the great Italian automotive artistry at Concorso Italiano, the price will set the DiMora Vicci 6.2 apart as well. Designed by Sir Alfred J. DiMora using Carbon DiMora Fiber Design (Carbon DFD), the immaculately designed coach-built neoclassic automobile is offered at $1.2 million, and the price includes the coordinating Master Lee Sun Don original artwork.
The 430-hp/424 ft-lb torque model is equipped with the General Motors LS3 series all-aluminum V-8, at 6.2 liters, and the more powerful supercharged 556 hp/604 ft/lb option, on the same block with 9.1:1 compression ratio, is available for an additional $60,000.
The all-aluminum engine and sequential fuel injection mated to a triangulated four-bar rear suspension get the attention of the road and the driver. Both engines connect to the General Motors 4L85E 4-speed automatic, or you may choose the General Motors 6L80E 6-speed automatic transmission. For even more performance, the automobile comes with paddle shifters or a 6-speed manual transmission as an option.
The DiMora Vicci 6.2 is a lightweight 2,820 pounds. As a result, the company says the naturally aspirated edition does 0-to-60 mph around 4 seconds, and the supercharged version provides supercar-range performance of around 3.3 seconds.
“Our DiMora Vicci 6.2 is a very unique automobile with attention to detail and unmatched style and power,” says DiMora, a 40-year veteran of the custom car industry who for the first time is merging art and the art of the automobile.
Artwork and Automotive Artistry
Master Lee Sun Don is the first artist-series collaboration of rolling art with DiMora Motorcar. “We are producing a series of cars that include the work of renowned artist Master Lee Sun Don,” DiMora says.
“These are truly ‘Rolling Art,’” he adds. “Each painting is unique to each individual car in the limited edition collection known as the ‘Emperor Series,’ and the artwork on canvas that matches each individual car is included in the purchase price. There are no two car paintings alike.”
Automobiles and art have been excellent investments throughout the collectors’ financial world, and without exception the DiMora Vicci 6.2 has attracted both collector communities. It is the first true production rolling art.
In this ‘Emperor Series,’ Master Lee incorporates original doorknockers from the Ming and Qing Dynasty onto the canvas, making the art three-dimensional. His work is displayed in galleries and art shows worldwide, including Beverly Hills, the 53rd Venice Biennale, Art Revolution Taipei and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, just to mention a few.
“In the Chinese culture, the doorknocker is a symbol of the rich and powerful,” DiMora explains, adding that, in particular, the dragon and lion are traditional royal guards. “Master Lee has been rescuing the doorknockers from being hidden and forgotten for a number of years.”
For this first car and artist collaboration series, the price of the DiMora Vicci 6.2 is $1.2 million and $60,000 additional for the supercharged edition. Each car is handcrafted in Palm Springs, where DiMora and his wife, Yvonne, live. For those who order one of these rare automobiles, DiMora suggests a wait time of approximately four months. The automobile is also available without artwork.
Eventually, DiMora hopes to represent the work of the top 100 living artists in individual cars or, as with the first Master Lee cars, in a series. Each car or series will have different prices, depending on the popularity of the artist, he explains.
“We are talking with a number of prominent artists throughout the world, including the United States,” DiMora explains. “We have plans to announce our next car and artist collaboration in the near future.”
DiMora: A Tradition and Future of Building Crafted Cars
DiMora’s car-building passion began in his early teens after seeing the film American Graffiti. The film was instrumental in motivating him to design and build his own custom, high-performance automobiles. Over the years, he has become good friends with Bo Hopkins, the actor that portrayed “Joe the Pharaoh” in the film.
“Sir Alfred’s passion is for design and creativity, so it’s no surprise that he has produced such an iconic automobile. The neoclassic design is nothing short of classic representation of nostalgic Americana at its best,” says Hopkins.
As a teen, DiMora restored a burned-out 1939 Buick for restoration in the Gates Chili suburb of native Rochester in upstate New York. Always connected with cars, he worked at service stations, rebuilt engines and transmissions, studied books on 1930s roadsters and earned a machinist degree, becoming a certified welder.
In 1976, at 19 years old, he took his car-building dreams, pencil drawings and with only $400 drove cross country to beautiful Santa Barbara, California. For the first few weeks, he recalls sleeping on the beach.
DiMora heard about the recently-formed Clénet Coachworks, Inc., which was building limited-production 1930s-styled luxury cars in Santa Barbara County.
“I was one of the first employees in 1976,” DiMora recalls. The cars regularly featured Italian walnut burl dashboards and etched glass accented by Waterford crystal ashtrays, bringing many models in at $100,000 and more –– quite an investment for the time. Original car owners included Sylvester Stallone, heavyweight boxer Ken Norton, Rod Stewart, Julio Iglesias, Farrah Fawcett and King Hassan II of Morocco, just to mention a few.
DiMora left Clénet Coachworks and co-founded Sceptre Motorcar Company in 1978. The company’s Sceptre 6.6S won Best-of-Show at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
After Clénet production was halted in 1980 due to bankruptcy, DiMora acquired Clénet Coachworks and began manufacturing the Clénet Series II Cabriolet and the Series III Asha and created the Series IV Sportster at his Carpinteria, California, factory. When President Reagan declared 1986 the Centennial Year of the gasoline-powered automobile, the Clénet was selected as the Official Centennial Car under DiMora’s leadership.
“We’re working on a prototype of a new production Clénet now,” says DiMora, a car-products entrepreneur who also created and marketed the first ready-to-use 50/50 antifreeze.
Another upcoming project from DiMora Motorcar is the Natalia SLS 2 sport luxury sedan, planned to be the world’s first $2.6-million production automobile and the fastest, most technologically-advanced and finest four-door sport luxury sedan ever.
After all, DiMora did co-found the company that in 1998 developed the world’s fastest hypercomputer and language called Viva, so it is no surprise that he is also designing automobiles with technologically advanced features integrated into them.
“I always believed that cars were going to become computers, and what I have been preaching for the past 16 years has come true,” says DiMora.
The DiMora Volcano V-16 engine that they have engineered in the Natalia SLS 2 will produce 1,200 hp normally aspirated, but its variable-cylinder technology and a lightweight engine block will produce outstanding gas mileage and low emissions.
The Natalia SLS2 proprietary D-Tek chassis and body will use advanced aerospace materials and construction techniques to give superior strength for safety and energy savings, and the unique suspension system will deliver performance, comfort and a world-class ride.
Other features will include 60 sophisticated onboard computer systems, external cameras to eliminate all blind spots, LED and fiber-optic lighting inside and out and a hand-held Windows one-gig personal computer weighing 14 ounces. A computerized rear seat massager, Smart-Park, autonomous driving assist and full-length dimmable smoked glass will also be available.
DiMora’s Ghost 360 system allows uninhibited 360-degree views in real time. As an added feature, each Natalia SLS2 includes a matching woman’s handbag.
DiMora Vicci 6.2: Each is Bespoke
For the DiMora Vicci 6.2, any exterior color is available. The eco-friendly paint is custom blended by DiMora Motorcar, and any color or color combination is available. Inside, you can also select any color for the Italian leather. Fiber-optic interior accent lighting adds to the aesthetically pleasing design.
The dashboard and center console are leather-covered carbon fiber, the carpet is English Wilton wool, and heated seats are an available option. The stereo system is a hybrid with multi-touch screen technology
Connectivity is top scale, with WiFi, a GPS Navigation System with multi-language capability, INRIX with Route Collector technology, built-in hands-free Bluetooth and Siri eyes-free voice-dialing support.
The car carries a bumper-to-bumper limited warranty, including powertrain, three years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first. It can be serviced by any GM-certified technician throughout the world, making for easy-care maintenance without the price associated with maintaining other supercar brands.
“We are working on expanding our dealer network,” DiMora says, “but clients can contact our factory directly to place an order today.
“Beginning with the unique chassis, featuring stainless steel fuel lines, nickel-copper brake lines and our master cylinder power-booster on through to small details such as powder-coated components, the DiMora Vicci 6.2 combines the highest level of craftsmanship and materials,” he says. “Please stop by the Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course to see our spectacular one-of-a-kind coach-built car and say hello.”
For more information about the DiMora Vicci 6.2 or to becoming a dealer representative visit dimoramotorcar.com. To order your own custom DiMora Vicci 6.2, the number for
the factory is 760.832.9070.
