Caddy will stop ‘em dead

Newport Beach car collector Jim Mangione just got his hands on a killer auto.

Prized for its 12-inch tailfins and low mileage, his newly purchased 1959 Cadillac El Dorado Seville is famous among collectors and many New England residents for its connection to a murder that took place in New Hampshire nearly 50 years ago.

But Mangione is not interested in that “morbid stuff.”

He purchased the car at an auto auction on Jan. 19 to complement the 1959 and 1960 El Dorado convertibles he already owns, and at $165,000, the car “was just a steal.”

“I didn’t buy the car because of its history, per se,” said Mangione, who became fascinated with cars as a 3-year-old boy. “I bought the car because it’s just an incredible car.”

With just 2,244 miles on the odometer, the vehicle is said to be the lowest-mileage Caddy from that production year, and less than 1,000 were manufactured. After its original owner, Rhode Island entrepreneur Maurice Gagnon, was found murdered in the front seat on Feb. 8, 1959, the car was held in police impound for nearly 15 years, and has scarcely been driven since.

The vehicle also boasts its original tires, battery and exhaust system, and after a three-year struggle with a New Hampshire courthouse, previous owner John Pfanstiehl was able to retrieve the original carpets, which had been seized as evidence in the trial of Gagnon’s killers.

The only thing missing from the car, it seems, is Gagnon’s ghost.

“It’s not a Christine,” said Florida resident Pfanstiehl, referring to the malevolent vehicle of a Stephen King horror novel. Pfanstiehl drove the car less than 30 miles during the 25 years he owned it. “It’s just a big, shining, glorious, almost 20-foot long symbol of achievement from that time.”

Mangione agreed that the Cadillac’s wicked past has had no effect on its present condition.

Not only is the car safe to drive, but the new owner said its tainted history ends here and now.

Though he will continue to use a 2000 Ford Excursion as his “daily driver,” Mangione plans to display the hard-topped Caddy at local auto shows. It may eventually join some of his collection — which includes Corvettes, Bentleys and various muscle cars — at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas.