Saturday Morning CarTune: Gimme All Your Lovin’

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Here’s the song that made a red ’33 Ford Three-Window famous: “Gimme All Your Lovin'” by ZZ Top. 

 

At the moment we can think of only one car that became a legitimate MTV star back in the ’80s, the golden age of music videos. That would be the red ’33 Ford coupe of Billy Gibbons, lead guitarist and vocalist for ZZ Top. Built for Gibbons by Don Thelan of Buffalo Motor Cars in Paramount California, the Eliminator coupe, as it became known, borrowed its stance and silhouette from the California Kid ‘34 coupe of Pete Chapouris, but updated with ’80s-style wheels and trendy zipper graphics.

For the Eliminator album of the same name in 1983, ZZ Top had departed from its signature hard-edged electric blues, embracing a more pop-oriented sound with synthesizers and drum machines.  The move paid off with the audience: Eliminator remains the band’s most popular album to date with more than 10 million records sold. The band embraced promotional videos in a big way as well, starting with this one, “Gimme All Your Lovin,” the first in a series starring the red ’33 coupe. Enjoy.

 

4 thoughts on “Saturday Morning CarTune: Gimme All Your Lovin’”

  1. I didn’t like where this led the band, but the videos were tongue in cheek and they’d been at it long enough that success didn’t go to their heads.You’re right that it did make the car a star, and I’m taking a guess that Billy Gibbons was able to write off some of the build costs by claiming it as a promotional tool. too bad about those ugly 80s wheels.

    For me though, this rod doesn’t hold a candle to Gibbon’s CadZZilla.

  2. I agree with Andy’s comments about the car. Regardless, I was very excited several years ago when it was in the same trailer with a package of cars I had purchased from the west coast. The Eliminator was headed to New York or Boston for a special display and the driver had to pull it out to unload my cars. Unfortunately, none of the leggy women were with it.

  3. I liked ZZ Top better when they were blatantly copying John Lee Hooker. Got to meet Billy Gibbons once, got the impression he’s been baked since 1968.

  4. I stopped in at the Petersen Automotive Museum during a vacation one time, and … Billy Gibbons was there, being interviewed for some exhibit. (Yup, that’s it for my cool story.)

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