No, this isn’t Photoshop, it’s the Sbarro TAG Function Car. Swiss designer Franco Sbarro is known for stretching the boundaries of design. This 1978 Cadillac creation sure does. He started with a front-wheel-drive Eldorado, which you can see from the front, but then things get weird.

Why was the Sbarro Function Car built?

With these 1970s Eldorados being front-wheel-drive, there is no driveshaft to deal with. This lends itself to a stretch. So tacking on the creation seen behind the front doors was a simpler task. But make no mistake, this wasn’t easy. 

The Function Car is a commission by Joseph E. Adjadj, who happened to own the TAG brand. Rather than just ordering a motorhome, the wealthy Saudi businessman chose to have the Eldo turned into a luxury office on wheels. Why he and Sbarro went in this direction has never been known.

Who was designer Franco Sbarro?

Sbarro has built both unique vehicles like the Function Car, but also a string of replicas like the Ford GT40, Bugatti Royale, and Mercedes 540K. He built 135 BMW 328 replicas, the most of his creations he built. So he was in the right spot to pull off something like the Function Car. 

From the inside, it looks a bit like a private jet. There are four oversize chairs facing an expanse of desks. With plenty of compartments and a folding desktop, business is done like it always was done, without computers. There are also two phones and a calculator.

A bulkhead behind the driver features a phone and television screen. Also, a refrigerator is also located somewhere, with a Blaupunkt Berlin audio head usually found in Porsches and Mercedes limousines. And don’t forget this is 1978 when portable phones and television sets in vehicles were still futuristic. So far so good.

What powered the Sbarro Function Car?

While all of this comfort and function was fine, other aspects of the Function Car didn’t work out so well. First, this beast weighed three tons. That required the extra set of wheels to even out the rather ungainly loads. And using the stock 350 hp 500ci Cadillac engine and four-speed automatic transmission, its performance was probably a bit anemic.  

You enter the car from either the passenger side door or through the back door. The passenger side seat is now toward the center for easier access. 

How many were built?

And then there is the exterior design. It appears that Sbarro got a bit carried away with the drawing sweeps. It’s a collision of different elements that don’t always blend together. But it is striking, in a certain sort of way. Had he toned it down a bit, it might have ended up less startling, but also blander.

Sbarro loved the result, which we also assume Adjadj agreed with. So much so that Sbarro planned on creating a run of 25 Function Cars. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you see it, this is the only one.

Eventually, the Function Car was almost sold to a musician that wanted a piano inside. That never came about, but we understand that Sbarro purchased the portable office and still owns it today.