Vitals

Al Pacino as Tony Montana, hotheaded Cuban-American cocaine dealer

Miami, August 1981

Film: Scarface
Release Date: December 9, 1983
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris

Background

BAMF Style is continuing Car Week with the second grand American convertible from the automotive golden era – the 1963 Cadillac Series 62 owned by Tony Montana in 1983’s Scarface. Ironically, we first see this Caddy while Tony is actually shopping for a different luxury car, the silver 1979 Porsche 928 4.5L that he adds to his growing collection.

The ’63 Caddy convertible is clearly Tony’s favorite, though, driving it to show off his status even though Elvira pointedly tells him:

It looks like somebody’s nightmare.

What’d He Wear?

Tony Montana wears this beige suit twice in the film, once when car shopping with Manny and Elvira and later during his arrest. It’s very much an ’80s-styled suit with its low-gorge notch lapels, low 2-button front, and padded shoulders with roped sleeveheads. All buttons are tan plastic to match the suit itself.

The jacket also has 3-button cuffs, long double vents, straight flapped hip pockets, and a welted breast pocket for Tony’s display handkerchiefs. When he goes car shopping, he wears a cream-colored silk pocket square in the pocket. The red kerchief he wears during his arrest perfectly matches his red silk shirt worn for the occasion.

The ’80s-ness of it all extends to his large-fitting low rise suit trousers which have a flat front and plenty of room throughout the hips. The side pockets are slanted, and there is a jetted pocket on the right rear. The slightly flared bottoms are plain-hemmed with a full break.

Tony wears a thin brown leather belt with a small gold squared claw-style buckle through the trousers’ slim belt loops.

With both outfits, Tony wears a pair of tan sueded leather shoes with raised heels and pointed cap toes. His socks also appear to be tan or cream, although they’re rarely seen under the full break of the trouser legs.

The first shirt worn with this suit—in the car shopping scene—is a baggy brown silk shirt with a point collar, breast pocket, and button cuffs. Tony ignores the top few dark brown plastic buttons down the plain “French placket” front, per his usual style.

He’s even less modest with his second shirt, an even baggier red silk shirt that also has a plain front and button cuffs. It may be the same shirt he wears with his white double-breasted suit in Colombia. Either way, he chooses to accentuate it with a matching red silk handkerchief in his jacket breast pocket. This flashier shirt makes the first look seem very understated by comparison.

Two-Gun Tony is also carrying when he’s busted. He keeps a snubnose .38-caliber Smith & Wesson Model 36 “Chief’s Special” revolver in a brown leather shoulder holster under his left arm. He sticks his primary sidearm, a .32-caliber Beretta Cheetah 81, in the back of his waistband. Evidently, Tony is allowed to keep his firearms after he is arrested (!) since he later has them both on in his lawyer’s office – more properly carrying the Beretta in an IWB for that scene.

Tony wears one of his many gold Concord Delirium watches with this suit. A flashy, appearance-driven criminal like Tony would be sure to pick up the latest fashionable watch, and the Delirium was designed by Maurice Grimm in 1978 with its 1.98mm thickness making it the thinnest watch in the world at the time. This particular watch has a gold rectangular case and a very small black round dial that would require 20/20 vision to read properly.

Pacino’s screen-worn watch had long been misidentified as the rare Omega La Magique, but an Instagram post from @la.grandie.vie has provided evidence suggesting the far likelier theory that Tony wears the Delirium, specifically a gold Delirium I “Mariner” from 1979 on a gold Twist-O-Flex strap.

On his right wrist, he wears his usual silver chain link bracelet. His right hand is also decked out with both of his big gold rings; the 3rd finger ring has a diamond and the pinky ring has a square-cut ruby. Both of Tony’s necklaces —the larger Cuban-style chain and the slimmer, lower-hanging rope necklace—are yellow gold.

Tony keeps his reputation as a sporty ’80s guy with a pair of black acetate teardrop-framed sport aviators with amber gradient lenses. zeroUV offers a similar pair for only $9.99.

The Car

… I mean, it’s got a few years, but it’s a cream puff.

Tony obviously has a soft spot for his butter yellow 1963 Cadillac Series 62 convertible. GM had been using the “Series 62” appellation since 1940 when it was the lowest level offered by Cadillac. The torpedo-styled cars – with a Body by Fisher – quickly gained attention, and the Series 62 remained a sleek and popular model for nearly 25 years.

After a series of updates and facelifts through the ’40s and ’50s, Cadillac rolled out its final generation of the C-platform Series 62 with a design from GM’s chief designer Bill Mitchell in 1961. Each year saw slight changes both internally and externally; the 1963 model—as driven in Scarface—featured lower profile tailfins (by era standards) to create a longer, bolder look. Cadillac emphasized an even more luxurious ride for its 1963 model, insulating the floor and firewall to keep noise from the revamped and lighter weight 390 cubic inch V8 out of the inner compartment.

1964 was the final year of the Cadillac Series 62 before the model was renamed the Calais. The engine was expanded to 429 cubic inches, boosting horsepower to 340. No convertibles were offered in ’64, and sales bottomed out at 35,079… an 18-year low and a huge dip from the car’s apex of popularity in 1956.

1963 Cadillac Series 62

Body Style: 2-door convertible

Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 390 cubic inch (6.4 L) Cadillac OHV V8 with Rochester 4-barrel carburetor

Power: 325 hp (242 kW; 329 PS) @ 4800 rpm

Torque: 430 lb·ft (580 N·m) @ 3100 rpm

Transmission: 4-speed GM Hydra-Matic automatic

Wheelbase: 129.5 inches (3289 mm)

Length: 223 inches (5664 mm)

Width: 79.7 inches (2024 mm)

Height: 56.6 inches (1438 mm)

Despite its powerful Cadillac V8 under the hood, it would take a lot more than 325 horsepower to push the 4,544-pound car into high speeds. Acceleration was low, taking more than 10 seconds to hit 60 mph with a dismal 17.6 second quarter mile drag time. But a car like this isn’t driven for performance… it’s driven for showing off. Sounds about right for Tony Montana, doesn’t it?

And show off he does. Not only does the outside of the car attract attention with its bright yellow paint job, but the custom interior’s tiger-print upholstery is truly… unique. If you want your own and size isn’t important to you, a 1:24 die-cast model replica is available for sale (and it even includes a little Tony Montana!)

How to Get the Look

Buying a new car anytime soon? Show the salesman you mean business by wearing your finest Miami drug kingpin suit, and don’t be afraid to dress it up with extensive and expensive jewelry.

• Beige suit:
  • Single-breasted suit jacket with notch lapels, low 2-button stance, welted breast pocket, flapped straight hip pockets, 3-button cuffs, and double rear vents
  • Low-rise flat front suit trousers with thin belt loops, slanted side pockets, jetted right rear pocket, and plain-hemmed flared bottoms
• Brown silk shirt with large collar, breast pocket, plain front, and button cuffs
• Tan sueded leather cap-toed summer shoes
• Brown slim leather belt with small gold squared single-prong buckle
• Concord Delirium Mariner gold watch with round black dial on rectangular case and gold “Twist-O-Flex” bracelet
• Stainless link bracelet, worn on right wrist
• Gold ring with diamond, worn on right ring finger
• Gold ring with square-cut ruby, worn on right pinky
• Black acetate teardrop-framed sport aviators with amber gradient lenses
• Two yellow gold necklaces

Don’t forget the cream silk display handkerchief!

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the deluxe DVD gift set… which also comes with a copy of the original Scarface from 1932!

The Quote

You wanna play that way with me, I play with you.