How far would you go to get your favorite music artist’s autograph? Two Britishers have just set the bar pretty high when it comes to chasing down an autograph. The canvas? A 1968 Cadillac Coupe de Ville once owned by rapper Snoop Dogg, freshly restored and missing Snoop’s autograph on the armrest as it did originally, thanks to the passage of time. The two YouTubers documented the entire adventure on their channels and even made international news for their efforts. But what’s so special about this car, christened the Snoop de Ville?
This 1968 Cadillac Coupe de Ville featured on one of Snoop Dogg’s tours in the 2000s (Up in Smoke), before featuring in his opening act at the MTV Music Awards in 2007. The car is pretty distinctive – a black Cadillac with white leather interiors, and a stylized German flag painted across the hood and fenders, with the German flag colors behind the wire-spoke wheels.
The car was set up on air suspension, and a banging sound system, as was normal back in the day for lowriders. More than anything else though, the car could be considered one of the best pieces of rap memorabilia around — Snoop had autographed the rear armrest over 15 years ago.
Since then the car went from stardom to a museum, to abandoned disrepair in a field. Sam Hard, a detailer who runs a YouTube channel named Hard up Garage, bought the car and restored it to its former glory. The car had been sitting in a field for years, and though it looked rough, Hard was able to get it started up with basic tools.
From there, bringing it back to a show finish took a lot more effort. For starters, the interiors were open to the elements for years and were disgustingly filthy. Hard reportedly threw up while cleaning the interiors.
Having realized that the car was missing Snoop Dogg’s autograph, Hard went about trying to fix that. It just so happened that Snoop was to be traveling to Paris, to be part of the opening ceremony of Olympics 2024. This could be his best shot at getting the car autographed once again!
Along with YouTuber AdamC3406, they transported the Snoop de Ville to Paris. The video then documents them driving around with the Cadillac on a trailer, taking in the sights and sounds of Paris — from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe. Though Paris was crawling with police on account of the Olympics, they managed to make it to quite a few tourist spots with the Cadillac in tow, before the French Police pulled them over.
Their transport driver’s license was nearly taken away due to a small technicality, and they were possibly in danger of having the Cadillac impounded as well. But thankfully they managed to get away with minimal damage.
After having camped out at what they thought was Snoop Dogg’s hotel in Paris for over seven hours, armrest in hand, the duo realized that their quest would not end up fruitful. But given how much attention Snoop’s Cadillac Coupe de Ville has gathered thanks to their efforts, we’re still hopeful that the car gets the autograph it deserves.
Corrigendum: This article was originally published with Snoop Dogg’s car mentioned as a 1968 Cadillac DeVille, based on an earlier video Sam Hard had recorded for the YouTube channel VinWiki. Based on a reader’s feedback (thanks Adam), we double-checked and found that the kink in the car’s bodyline and fins means it is a 1968 Cadillac DeVille Convertible. The article has been amended to reflect the correction.
