---
title: "This Cadillac Allanté Giveaway Is Proof American Apparel Is Bankrupt"
description: "Sadder than spotting a guy wearing “unisex” jeans."
date: "2015-10-09"
modified: "2015-10-09"
authors:
  - name: "Ben Keeshin"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/ben-keeshin"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/vintage/442/this-cadillac-allant-giveaway-is-proof-american-apparel-is-bankrupt"
categories:
  - "Cadillac News"
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "Cadillac"
---

# This Cadillac Allanté Giveaway Is Proof American Apparel Is Bankrupt

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/100915_aahalloween_tn_0.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

After months of declining sales—gold lamé, not here to stay—American Apparel has announced that it is [filing for bankruptcy](<https://time.com/4061038/american-apparel-bankruptcy/>). Expensive litigation in ousting the company’s louche founder, Dov Charney, and the high costs of manufacturing in Los Angeles have forced a Hail Mary pass. (Or what panicked sweatshirt purveyors call a “restructuring.”)

Yesterday, members of AmAp’s email list received news about a social media-hosted [Halloween costume contest](<https://store.americanapparel.net/aa-halloween-photo-contest_cat2310001>) involving one 1987 Cadillac Allanté, a droptop inhabiting many a used car lots with a price of around eight grand. The subject line—“Win this ‘87 Cadillac Allanté!”—revived a phrase not heard since 1986 tapings of *The Price Is Right*.

By uploading a picture of an American Apparel-sourced Halloween costume to social media, tagging the post “#aaHalloween” and being a [thin woman](<https://instagram.com/americanapparelusa/?hl=en>), anybody is eligible to win this historically unloved Cadillac convertible. At 29-years old, it’s by far the oldest object of lust the company has ever proffered.

![100915\_aahalloween\_art.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content/archive-images/100915_aahalloween_art.jpg>)
**Courtesy American Apparel**

Is this pure hipster nonsense? The highest expression of American Apparel’s tacky-sexy L.A. vibe? Maybe a wheeled platform for models in leopard-print catsuits (e.g., an expansive recreational drug surface) is what the Allanté was always meant to be. You can’t argue with the visuals. That Pininfarina-designed shape is a compelling backdrop for the organic female curves AA is (in)famous for showcasing. The beefsteak-red interior, for its part, looks comfortable, and the switchgear will be familiar to anyone who grew up in a Nineties GM car. In silver and with only 32,000 miles, this is a very winsome Allanté. You know, in the same way that, from some angles, the Kool-Aid man is only medium-fat.

Still, the fact remains that a major international brand is offering what amounts to an $8,000 grand prize. To state, that is no grand prize: that is a door prize. The Cadillac Allanté Contest by American Apparel—or CACAA—is a front-wheel drive buoy thrown from a sinking ship.

People of America, do not squeeze your parts into a jumpsuit and submit to a corporately-suggested hashtag. Honestly, if you want a Cadillac Allanté, [just buy one](<https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cadillac-Allante-Base-Convertible-2-Door-/141792526850?forcerrptr=true&hash=item21037e4202&item=141792526850>).

## Author
Ben Keeshin is a former staff writer for Maxim, and before that, contributed writing to the digital sides of Road & Track and Vanity Fair.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/BnKshn>)