Liz Carmichael: Auto Felon, Con, Notorious Anti-hero
“The Lady and the Dale,” a fourpart docu-series on HBO Max, tells the story of Liz Carmichael. In the 1970s, she rose to prominence with the debut of a fuel-efficient, three-wheeled prototype vehicle. It became one of the biggest auto scams in history.
Nick Cammilleri, the creator, writer, director and co-producer, worked on the project for 10 years. He developed a unique relationship with Carmichael’s family throughout the twists, turns and circumstances of film-making.
Born Jerry Dean Michael in 1927, the American automobile executive and convicted felon was married four times. She was transgender and changed her name to Geraldine Elizabeth “Liz” Carmichael.
Arrested for counterfeiting U.S. currency in 1961, she went on the run in 1962. In the late 1960s, she faked a serious car accident and changed her name to Liz Carmichael.
Twelve years after her arrest and while still a fugitive, Carmichael worked at the U.S Marketing Institute in Los Angeles where she met Dale Clifft. The latter had invented a threewheel car with low gas consumption.
“Dale Clifft was an engineer and he built this thing called a commuter cycle,” said Cammilleri. “It was a threewheel contraption, some people called it a Dune Buggy when he drove it around Ventura Blvd. (in Los Angeles).
“When he came into the office where Carmichael was working, he said ‘I’ve built this car and it gets 70 miles per gallon. This might be a thing.’ Liz Carmichael thought ‘we could have something really special here.’ Basically, she signed a deal so she could license it, believing she could market it.”
The complex and convoluted saga of the Dale had begun.
None of the vehicles were produced, and only four prototypes of the Dale were made. Only one prototype was able to move under its own power and is owned by a private collector in Los Angeles. Cammilleri also details one of the prototypes is somewhere in Southern California.
“It exists,” the film’s patriarch said. “It’s out there, but we just don’t know where it is.”
Carmichael, who died of cancer in February 2004, lied about her personal life and her education and lots of other things. She eventually was charged with 31 counts of grand theft, fraud and corporate security violations.
The bizarre tale of the Dale vehicle, Carmichael’s life as a transgender person, her years of hiding from law enforcement and her eventual arrest are all detailed in the series.
“Was she criminal or a hero? I view her as an anti-hero,” said Cammilleri. “I think she’s one of the best antiheroes I’ve ever seen. She did nothing different than people like Dupont, Budweiser, Coca-cola. All those companies do extra-legal things. She did a lot of stuff those companies did.”
Among the unusual circumstances of Carmichael’s life: She served 18 months in a men’s prison, despite having been recognized as a woman by the courts.
“I started with the film thinking that she was just an incredible character,” Cammilleri said. “The fact that she was transgender was maybe 20 percent of it. I started with the idea that being trans didn’t define her.
“But in the end, I came to realize it did define her but in the best way possible. It’s about the contributions she did make as a trans woman.”
The documentary, which premiered on January 31, has a 100 percent critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The reviewers’ consensus: “An intoxicating blend of historical footage, candid interviews, and animation that deftly captures Liz Carmichael’s incredible life, The Lady and the Dale is a wild ride.”