Rusty But Trusty

Yesterday, we featured a 1963 Cadillac, and the discussion was about the evolution of GM design. Fortuitously, an interesting later Cadillac has shown up, as a great illustration of that change in style. It’s also a perfect example of the RustyButTrusty philosophy – save a few bucks on an interesting car by accepting some cosmetic challenges. You know those stories you always hear of some guy who dragged a pre-war Duesenberg/Packard/Rolls Royce out of someone’s front yard in the 1970s for $500? Well, this is the closest you’ll get to that without dipping into your line of credit, retirement fund, and kids’ college funds. Check out this 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine for sale in St. Petersburg, FL, with bidding at $2500 and 4 days left to go.

In spite of the rust, the car looks really straight and driveable – not actually one of those nasty service cars that’s been sitting in someone’s yard for the last 30 years. And yes, it’s got fairly extensive rust, although to hear the seller talk about it, the car is eminently usable, so hopefully it’s more cosmetic than structural. This car’s design is so much cleaner than the 1963 – very appealing. Who originally bought this car (if it wasn’t a funeral home)?

First step – scrape off that stupid Confederate flag sticker. Second – find out what you can do as a quick fix for the rust under the rear window, to prevent any leaking. Indoor storage might be a little harder to find with a car of this length. There’s a hole in the passenger door you could fit a football through – is that patina? The lines of the car still look great, and the seller says it gets a lot of attention wherever he goes. It’s said to run quite well, and he used it as his daily driver for a while. New tires are needed, and the interior has apparently been redone. This was the first year Cadillac equipped their cars with a 472ci engine, which put out 375hp, so power should be adequate, and will get to the rear wheels reliably, since the driveshaft has been rebuilt. Side pipes are a little silly, but easily changed if you don’t like them.

Here’s the redone front seat – everything looks really good in here, except the modern stereo speakers. Fortunately, the seller had the foresight not to cut the door panels. Although the car is marketed as a rat rod, with a rockabilly girl in one of the shots, there’s a nice absence of skulls, flat black paint, and red wheels.

Before the seller replaced the carpet with this leopard print, he repaired all the floor pans, lending credence to the impression of structural stability. It’s a shame there’s no picture of the engine, but in a limo, this is the part you really care about. It’s still said to need a headliner, but it looks like there’s plenty of fun to be had with this beast before letting someone else think about restoration.

Tags: american, cadillac, Feature, fleetwood 75, limousine

This entry was posted on December 13, 2013 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.