Got my dream car.. v. 1961 Cadillac

After years of waiting, I finally got to bring this baby home. I've been searching for quite a while, and just kept gathering ideas and more money while the "right" one came along. I actually drove to Huntington Beach last month to go check one out, but the guy was kinda shady, and the car was not in the best of shape. Turns out this particular car was literally a 3 minute drive from my house. Talk about fate!

The dude I bought it from was legit and had built custom trucks before. For whatever reason, he decided to sell it. So I pounced on it. I bought it within 2 hours of it being up on craigslist.

Stats:
NO RUST!.... literally.
I've got every piece of chrome and trim, and all the glass.
390
Newly rebuilt Hydramatic.
$1000 worth of new parts including, door poppers, alarm, alternator,etc....
Lots more...the car is complete...

Plans:

Rewire everything.
Work on getting the engine more prettied up and back in the hole.
Paint goes on in 05/12 (If the world isnt over by then...)
Interior soon after.
Lots of chroming.
Lots of goodies in between.

Pretty stoked on this car. Hope you guys like...


Here she is coming off the trailer...



In its new home...


223in car in a 233in garage. Perfect fit!

 

Congrats, that's awesome!!!!

 

DAng! Looks like it's ready for paint!!!!

 

Nice ride. That year is one of favorites. I hope you got all the hardware that the chrome and stainless needs to hang on to the body. You need to get the body manual for it. It'll really come in handy and make the reassembly job easier.

 

cool story bro.



jk. So stoked for you Zaid!

 

Cool car. Wouldn't mind having that one myself.

Yea, tiny modern garages suck. Fortunately you live in a part of the country where you can work on the car with the garage door open much of the time.

 

61 Caddy. cool. had a 62 Sedan DeVille many moons ago. great cars,

always liked the 61 2 doors. one of the cars on my "when I win the lottery" list.

 

Congrats on your new Caddy!

 

Nice car dude. If you need help putting her back together, hit us up on the 61-62 Cadillac Owner's Group (quick google search will bring it right up). We all have the same car and there's some pretty helpful folk. Good luck on the build!

 

Much tighter and I would have seen a garage extension on your list. Great car, for a biggin one of my favorites.

 

Nice, looks like it's almost ready for paint...and assembly...!!!

Have you checked out Ian Berky's '61 CDV build...???

Go here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=559835&highlight=ian+61+cad+build

And of course, my '55 Caddy CDV build...go here:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329070&highlight=the+best+55+caddy+build

R-

 

looks like a fantastic stort good luck man

 

Looks like you scored! '59 '60 and '61s are among my favorites for Cads. I have a similar story with my Olds. I was looking all over the country and finally found one about an hour from where I live. Also, it barely fits in my garage.

 

Saved up all your money for a Cadillac ack ack ack ack ack...... cool!

 

Nice find - congratulations!!!

 

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to all your input. I will update as I work on it....

 

Really cool find.

 

Congrats on the acquisition. It's a dream getting that Caddy you've always wanted; glad you made it happen. Keep us posted with what you do. I envy that rebuilt Hydramatic!

 

Its too cool to see people get there dream car!

 

Congrats on the

 

Congrats on the Caddy Coupe - looking forward to seeing it progress as time goes on.

What's your plans - resto, kustom?

Im so pleased with my 60 Caddy Coupe - it's just a stocker but it is Gorgeous and is just a work of art.

Good luck and hope the body is as good as having guide coat on it suggests.

 

Oh Man.....does THAT ever look familiar. Found my '61 CDV (aka "Caddy Wompus") 3 years ago, and it's just getting into the paint booth after dozens of lessons learned the hard way. If you're doing most of the work yourself, at least you can trust the guy working on the car! Enjoy, and keep posting pics as you go !

BTW, and you probably know this, but Isky still makes hot cams for the 390, Offy still makes valve covers, and OPG now has a full line of Caddy resto parts. Let the journey begin !!!

 

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. It's kinda cool to see everyone react so well.

Plans are just to get it running at first. It will lean more towards kustom than resto, but who knows where the build path leads to?

 

congrats on the find... similar story on my 62 as well... and, like it's been said... hit up http://www.61-62cadillacs.com... TONS of good info, parts, and people...

 

Congrats man!!! Great car!!!!

 

I've been keeping up on your thread, and if I get it half as nice as yours, I will be good to go!

 

I recently purchased my '61 Cad De Ville a while back and I never expected such a magnificent car to be my first. Who would have thought? A '61 Cadillac a first!
Keep us updated on the great project!

 

you got no door handles , you gotta lean towards a kustom , haha ... great find & keep us updated...

 

Great car! 60 and 61 are my favorite Caddys. Got to love a car with fins on the top and on the bottom of the quarters!! Look forward to seeing what you do with it...

 

"the car is complete"

Those are the most important works. Cool deal.....

Brian