Projects So I found this 1925 Cadillac Phaeton

Thinking about taking it on. If I decide not to I will share where it is. Has a Caddy flathead v8 in it. Were these factory pickups?

 

That is a Phaeton/touring car with the rear section of the body removed and a truck bed grafted in. Looks like a late 30s/early 40s Chevy truck bed. Cool! It would be a shame to see it restored to factory condition.

 

Nope, not factory. But that thing is SWEET !!!

 

I'm saying it was made into a truck in the late 30's or during WWII when you could get extra gas ration stamps and even tires for a "truck" that you couldn't get for a car. Also a lot of the big cars like that that had body damage in the rear got repurposed as trucks.
Look at the wood framework inside the body. They built a wood frame and tacked the sheet metal to that frame for the most part on those early GM rigs before about 1935/35. They fell apart after a few years of rough roads.
A yard I used to get a lot of parts from in Texas had a Packard about the same age that had a wrecker boom on it.

 

In my first post I originally said it was probably crazy overpriced but then I looked at the picture again and saw the actual asking price. I think it's worth every penny of that.

Mr48chev nailed it. You know all those Tudor and Fordor Model As cut down into trucks, and coupes with weird beds sticking out of the trunk openings? Same thing. Trucks were the thing to have during WW2. I think this thing is a cool historical footnote and that later Caddy V8 really sweetens the deal. It would REALLY be a shame if this truck got the rotisserie resto concourse points-car treatment from some gazillionaire who doesn't give a shit about real history.

 

A lot of large powerful cars got rebuilt as trucks when their used car value was almost nil. Cheaper than buying a new 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck. Lots of tow trucks started out that way. This one seems to have gotten truck wheels along the way in place of the original wooden spoke wheels.
No, Cadillac did not make trucks. They did make some ambulances and hearses as well as flower cars and limousines but no trucks.
A lot of cars were cut down into trucks and tractors during WW2 because new ones were not available. I don't think getting extra gas rations had anything to do with it, a farmer might get a certain ration of tractor gas whether he cut down his car or not.

 

On the other hand, one that's been restored to original is a pretty impressive vehicle: https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/6490-1925-cadillac-type-v63-phaeton-convertible/

 

Rusty O'Toole is correct, the gas rationing was determined by your occupation, not by what kind of vehicle you drove, the idea of making a car into a truck to get gas ration stamps is an old wives tale. Although it is true that trucks themselves were hard to obtain during WWII since few were being produced and they were earmarked only for certain buyers.

It's definitely neat looking, and relatively well done compared to some pickup conversions I've seen, but $4800 to me seems like a lot for what's there. Which is shocking as I'm usually the optimist in threads like this and I feel like everyone else lowballs value pricing.

 

I Posted that last month - it was at the Waco swap meet - surprised it hasn't sold yet - I'd jump on it if I didn't have the few dozen or so I need to finish....

 

You think so? I have seen those Cadillac flatheads by themselves go for half that, non-running. I paid more than the asking price for this thing for my A coupe and people told me I got a decent deal.

I'm still trying to figure out how pricing for stuff works. Poking around auction listings it looks like mid-20s Cadillac doesn't command the prices I thought it did? But I've definitely seen the V8 engines go for big bucks.

 

I didn't want to say anything but I thought $4800 was way too high, like at least $4000 too high. I follow the AACA board (antique auto club of America) and they often show parts cars as good or better for less money.
Early Cadillacs like that one, are particularly hard to restore, the engines are complicated, hard to fix, and have certain parts made of cast white metal that deteriorate, swell up and crumble with age. The Johnson carburetors are a nightmare.

 

I would leave the outside as is and drop a nice v-8, brakes and go crusin. What fun that would be!

 

Run away from it. You will spend 10x getting the engine, trans and brakes for that car operational. You will spend 1/2 of the asking price looking for a replacement steering wheel.
Its cool to look at and would be great if the engine ran, but you'll wonder why you ever jumped into such a project.

 

I don't the know the value of vintage Cadillac's but that undercarriage is c-c-c-c-crusty ...

The asking price is a LOT higher than I'd be willing to spend.

 

hit it with a power washer.

i think it might be worth it if you got a lot of love, money and skills to pour into it.

 

I think the flaking paint and tattered spring gaiter make it look a lot worse than it is.

 

I'm not real up on the value of this era Cadillac V8, this is the multi-piece block engine much different than what was available in the late 30's and 40's. Perhaps those engines are very valuable, I'm not sure. I do have to wonder how good this one is, as it looks quite rusty in the engine bay, although that might just be outward appearance (plus it's in Texas I assume, where shit survives a lot better than it does up here in Wisconsin)

Seems to me it's the 1930's era Cadillacs that really command the big dollars, with these earlier models being less so. It is neat, I agree, I just have to wonder what it'd take to get that drivetrain rebuilt and functional, could easily be $20K in the engine and chassis before the body even gets touched. Does it have the front fenders? I would think those would be incredibly hard to find.

There is a really cool video around from the 1950's showing a farmer using a cut-down V16 Cadillac as a tractor pulling a hay wagon in a field. I think quite a few of these big luxury cars from that era met that fate.

 

I think it is the correct engine for 1925/1926. (OP says 1925 in the title, sign on the car says 1926) They did away with the primer cups with the introduction of the "new" V8 in 1928 models.

 

Find John-Boy Walton,, he should know bunches about these 'trucks' ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

What you have is a piece of history. WWII as has been said with the gas rationing turned many vehicles into what you need. New ones were not available. To restore as a concourse restoration would be cost prohibitive. But then aren't all projects? You never get your money back as a small backyard builder. Restore it as it sits. As a WWII converted truck. Put a Gas Ration stamp in the wind shield and have at it. Check out the engine and if too far gone replace it with another type engine. Straight 8 or big six.

 

Don't hit it too hard..

 

I have the correct taillight for a 25 caddy

 

I have a 1930 Cadillac V8 353 engine in my garage that might run as is, but I feel it would be best to carefully break it down and repair stuff as needed to make it run. When it comes to $750 for a starter, $700 for a rebuilt water pump, $375 for a distributor cap and rotor, it makes me wonder if it's worth it. And , at a weight of almost 900 lbs., would it make a good hot rod engine? I mean, cool points is one thing but at what cost?

 

I doubt you could rebuild that engine for only $20,000. Poured babbitt bearings for example cost $200 to $400 each and there are 11 of them. Pistons, valves, timing chain, gaskets etc either not available or must be hand made.
You might do an engine swap and build a Beverly Hillbillies style vehicle. But it's not worth $4800 for that.

 

Heck - get a latter flathead Caddie engine like was said - they made them all the way up to 1947 or 48 - lots of restomod stuff going on and there should be a nice running original motor being pulled for a LStudiebaker 1 motor....and maybe that 40's rear end etc... as well.

 

The Cadillac ambulances, hearses, limousines and campers were most definitely trucks. Designed in a special truck area and built there.

 

I think the ambulances , Hearsts, flower car were cadillac conversions done by outside sources such as superior coachbuilder, s and s
Coachbuilders , Eagle etc .

 

Looks like a money pit to me.

 

If you are curious I asked the question on the AACA forum and got the following replies ( they don't think it's worth anything)https://forums.aaca.org/topic/36895...s-1926-cadillac/?tab=comments#comment-2275512

 

I'd put a late model Caddy 500 under the hood, later truck rear end, and build a wrecker out of it like in that pic of one towing a bus.
But I wouldn't pay nowhere near that price for it.