Customs Cadillac Tail Fins

i dig the rear bumper on it

 

Years ago I grafted a set of 55 fins onto a chopped 51 Buick 2 dr sedan. it really finished off the rear beautifully

 

Did you save any pictures of it? i thought for sure there would be more out there...

 

here's some fins.

 

Here's a pic I took of that car back 2004. The car was for sale as of last October since its owner Bob Page passed away. RIP

 

There was a three-headlighted chopped Ford shoebox custom with 3 of the early round-topped Caddy fins on it, one on each side and one in the middle of the deck lid, in the Nacogdoches TX area in the mid-late 70s. I've often wondered where it went. The thing had a dash filled with instrument and swicthes like a freaking C47.
It was a cover car on one of the late 50s Custom Rodder(?) mags.

 

i'd loved o have seen that lol

 

I have seen a photo of that car! It's in one of the custom car books (maybe the one about art??) and I think it's also in one of my early '50s Trend books. Wacky stuff.

 

that had to have been something to see

 

Car was called the Shark owned by Warren Dorrill....there are pics of it on riksters site in the 49-51 ford section...definitely an interesting creation

 

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Here's a link to the pics on Rik's site....Warren Dorrill The Shark Coupe
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I had a set of 58's for sale on here. Still have them if anyone cares.

Never seem to find any good way to use them.

 

That looks good!!

 

It was the cover car on the Nov '52 Motor Trend,and other shots of the interior were used in a later MT that featured custom interiors. Rik does have shots of the car on his site. Love it or hate it,the build quality was pretty good for the time. Warren Dorrill's nephew signed on the HAMB a few years ago talking about the car.He can tell killer stories about his uncle,and all the crazy shit he did back in the 50's.I talked to Warren once on the phone back in the mid 90's,but his health was failing,and he was amused that the car still existed,and told me the reason for all the switches on the dash. Ryan ran a story a while back on the show program for the Pan-Pacific car show,and the car was pictured in it.

It still exists. It's in my garage now,waiting its turn.

 

wow...interesting

 

It didn't have 3 headlights,but does have 3 fins. Later version of the car has a grille opening and a custom grille,Warren couldn't keep the flathead cool so he modified the front after it was in the mags. He ran a Merc crank,3-2s on a very early Edelbrock intake,Edelbrock heads,and a Vertex mag. The original motor was gone when I got it,but it had a barely running junkyard flattie in it. The best part was all the original speed stuff was still with the car.

 

some cool history to boot

 

Another bit of history,then I'll stop hijacking Munster's thread. Warren bought the car,called his wife and told her about it,she thought it was for her,rushed home,and he had already started cutting it up. His nephew,John and I have talked several times about the car,and he told me how upset she was about that,but that was typical of the way Warren did things. Remember the car was almost new at the time. He did ridiculous stuff to it. It's a 49,but with 50 handles,etc. After Warren saw the new 50 Fords,he converted it over.He still thought that was funny when I talked to him,nobody knew it was a 49.
It took 3 or 4 phone calls to reach Warren,going only on the hometown listed in Motor Trend...in 1952 ! A few more phone calls,plus contact with the guy who shot the yellow pics that were in Soup Up,and I had most of the history of the car.
Warren drove the car from Oklahoma to California,went to the Petersen offices,and told them he'd just arrived with their next cover car. They thought he was a blowhard country rube,and went out to look at it to humor him. And put it on the cover of MT.After he entered it in the big show,he told me all the California customizers tried to hire him,but he went back home instead.
His nephew,John,tells great Warren stories.. They always involve suspicious airplane activities in Mexico,and guns. Completely O/T to the HAMB,but some of the best true stories I've ever heard.
Warren was offended when I asked him about grafting Caddy fins to it,and set me straight. He did buy the lights and bezels,but made the sheetmetal fins himself.
Very unusual car,very unusual builder. The yellow pics on Riks site is how the front end looks now.
Thanks to Rik,Dave,and a few others for filling in the history of the car to me.

 

man thats just awesome i love hearing the stories that go with the cars and the builds, stuff like that is what makes coming to this board and working on my projects worth every bit of it... thanks for shareing

 

anything else???????

 

Long Live the FINS!!!! LOL.....man tough thread

 

maybe i should have put "fins on a shoe box" in the title..lol

 

Anyone have a pic of the rear end of a '60 Caddy as the bed of a truck?

I like that '57 Caddy as I'm not a fan of the regular '57 Caddy fins.

Any suggestions or photoshops for fins on later Cadillacs?

 

I saw Spock driving this on an episode of Star Trek.

 

No, that was Kazoo on the flintstones

 

any more door chops?

 

Not caddy, but 55 Desoto....something a little different.....my bucket of bolts....stan

 

thats cool

 

I have been thinking about 59 caddy fins on my 51 cad

 

Someone please do a photoshop if this!