Hey Guys- I just listed my '77 Vette for sale and I want to get into a vintage Caddy. I'm looking for a cool cruiser for here around town. Nothing wild just a reliable fun to drive car with maybe aftermarket wheels, bags and wide white walls. Of course I love the 50's but I doubt I get into one in my price range. I love the entire line of 1960's Devilles and they seem much more affordable. Which of the Cadillac's in which era have the best feature set for the best price. What common problems should I look for? As always pic's make a thread so post em up with suggestions. Thanks Guys.
What's your price range? Cadillac parts get damn expensive quickly if your buying alott. I'd say your looking at at least 15 k for something like you explained in decent shape,more if the motor or anything have been rebuild. Motor rebuilds are an easy 4k plus trans 2 k plus,if you can find a knowledgeable person on themm in your aera. Please don't stick a sbc or 400 in one to save money. If you can't afford a Cadillac,buy a chevy or ford.
i sold my 68 for 9k...had 41k orginal miles and ran/ drove great. was bagged and pinstipped nothing fancy. 68 is the 1st year of the 472 and disk brakes were available ... suspension wise 65-70 ( i beleive) are the same lower 60s are the same and similar to the x frame chebbies.
Shop around...you can buy a decent '60's Cad for around 9K (4-door)...or in the '50's for that price as well. There was a decent '56 on the HAMB classifieds not too long ago for less than 8. Of course, you might need that other grand to have it shipped...I really don't think there would be any rust free examples where you are for that price...like I said, shop around. Look for something in the West and SW states...and have it shipped. R-
I was hoping to get into a mostly stock car and do the bags myself, if someone who wasnt a moron did the work I'd consider buying one already done. I'd also take one that needed paint as I've been wanting to try spraying my own for a while. It seems like I've seen really good deals on the mid 60's cars but maybe they were basket cases in person. I've been thinking I'd have to buy out west and have shipped here (or fly out and drive it home) to get a nice rust free one. Some old ladies garage kept car is going to cost a fortune on the east coast I think.
i only meant similar in terms of bagging them and such.... the front is a upper and lower a-arm and the back is a lower trailing arm ( different locating devices) suppose i coulda been more clear
This is something I would hope to turn the car into, although I'd like it to sit an inch or so lower, I believe this one is stock..... Clearly I couldnt buy one like that, but I would like to get a nice clean start. I was checking out the for sale pages and saw three or four in my price range that were pretty nice cars. Seems doable.
It's going to be a lot like my Lincoln... a needy one can get very spendy very quickly. IMO the bang for the buck cars are the 61-62s, and I have seen decent drivers for $10-15k. The trick is that they can be full of electromechanical doo dads that are complex and pricey to fix. It's a car where a true project with major needs can break you financially... problem is, there's lots of em out there that look pretty and need everything.
If you would rather have a 50's Cadillac the '56 in my avatar is currently on Ebay. It's all stock. No bags or aftermarket wheels but it does have wide whites.
I vote a '62 4-door. When me a buddy graduated from Tech back in the late 80's, I convinced him he needed to ditch his mom's hand me down Saab crap car and get a cool old Cadillac so we could drive it across country. We found a really sweet mint green bone stock '62 4-door in Roanoke for $4K (if I recall properly). It was nice. He got it and we drove it down to the FL Keys to work some construction for the summer. The car ran pretty well, but the water pump leaked a little and if you slammed on the brakes it pulled heavy to the left. No problem, just keep tabs on the water and don't brake too hard, right? I didn't see much problem with the situation. Towards the end of the summer, we headed back up to VA to pack up some stuff and just drive across country and see some stuff. I went back to my house to get ready and while there I get this call that he sold off the Cadillac and was going to buy a used Landcruiser instead. I said 'You've got to be f'ng kidding me, are you freak'n serious?' or something like that. Turns out after they tried to replace the pump and had trouble finding a replacement, his mother decided the Cadillac was a deathtrap and couldn't be trusted to drive across country and he was going to need something more reliable. So, he sold the car on the cheap to a neighbor and went and bought the Landcruiser. This all happened in the span of just a couple of days. I was pretty bummed, but it wasn't my car or my money, so I didn't have any say in it. The trip was cool and the Landcruiser served us well. We made it out to CA and I ran out of cash and never made it back. I still wish we had done the trip in the Cadillac though. Track down that mint green '62 4-door. Last I know (20+ years ago), it was sold to that neighbor in Narrows. Might still be around and needing a new home. If not, find another and you'll likely have one of the sweetest rides in Blacksburg. Not that many cool old cars in Blacksburg unless that has changed since I was there.
Cadillacs originally belonged to rich people who had a place inside to store them, and could afford to keep things fixed as needed. that makes it easier to find a nice original. that is what I would look for.
Picked up this Sedanette a few years ago just searching through Craigslist ads. $2500.00 seemed like a fair deal and it was perfect for what we had planned for it. I'm sure you can still find some good deals out there. Even more so now with money being tight for a lot of folks. Best of luck! James
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