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Do you remember your Cadillac AHA! Moment

Started by 59-in-pieces, July 25, 2014, 07:23:31 PM

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59-in-pieces

I can't remember which came first.
My father buying a new 1959 Cadillac Coupe De Ville - powder blue bottom with a white top - or reading a MAD Magazine of the time #50, October 1959. where there was a mock Cadillac ad on the back cover.
The ad was a redraw of an actual Cadillac ad touting the 59 Coupe and its Fisher Body.
Many years later, I began buying Cadillacs to restore and my father's Cad and that Mad Magazine stuck with me.
I collect the advertising for 59 Cads, and I also found an original Mad Magazine with the 59 back cover.
I mounted them together as a reminder to myself of my Cadillac AHA! moment. (see photos)
If you have one, please share your Cadillac AHA! moment with us all - and photos.
Have fun
Steve B.
S. Butcher

Mike Baillargeon #15848

Back in the late 70s I walked into a classic car dealer and there sat a copper 1955 Cadillac Eldorado with that off white leather interior.

At that moment I swallowed the hook, line, sinker and the back of the boat.......It's been Cadillac ever since.

Mike
Mike
Baillargeon
#15848

Robert Kimberlin

#2
 Hello Steve
In 1981 my brother was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California and he needed a car. One of his friends he was serving with had an uncle that had a car for sale. It turned out to be a White 1968 Cadillac sedan Deville and boy was it beautiful. When my brother came home on leave my dad really fell in love with it and soon after he talked my brother into selling him the car. I was about 7 years old at the time and it wasn't long before I was interested in all things Cadillac.  8)

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

#3
Time: Summer evening 1969 or 1970, at dusk - the most deadly time of day for looking at black cars. 

Car-dealer father pulls into driveway with black '65 SdV fresh out of the recon shop. The raft of Cadillac equipment sealed the deal.

For this then-5 or 6 year old it was an epiphany from which he has never recovered. 

Never paid much attention, much less cared to own, non-Cadillacs after that. 
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

quadfins

For me, it was in the mid 1970's. Some friends of my parents arrived for a visit in their 1969 Eldorado. Red, with white vinyl roof and white leather interior. Those knife-edge tail lights just hooked me.

One day, the right one will come along.....

Jim
Jim Eccleston
1961 Coupe de Ville
BATILAC
Senior Crown
DeCou Driving Award x 4

936CD69

September of 1976, I had just turned 21. I had already had 3 new F*%#s and had the bug for a new car (more money than brains, and not a lot of either!) I had never liked Cadillacs up til then, my dream car was a 75-6 Mark IV. I went to the local GM dealer thinking about a new Buick Regal SR they had, but there it was in the front row.. the new 1977 Cadillac Coupe deVille, red with White Cabriolet top, white leather with red accents...it was love at first sight but way out of my price range.

Ended up ordering a new 77 Tbird, waited 5 months for it, and it was the BIGGEST POS F*** had ever produced. In retrospect, with what I lost trading the POS off, I probably could have bought the Caddy......

Craig Brillhart CLC# 26217
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Carmine Red White Top-SOLD!
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Triple Black
CLCMRC Benefactor #302

Chris Conklin

For me it was pretty much hereditary. My father and Grandmother always owned Cadillacs, dad still does. The epiphany car was his black over white CDV convertible, would have been around 1969. It is why I bought a '66 Eldorado black over white.
Chris Conklin

hearn

#7
In 1952, (as I learned later since I was six at the time) my Grandfather took me car shopping with him and claimed that he had bought what I picked out which was a black Cadillac 4 door sedan with grey cloth upholstery.  The car really was something at the time but in reality, I feel sure I would have picked a convertible.

Bill Balkie 24172

#8
Hello,
  What a great topic . That feeling  you get when you are connected to a car.  Either you felt it sometime in your life or you did not.  I can remember my family went on a drive and  we stopped in to visit Reedmen auto Center in Langhorn PA. in the late 1950's. We were in our 1956 Chevy Station Wagon. I was only 7 years old.  I remember My Dad spotted a 1956 Cadillac Series 62  White with red interior. The whole Family fell in love with that car and we drove it home the same day. I can remember my Dad making a comment about the steering wheel. Telling my Mom the car has a feel like no other car. I was in the back seat  with my brother and sister, I was hoping the drive home would last forever. I  remember playing  with the windows, burnt myself with the cigarette lighter in back seat. When we got home I played with the electric seats, power antenna and the wonder bar radio. The really cool thing was the gas fill in the tail light. There was this mysterious eye on the dash  that looked like the car had a mind of it's own. ( kinda scared me did not play with that ) I truly felt the car was mine. I was hooked for life. Our neighbor Jack came out and gave the car a good look over and spotted 3 what looked like bullet holes on the lower sheet metal between the fender skirt and the rear bumper. My Dad passed away in 2007. My Brother and I visited Jack our old neighbor  last Christmas and we still laughed about the bullet holes in the back of the old Cadillac. Not long after My Dad purchased the 1956 Caddy I spotted a 1957 Cadillac  I knew it was a Cadillac but there was something about the car  I did not recognize. Something was very strange. It was white with a white convertible top but the back end that looked like something from outer space. This car burnt an impression in my young mind. I told my Dad about the car and he said it must of been the Eldorado Biarritz. I was on the look out hoping to see another. I can not remember seeing another 1957 Eldorado ever. Until I was older, and at that time could not afford one because of other family priorities. I have had a 1968 Eldorado, 70 Coupe Deville, 77 Coupe Deville, 85 Sedan as family cars but still I was on the lookout for the 57 Eldorado. In 2005 I had the opportunity to purchase a 1957 Eldorado Seville ( Hardtop ) and was thrilled to own it . It was a learning Experience for me.  I learned so much about the 57 Cadillac from that car over a period of 5 years. I continued to search for the Biarritz almost every day on ebay and Hemmings. I spotted a White 1957 Biarritz on Hemmings within the first couple days of Print , with a white convertible top and blue interior, just like the one I spotted some 50 years ago. It was a 3 hour drive to  Great Falls Virginia and I purchased it the next day. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I found out that I was a one car guy, and sold the Seville to a guy in Colorado. I have made a full circle and feel complete in my own little car world. The Biarritz turned out to be a great dependable car, not a show car or a trailer Queen...but a car that shows well is dependable and is totally complete. Fun to drive the grand children around town and take to local shows and cruises. I maintain the car myself for the most part and as a result have met some of the nicest people that you can imagine. I have to tell you, my dad is with me every time I drive the car.

  Bill Balkie




Bill Balkie
1970 Coupe DeVille
2009 CTS

76eldo

Bill,

Very nice.  I have been to Reedman's many times.  Still live near there?

My first Cadillac moment was when my dad ordered and received a new 1964 Sedan DeVille, gold metallic with a Palomino "Eldorado" interior.  He called it an Eldorado interior due to the perforated leather inserts.  He ordered it with every option and a set of puncture proof General Dual 90's with a triple stripe whitewall.

We took a month log motor trip from Phila to the west coast and back that summer in the Caddy.  I was only 7 but remember many things about the trip.  I am glad he got to experience buying a new Cadillac of his dreams.  This was his last car.  Sadly in the fall of 1967 he died after suffering from the effects of a heart attack.

I have been a Cadillac fan since I first laid eyes on that car in '64.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373

77 Coupe Deville. Red with white leather and a white landau top.
My grandparents had been Cadillac people.  Growing up, we were never able to get one. In 77 my grandparents got the CDV but they lived far away and I was not able to see it right away.  When I saw it, I fell in love.
We have a 70 now that just happens to be the same red with a white top.  Black interior tho so not quite the same.

As for my AHA moment---- when my wife reluctantly said, "OK"!!

Jeff
Jeff Rosansky
CLC #28373
1970 Coupe DeVille (Big Red)
1955 Series 62 (Baby Blue)
Dad's new 1979 Coupe DeVille

Jim Stamper


     In October 1967 I walked into a Caterpilar dealership in Eureka, California. There on the floor was a 1931 V-8 sedan, all original. I had to have it and came back so often they finally agreed to sell it to me. I was 24 and drove that car everywhere I went. The only problem was the filter in an old electric fuel pump it had would clog up. I would pull over, unscrew the bottom, knock the crud out and away I would go again. A great car.

     I have never owned a post war Cadillac, though the flat head and 49-51 sedanettes fascinate me, one of those I would like.

                  Jim Stamper;   CLC#13470

MY 59

Being from Perth Western Australia, even though we have some great Australian cars, when I layed my eyes on the finned American beauties of the late fifties as a kid I could barely believe they were actual cars! Not only that, but I WANTED ONE! The 59 hooked me in particular , and the fact that the ghostbusters drove one just reinforced my awe of Cadillac.
So after always wanting one but not really ever thinking I would I stumbled across a 59 sedan deville in white (the Colour I wanted) and she was mine :) - I am 37 and have had her for almost 2 years and still smile when I open the garage door and am either greeted by that huge front end or the rediculous rear fins :) should have bought one 10 years ago!
I really appreciate all older cars, such class, style and thought were put into their appearance, but man o man these Cadillacs are in a league of their own
David Bone :)

1959 Cadillac Sedan Deville
1967 (aussie) ZA ford Fairlane

kav

I always loved the 59 , with its beautiful fins and styling . But was never a fan of Australian or American machinery . Sorry to every one . I had been looking at collector cars for about 15 years and at this time was looking at a 49 - 51 Buick straight eight . When on ebay this thing appeared . I'd never seen one before . I had to have it . I convinced myself that I was going to change my line of business and buy a fleet of these  . 2 days after winning the auction on ebay , with no way to finance it , after agreeing to buy it sight unseen , while showing my friends what I had bought at a 40th birthday party . Ooooh dear . Atrial fibrillation , resulting in mild heart attack while in the cardiac ward . I still had to have it . It still gives me heart flutters , especially after spending about 40 hours so far , polishing her to an unbelievable finish . That's my AHA moment . Is AHA one of those strange new type twacefook abbreviations  or is it like I think it is .OMG or holy snappin duckshit .
1953 series 62
nicknamed  SERENA

Chris Cummings

Steve,

What a great idea for a thread!

I was in the eighth grade in the Spring of 1966, and my brother was in seventh.  One afternoon, my brother arranged a ride home from school for us with his friend John Cline’s mother driving.  When the car arrived, I opened the door and climbed into the back seat of a 1963 frost gold Sedan de Ville.  Just the left rear quarter of the car and the rear door were enough to arrest my attention and amaze me.  The way the jewel-like red lens fit neatly into the tip of the fin.  The way the brocade cloth of the door panel was finished around the edges and the way everything aligned perfectly and whispered “Elegance” in a way that was unmistakeable, but unobtrusive.  At the end of the ride, I thanked Mrs. Cline for her consideration.  I don’t remember what that kind lady looked like, but that car is etched in my memory.

My family had always had utilitarian vehicles (at that time, there was a 1965 Dodge Polara station wagon, and a 1962 Chevrolet Impala four-door sedan).  What I saw and experienced with Mrs. Cline's Cadillac was an order of magnitude different from what I knew as "car."  I took to haunting the local Cadillac dealer and assorted used car lots so I could investigate, sit in, and fiddle with these fascinating automobiles.  The Cadillac dealer's back lot frequently featured limousines, ambulances and other specialized variations that piqued my curiosity even more.  Not long after the initial encounter with that '63 Sedan de Ville, I discovered and fell in love with the pre-WWII Cadillacs, especially those of the early 1930s.  Over the years I've had two 1941s, a 1931 V-8 convertible coupe, and the 1930 V-16 limousine that graces my garage today.  But the Cadillacs of the 1960s will always take me back to that sense of discovery and revelation when a door opened into another world.


jock82

I cannot remember the exact moment, it seems as though I have always liked Cadillacs.  From the moment I was able to read a car magazine  I had always gone to the car lots to look at the Cadillacs.  I remember my first ride in a Cadillac, it was a 1957 Fleetwood 60 Special with air-conditioning.  We had Fords, Oldsmobiles, and then Buicks.  Finally in 1970 I was able to buy my first car, it was a brand new 1970 Coupe de Ville.  I have never owned anything else with the exception of a 1976 Olds 98.  I have 3 Cadillacs now,  a 1989 Sedan de Ville, a 1994 Concours, and a 2009 DTS.  I hope to one day own one from the 1960's , I would really like to have a 1967 de Ville or Fleetwood.

Guy Moore CLC 12650
1989 Sedan de Ville
1994 Concours
2009 DTS'
1976 Olds 98 Regency

Guy Moore CLC# 12650

Mr cadillac

I remember it well. My beloved Aunt Elsie always had Cadillac's the only one in the family I remember her 65 deville conv, as well as her 72 sedan de ville. However I was in love instantly in the fall of 76 I was 10yrs old and we went down to the local Cadillac dealer and their on the turn style with the lights on it was the triple white 77 coupe de ville with blue accents and a big retractable sun roof. I was hooked and made her promise me she would consider me 1st when it came time to sell it. When I was 17 it finally became mine. I have had it 30 glorious years.   Norman J
Norman Jenney......Mr Cadillac

Quentin Hall

1985. I was 19 and looking in the Saturday classifieds for a 57 Chevy. No Chevs but there was a 57 Cadillac Sedan De Ville ?????. Didn't even know what one looked like but got my Dad to race his clapped out BMW at 100 mph up to Caboolture (where Keith Urban grew up). There it sat on a circular driveway like something from outer space. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  The owner seemed so much older and wiser and  mature . . . I realise now he was only in his mid twenties.
       Struck a deal for $3500 (Had to borrow $3000 from Dad). After we shook hands I said "How could you sell a car like this?" He quietly took me to his other garage and opened it up and there sat a forlorn 57 Biarritz that he'd paid all of $500 for.
        I coughed and spluttered and could not believe my eyes.
       "Royce" and I are still good mates.  Occasionally, Royce drops by to say hello and we laugh and cry about the diabolical trials and tribulations these bloody cars have impacted on our lives.
        Wouldn't trade a minute of it.
       
       
53 Eldo #319
53 Eldo #412.
53 Eldo #433
57 Biarritz
53 series 62 conv
39 Sixty Special Custom
57 Biarritz

RobertM

I remember sitting in the back of my dad's car at probably 6 or 7 years old, looking for rocket ship fins.  I had no idea at the time that it was Cadillacs I was looking for, but I did know that it was the coolest thing out there on the road. 

In the 60's through the early '80s, my father worked at the Chrysler plant in Hamtramck, Detroit, Michigan, so we only spoke Mopar at home.  For all my adult life I thought I only liked Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge.

A few years ago, I started looking for a classic car for myself, but nothing seemed to appeal to me the way I expected.  Surfing through pages of Craig's list ads one day, a '54 Caddy appeared before me.  The chrome, the dagmars, that classic Caddy smile, and of course those fins.  At that moment I remembered for the first time in almost 40 years the memory of searching for those fins in my youth.  That memory was a pretty serious A-ha moment for me.  I guess I've always been a Caddy guy!  I bought that '54 the next day, and have been as happy as can be that i did.
Bob Melms

1954 60 Special
1995 Sedan Deville
1999 Eldorado (RIP 2018)
Connecticut, USA

gmurph

I think my AHA moment was in 1966 when I was in kindergarten. I got to spend the day with my dad (a rare treat for me) and he was having a 1955 engine with dual quads dropped into his 1952 CDV convertible. I was just a kid and didn't really know the significance of it then, but I know that that was probably the day the Cadillacs became magical for me. My mom and dad did the interior for that car - after that work and keeping cars running made the car less interesting to my dad and he never finished it. I regret that I didn't tell him I wanted it, he virtually gave it away back in the 90's.

My 41 60S was purchased by him in 1964 as a project - 50 years later it is still waiting! My 72 CDV was owned by a close friend of the family and my dad bought it when she traded it in for an '80 Toronado. I remember vividly riding in the car when it was new and being fascinated by all of the 'technology'.

For me, Cadillacs provided a common bond for me with my dad and even with him gone, continues to do so today.
Greg Murphy CLC#24416

1941 60S
1952 Dodge B3F
1972 Coupe de Ville