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What's wrong with this Cadillac?

Started by Ken Perry, May 25, 2014, 03:29:07 PM

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Ken Perry

The blown big block Chevy sticking thru the hood,,,OK that's one thing,but look closer what else is wrong??? This was at the West Coast Kustoms show yesterday! The man that built it,Henry Lopez,that I was lucky enough to meet a few times, passed away from Cancer,the man that ownes it now, was raised by Henry Lopez and is keeping this car in rememberance of Henry  and it is agreed it will be passed to his sons and stay in the family! Nice to hear!      Ken Perry
Cadillac Ken

quadfins

Agreed, but specifically, it is a '61 body with a '62 roof.

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

quadfins

Quote from: 49er on May 25, 2014, 04:01:13 PM
Gee, your right Jim, I didn't notice that


Art, the rest of the horror was too distracting...

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

Ken Perry

The top is what I was going for!!! It is a Hot Rod Cadillac,I know some only like stock Cadillacs or one vintage,but some like Cadillacs stock and custom! I prefer to see a custom made from a beat or trashed old car not from a nice original !!! I believe any old Cadillac saved is good ! I go as far as finding Cadillacs that have been parted for the easy money and piece them back together,some to be stock and some to be custom. 8) Ken Perry
Cadillac Ken

quadfins

I wonder, why do the Kustomizers use Chevy engines so frequently? I would think that a Cadillac 472 or 500 would produce plenty of power. Is there some parts availability issue?

Ken, Santa Maria is about 15 minutes south of where my parents live. Too bad this show was not in the summer, when I typically visit them, or I would have been tempted to go. Where, specifically, was it held?

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

Ken Perry

The show is held at the Fair Grounds in Santa Maria. The reason Most people go with a Chevy engine is Price,they make horse power easy and thats what people know. But also 472-500 Cad engines don't fit the cars as well. The Chevy engines fit well and are everywhere. The old Cad transmisions scare people also. I tell people look in old Hot Rods and you will see 49-62 Cadillac engines,they are a very good engine and make good power.    I myself like a Cadillac to sit a little lower,but don't like air bags and see no reason a car needs to lay on the ground ! And some of the work people do to these cars is unsafe! My son and I went to a custom car shop and they were chopping the top on a very nice original 60 Coupe deVille,we were both sickened by it,for someone to take such a nice original car and do that! Alot of Cadillacs are being ruined by the air bag crowd,the cars are getting a lot of attention,so they are worth more. Stock Cadillacs are getting harder to find and I believe there will always be a reverance for a good well kept stock car,by car guys. I am very happy to see that Henrys old Cadillac is being respected and kept by the people that knew him! It's a nice Hot Rod Cadillac!              Ken Perry   
Cadillac Ken

The Tassie Devil(le)

Quote from: Ken Perry on May 25, 2014, 03:29:07 PM
The blown big block Chevy sticking thru the hood,,,  Ken Perry   
Actually, it is only a Blower sticking through the hood.   The Engine cannot be seen or identified.  ;) ;)

Not trying to create a super storm, but what about all the "Customs" that the Factory created?   Why are they held in such a high regard against the lowly person that decides he, or she, wants something different.

But, I do agree that some "creations" are different.

As for fitting different engines, sometimes, we have to use what we have access to, and can afford.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

I disagree that a custom is worth more than high-grade, unrestored original.

Although there may be the odd exception here or there, very few customs, if any, will maintain their worth over the long term.

A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

bcroe

Quote from: 49erBruce, to be honest, I'd push them over a cliff. Almost all of them
were for conversation , not consumption. They were what they were and people love
them. That's ok. They don't interest me.

No "never actually driven" cars for me.  I am interested in cars that can be driven, A LOT. 
I do nothing to the body, except side running lights on my 62.  If the car looks stock, you
would approve?  Under the hood of my cars looks stock, even the original fuel injection. 
That is until you realize its an earlier/bigger engine, trans, sway bars, springs, exhaust,
and radiator.  Bruce Roe

Quentin Hall

Each to their own. I used to be quite militant as well and would sneer at anything but original. As I  get a bit older I figure that this crazy throw away world is not waiting for anybody. It's like arguing classical music as superior to jazz is to country, is to hip hop.....it's apples and oranges....and  a banana. I'm not saying destroy something cos you can, but there are kids starving in some countries. Reality check. Not everyone has the capacity to keep an old car 100% correct. Sure, there are some ugly abominations out there, but the alternative is that they go to the crusher, and we look at sales brochures.
53 Eldo #319
53 Eldo #412.
53 Eldo #433
57 Biarritz
53 series 62 conv
39 Sixty Special Custom
57 Biarritz

Ken Perry

Maybe I should have wrote (hey guys,look a 62 top on a 61)!!! The man that did it is already dead,He did a nice job on it and he was a nice man,how bout we respect his Hot Rod Cadillac?! And it does have a 454 Chevy in it Mr Devil :) and the lower gears out of a LIMO,I sold them to him.I'm just guessing,but I bet a ride in this car would not be borring !!! If you didn't know that top didn't belong you would never know it had been changed. What if they used the same top for 61 and 62??? All 61 coupes might have looked like that ???Cadillac back then ran tops for 2 years.  I post pictures for people to enjoy that might want to see them!!! I know I enjoy a lot of pictures people post on the CLC ! Hope to see a lot more!  And yes some of us have to build what we can with what we have ! 8)           Ken Perry
Cadillac Ken

Smedly

I think it is cool. I would rather see it rodded than crushed. the fact that the roof is of a different year tells me that maybe this was built from several cars and maybe none of them were worth fixing. no matter how you look at it ,it is a caddy and it is still on the road.
Sheldon Hay
When a Doctor "saves a Life" it does not necessarily mean that that life will ever be the same as it was, but he still saved it. My 46 may not be as it was but it is still alive.
Sheldon Hay

INTMD8

As for the style of the car pictured, I'm not so much a fan.

As for the value of a car modified or original, it depends.

I have personally, along with the shop I work for, built several resto-mods.  These appear somewhat original as there are no body modifications. Original exteriors/interiors. Slightly larger wheels in the original design, late model fuel injected engine and upgraded brakes and suspension.

These particular cars are worth much more than they would be in original form. This isn't always the case of course. Has to be done right  ;)

Here are a few examples for those interested-

http://www.rkmotorscharlotte.com/sales/inventory/active/1969-Ford-Mustang-Boss-302/134737#!/

http://transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=62177.0

http://www.carcraft.com/featuredvehicles/ccrp_1103_jim_morans_1970_chevy_chevelle/

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

#13
Resto-mods are in a very different category from all-out modified.

There are a lot of variables when it comes to the question of value being affected by modification or "resto-modification" - probably most importantly the type of car being discussed.

For example, it would be difficult to imagine a resto-modded V-16 being worth more than the same V-16 restored to original concours standard. On the other hand, a well executed resto-modded muscle car may very likely have a market equally robust as that for its original counterpart.

I once saw an all original, totally unrestored 1969 Z-28 Camaro with 11,000 mi sold for $200K at BJ Scottsdale. Whether the same in an exquisitely finished resto modded version would have fetched more is something I cannot answer.

Still, I would think near perfect preserved in a muscle type car virtually unduplicatable; whereas modified almost always is... 
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

INTMD8

Type of car is certainly important but level of execution more so in my opinion.  Of course the car has to be desirable to start. Would be hard to put 200k into a Cimarron  :)

If you had an original V16 body, built a custom chassis, sent Katech a 250k check to duplicate the "Sixteen" engine and put it all together with the best parts and craftsmanship you would have quite a car though I'm not sure what it would be worth. Engine cost is kind of a deal breaker on that one.

The Roadster Shop is doing something similar with a replica Delahaye

Quentin Hall

The two highest prices for a Cadillac that I have ever seen were for the V16  roadster and Phaeton, built built by Fran Roxas. Both cars were customised from sedans into cars that Cadillac offered in 1934 but never built. They went for $1mil each.
53 Eldo #319
53 Eldo #412.
53 Eldo #433
57 Biarritz
53 series 62 conv
39 Sixty Special Custom
57 Biarritz

Blade

The problem with most customs today they're basically all the same: low rider, chopped top, chevy 350, a blower ... etc. Nothing really new, nothing really special. Most customizing shops put their products out in a few weeks to keep cost down and to rake in a profit, and to do this to use what is already proven and not experimenting with anything drastically new that could possibly fail. The old coach builders and customizers on the other hand put a lot more time and thought into a car and some spent months or even a year before completions. One fine example is this custom 1948 Series 62 Convertible, I believe this is a qulity custom work worth admiring, something that hardly even resemble the original car yet a beautiful art creation.


The Tassie Devil(le)

The above highlights the fact that people are very selective with their opinions.

Sure, it is a beautiful vehicle, but to others, it is a butchered 1948 Cadillac Convertible.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Jon Riley #13576

Quote from: Quentin Hall on May 26, 2014, 04:50:07 PM
The two highest prices for a Cadillac that I have ever seen were for the V16  roadster and Phaeton, built built by Fran Roxas. Both cars were customised from sedans into cars that Cadillac offered in 1934 but never built. They went for $1mil each.

The 1930 Cadillac V16 All Weather Phaeton by Murphy, owned by John McMullan sold for  $1,056,000 in 2007.   About 50,000 dollars more than the 1934 Roadster Fran Roxas reproduction, which sold in 2012 ( 1934 roadster : $1,001,000; 1937 pheaton: $962,500).






Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

The Fran Roxas vehicles were painstakingly & meticulously crafted through research of original GM blueprints of the two body styles by one of the world's foremost & renown restoration specialists - to original specification.

Again, another unique situation - very unique.

A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute