1970 Cadillac 35 mm "microfilm" of manuals, etc.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

I am calling it microfilm since I don't remember exactly what it is called.  In 1977 I got my 70 CdV and wanted a manual. I went to Helm, the original printer and they said that they were out of print and ALL they could give me was a 35 mm film for the then popular document readers. The film contains all of the documentation they had on the 70 year, including owners manual, drivers manual, service manual, etc. These films are still used in places like libraries, so all the pages can be reproduced in hard copy directly from the film, making this a pretty rare bird.
I have taken a couple of pictures of the film, but my close up focus is not good enough to show the text clearly. It is clear.
I think a fair price for this is $500.00 plus the shipping. What do you think?
Greg Surfas

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Offers?

[79 Eldorado]

Greg,
The readers at the libraries are called microfiche readers. It's normally an individual image on an old computer card. I don't have a 1970 but in buying the microfiche from Helm does that mean you have the rights to print paper copies if you wanted?

I was wondering if we could convince the owner of the EFI "Blue book" (Bruce's name for it) to reprint it or make it available. I was thinking the best way to do that might be to buy the rights to it. The Seville org site with the trouble shooting trees is down and we should see if the information in the blue-book could be once again more readily available. I have one and they do appear on eBay. I think they were printed around 1977 as they reference 1976 and 1977 while the systems continued to 1979/80 in CA. The entire manual is only something like 1/4" thick so it's not a lot of pages but good for anyone with a 70's EFI system to have. Do you think Helm would have access to that or do you have any ideas seeing that you found the 1970 manual?

Scott

[J. Skelly]

Greg,

Since microfilm is archaic technology with zero demand to view the data in that manner, I would have to say it's worth substantially less than a printed copy of the Chassis Service Manual.

Scott,

Microfilm is on rolls, which is what Greg has pictured.  My local library still has microfilm and microfiche machines.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Many years ago, there was a film roll at GM Suisse, containing the listing from Cadillac vehicles imported for Switzerland and Italy during the fifties (GM Suisse was the distributor for cars destined to Italy). As that roll was destined to be destroyed, I took it. Finally, I gave it the the Cadillac museum. I have no idea if they still have it...

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

It has been a long time 40+ years, since I saw the complete film.  I'm going to take it to the library and see exactly what images it contains.
Greg Surfas

[Lexi]

Difficult to put a price on this as I currently have no comparables. As the information is available in print elsewhere, I imagine that a buyer would want this for its rarity and also for what it is. Printing it would probably be of little interest. Similar analogies exist in the book & media collecting world. So comparing it to the printed matter to estimate it's value is akin to comparing apples to oranges. If it was produced by the original publisher under the direction of GM as indicated, it is of some historical importance in my opinion. Should be a must for any completist of Cadillac literature and ephemera from that era. Still it would be nice to know how many of these were produced and may still be kicking around. Ultimately it will be worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Just my 2 cents. Clay/Lexi

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Clay,
At the time Helm said that this would be a "one off" production and they charged me over $100.00, which in today's money would be over $1,000.00 (my 1970 Coupe cost $5,100.00).  I too thought of it's collector value and as I said above, I'll take it to the library to see exactly what information besides the sales brochures, owner's manuals, service manuals, etc. it contains
Greg Surfas

[Lexi]

Greg we are on the same page with this as it is a very interesting item. Just tough to put a price on it. Keep us posted. Clay/Lexi

[79 Eldorado]

Greg,
I have zero expertise on this but I had the following observations:
1) Images almost seem to look like someone simple filmed every page of each manual; literally flipping the page and taking a single shot of each page. When I look at the example pages the quality would be less than desirable for actually printing an entire set of pages without seeing shadows etc. It would be an obvious print of less than perfect photos. I may be wrong but that's what my initial thought was when I saw the images.
2) I've seen enough documentaries where they say had we left the film in the archives any longer it would have been lost and not salvageable. So when I see something like this I think to myself to really preserve it the film needs to be in good shape and someone needs to use professional equipment to transfer/copy it to modern media.

That doesn't make any statement of historical value etc but if someone really wants to do the "right thing" to preserve it for more than to simply make the claim it's in my collection it should probably be donated to anyone willing and able to do it.

Just my 2 cents. I have no skin in the game as I don't own a 1970 but I do appreciate history and preserving the record. If transferring hasn't happened and the information may disappear forever maybe it's worth having something like a go-fund-me effort to save it. As diverse as the Cadillac community is perhaps there's someone who already has the equipment to transfer /preserve it.

Scott

[J. Skelly]

I wonder if the Cadillac-LaSalle Museum has a microfilm reader and printer?