Interesting Marilyn Monroe ( Maybe ) Cadillac on craiglist

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Hello ,
I am always courious of the celebrities  cars that come up for  sale .I know through my own experiences how hard it is to track the past owners of my own cars . One  would think there would be some legitimate documentation that goes along with the asking price ? what do the people out there in Cadillac land think ? i found this on craiglist .

  Bill


http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ctd/3548698129.html

[veesixteen]

I guess the first thing I would do is to ask the vendor if the car has been authenticated in any way, other than that type-written () desk calendar comment. It seems legit ... but who can tell for sure?

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

In the absence of a preponderance of evidence substantiating the claim, I tend to take such statements with a grain of salt. The way some people talk, you'd think the only person who ever owned a '59 Cadillac was Elvis. 

[Bill Balkie 24172]

 I agree .Elvis and the 59 Cadillac are iconic , however to the best of my knowledge  Elvis never owned a 1959 Cadillac .

  Bill

[srk1941]

Marilyn Monroe was known to have a black 1954 Cadillac Series 62 convertible (with black top and black interior), which she asked for in compensation for appearing on the Jack Benny Show in late 1953. She lived in New York in 1957, and she and Arthur Miller kept a black 1956 Thunderbird on the East Coast. When she returned to Los Angeles in 1961, she used a limousine service and didn't own a car. So this is not Marilyn's Cadillac. It is is suspicious to me that the attribution is typewritten on an old calendar page, as if that gives it some authenticity.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I remember a 1960 Eldorado Seville in a non-stock burnished-bronze color that had been attributed to MM. I think the car had documentation.

[Steve Passmore]

I would certainly want more proof than that if I was about to hand over 2 to 3 times its value.

[76eldo]

Why is someone in Wisconsin advertising on the Phila area Craig's list?  If you are looking for stupid, try in Phila? 

We are not all ignorant Eagles fans...

Brian

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Sometimes I think they just do that in order to net a larger target audience. Philly probably better than Bamboo WI or whatever it is. Unfortunately every time someone comes up with a program for searching CL nationally, CL shuts it down...

[Quentin Hall]

G'day Bill, Yann and gentlemen,
        Nice car but you may remember the trouble I got into the last time Bill and I started discussing Elvis and Marilyn and Cadillacs on the forum  . . . . 
         I'll just add that I do remember reading years ago that Marilyn was poorly paid in comparison to other leading actresses of her time. I think she was driving a Dodge at the time of her death, and had complained that she could never afford a new Cadillac. I should go and check via the net but it's early morn I need a coffee first.
         Regards. Q

[tozerco]

I couldn't bring myself to ever buy a car whose provenance was sworn to by someone called Lulu! Ain't ever gonna happen!

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Lulu must've been very thrifty as well as organized. She used an outdated calendar page for her typewritten note. And at the bold asking price of $6,500 (sometime shortly after 1962 presumably) she was also quite the businesswoman.

Sounds like the quintessential Cadillac owner of the day to me!

[C.R. Patton II]

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would require authentic original documentation with photographs of the actress. Provenance is vital.

[David Greenburg]

It may not be Marilyn's but it is one of a kind.  The only '57 Cadillac in the world with a turning radius of 24 feet if one believes the description.  I'd like to see a video of that!

[Barry]

I understand she had a 55 Lincoln Capri convertible that was still in storage on the movie lot at the time of her death. It had extended rear fenders done by Barris. At the time of her death , she did have a 61 white Fleetwood.

[R Schroeder]

Most of the pictures I have found were of her in the 54 black convertible.
I did find one of her in this Chrysler product.
Roy

[Barry]

The Chrysler was owned by the studio who used it for this photo shoot. There are a series of pics of her in this Chrysler. There is one photo I've seen of her riding on the boot of a 57 Cadillac convertible , but it appears to be white.

[gary griffin]

  Let me try to get this straight.

     Lulu Johnson supposedly typed a communication (Memo?) to Deer Joe and Bes: . She apparently could could not spell  "Dear" on a part of a calender  page (Who uses calender pages for communication and who types on them?

     If anybody buys this car based on this I want to meet him as I want to sell him my interest in the Brooklin Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. (It is legal to Quit Claim your interest in anything even if you have no interest in it).

      I love the car and I even believe that the price is probably in line with the market value of the car if it checks out to be in the represented condition.

      I would have a hard time buying from someone who believes this memo was adequate  provenience of Marilyn's previous ownership. Either he is a scammer or not too bright.

      I bought a 42 Cadillac (It is in my restoration blog) that was supposedly Bing Crosby's car but I certainly did not accept the "proof" as adding to the value of the car and it was better than the above tale but still nebulous in my mind.

[N Kahn]

My car was touted as having belonged to Walter Hagen but I have no definitive proof of that and it came with more documentation than with this car. I am currently doing a Michigan title search to find previous owners, it's not as easy as I thought.
Hemmings News posted on their blog that the car was owned by Walter Hagen but they shouldn't have.

[R Schroeder]

He is playing it safe , because he states that it is ; believed to have been owned by Marilyn Monroe .
I have seen pictures of the car at different shows and the sign out front says ; Marilyn Monroe's Cadillac. Maybe if you post it enough times at shows people will believe it.
I'm with the rest of you, in that I would need more proof than the calendar page.
Just how much more value does it add to the car anyway ?How many people would pay more for it, because a certain person owned it.
As far as trying to find previous owners, it is hard , because of the privacy laws now.
Roy