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special ordered Cadillac's

Started by g27g28, August 01, 2016, 04:56:36 PM

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g27g28

My parents ordered a new Mercury Cougar XR7 in 1979.  It was medium blue metallic but my mother didn't like the vinyl top colors offered but liked one that was available on the Marquis.  They were able to specify that color.  The cloth interiors that were available had two different types of material.  The middle of the seats had material that had a check pattern much like De ville d'elegance for 79.  My mother didn't like that either and they were able to specify that the seats be made with all the material being of the same cloth and just the plain velour type.  Looking back now I am amazed that they were able to personalize the car that much.  They did not pay any extra for these changes. Does anyone have any stories of Cadillac's being ordered with similar changes?  I know Cadillac would special paint cars but customers had to pay for that change.  I think Cadillac also did away with any factory variations in the mid to late 80s. 
1941 Series 62
1954 Coupe DeVille
1978 Phaeton
1980 Fleetwood

Barry M Wheeler #2189

Greg, I have a copy of the Special Features Book for 1941, and they didn't give away a dime! But, if you wanted it, they would do it for you. I would copy a few pages, but when Carl Steig duplicated it for me years ago, he made me promise not to.

I've seen a 1973 SDV that had navy piping on the seams of white leather seats that looked pretty sharp, and that is the "newest" Cadillac I've seen that had a special feature on it.

The 1941 60S built for Mr. Bradley, (I think he was the treasurer) had five pages of specs on the build sheets. There was no photo available of the car and so Tim "photo-shopped" an available standard photo for the article I did on this car a couple of years ago. We added four inches to the car and took some chrome off and I think added some as well.

Terry Wenger "built" his own SO 60S to what he wanted, and it turned out well. His article was last year, I think.
Barry M. Wheeler #2189


1981 Cadillac Seville
1991 Cadillac Seville

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Only SO I ever owned was a '64 CdV that was special ordered with smooth leather instead of normal perforated leather of 1964.

Car was white with red interior.
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

bill06447

Quote from: Barry M Wheeler #2189 on August 01, 2016, 05:31:05 PM
I would copy a few pages, but when Carl Steig duplicated it for me years ago, he made me promise not to.
What's that all about????

Ralph Messina CLC 4937

Greg,

The following are general guidelines relating to special order cars purchased through a dealer and assembled on the regular production line. If you had a brother-in law in the executive suite you could have a car modified in the experimental shop any way your heart desired â€" if you could pay the price. There were no set standards as they changed from year to year with ’41 being the year with the greatest number of options. Beginning post war and progressing into the late 70’s, the ability to special order became more restricted. This was the result of  automated processes and assembly techniques and the fact that GM could already sell every car they could make without the  hassle of SO handling.

Paint color choice was open to any prior year GM color as long as the color was still manufactured. In the late 50’s the number of prior year color choices diminished as the paints changed over to acrylic lacquer. Introducing and older formulation paint to the assembly line could create problems. The single car special order colors disappeared in late 70’s early 80’s as the paint formulations and methods were changed to urethane SS and BC/CC applied by automated methods.

Interiors could be ordered using prior year fabrics or fabric from a different model of the same year. The caveat was that whatever fabric you chose would be sewn and installed in the interior design of the model you purchased; - A de Ville could have Fleetwood fabric but sewn in the de Ville seat style. The exception here was bucket seats in the mid 60’s. You could order front buckets in a Fleetwood and they would be in the Fleetwood color leather but have the de Ville seat style. In the 70’s the ability to special order became more restricted this time due to extensive use of molded plastic panels. As a result most 70’s SO interiors consisted of non-standard combinations of fabric/leather interiors with different color carpet. â€"  tan leather with black carpeting. The other popular selection was contrasting welting (piping) on the seats.

I’ve long been interested in these special orders and over the years have discovered several and inspected them to verify the SO trim code:

White over Wedgewood blue ‘55 Fleetwood with white leather bolsters (NS)  and blue crest cloth pleats with white painted metal garnish moldings (NS)

Lt over Dk green ’55 CDV with full light and dark green leather (NS) interior, including the headliner (NS).

Black over silver ’57 Eldorado Seville with black & silver paisley cloth and black leather (NS) bolsters

Black ’57 Fleetwood with white leather bolsters and Eldorado black & silver paisley cloth (NS) inserts

My personal favorite: A friend of mine, Cadillac salesman in a large dealership, had a customer who wanted  an Apollo Yellow ’74 de Ville Elegance with a Tera Cotta vinyl roof and interior â€" the combination caused extreme nausea. Dealer management failed to convince the customer that there were much more attractive combinations. They finally placed the order but only after the customer agreed to a 100% deposit.

Today we have the choice of 3 different shades of black or  3 grays with charcoal or mushroom interior….
1966 Fleetwood Brougham-with a new caretaker http://bit.ly/1GCn8I4
1966 Eldorado-with a new caretaker  http://bit.ly/1OrxLoY
2018 GMC Yukon

Bob Hoffmann CLC#96

Quote from: bill06447 on August 01, 2016, 08:01:37 PM
What's that all about????
Barry,
Our good friend is gone...  Times change....  I have my own copy of the SF book & I've helped MANY people decipher their SO/SF questions. I suggest you do the same.
Bob
1968 Eldorado slick top ,white/red interior
2015 Holden Ute HSV Maloo red/black interior.
             
Too much fun is more than you can have.

Blade

My convertible would be one of these cars as it has the non-standard color combination. The original owner did not like the standard exterior/interior combinations Cadillac offered at the time therefore combined other colors. It is not an 'special order' (SO) but rather a 'special request' car. Owner had to pay a larger deposit and the car was delivered to a direct dealer rather than a standard Cadillac dealer.

Another person on this forum would be 'Quadfins' who also owns a similar special interior/exterior combo car, a 1961 Coupe DeVille. Unfortunately not heard the story on his car yet but hopefully he can share it with us in the near future.

Cheers!

Bob Hoffmann CLC#96

Tibor,
I'm curious. What year is the car?  What does it say on the data plate & what are the colors?? Pictures are good also.
Bob
1968 Eldorado slick top ,white/red interior
2015 Holden Ute HSV Maloo red/black interior.
             
Too much fun is more than you can have.

Ken Perry

I have a 59 series 62 coupe SO car,black with a sadle color leather interior.Ken Perry
Cadillac Ken

V63

I had a terra cotta 1974 Talisman with a 500cid engine, the federal engine emission label on the core support  listed in very small print "500 CID" and applicable to 1974 model year. The car was manufactured 3rd week of August 1973 and delivered to Chicago. The engine letter designation in the VIN however was for the 472? I seem to recollect it was an "R".

I do believe this car was new with the 500 CID , mostly because of the emission label supporting it.  I owned the car when it had no real value and doubt anyone would have gone to the extent of subtle changes necessary to fool anyone.

Painfully the car was stolen and destroyed...and but a memory now.


Blade

Quote from: Bob Hoffmann CLC#96 on August 02, 2016, 12:08:39 AM
Tibor,
I'm curious. What year is the car?  What does it say on the data plate & what are the colors?? Pictures are good also.
Bob
Bob:
The '59 with Kensington green exterior (paint 36) and red interior (trim 29).

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Quote from: V63 on August 02, 2016, 04:14:03 AM
I had a terra cotta 1974 Talisman with a 500cid engine, the federal engine emission label on the core support  listed in very small print "500 CID" and applicable to 1974 model year. The car was manufactured 3rd week of August 1973 and delivered to Chicago. The engine letter designation in the VIN however was for the 472? I seem to recollect it was an "R".

I do believe this car was new with the 500 CID , mostly because of the emission label supporting it.  I owned the car when it had no real value and doubt anyone would have gone to the extent of subtle changes necessary to fool anyone.

Painfully the car was stolen and destroyed...and but a memory now.

Chances are a worker slapped the wrong label on the rad support. 500 engine was Eldorado only in 1974.
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Quote from: Blade on August 02, 2016, 08:21:52 AM
Bob:
The '59 with Kensington green exterior (paint 36) and red interior (trim 29).

Did they order sleigh bells too?

Sorry Tibor, I just couldn't resist.  ;)

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

quadfins

As Tibor mentioned, my '61 has a special order color combination. The build sheet does not state SO. Rather, there is a check mark in the "special requirement" column on the build sheet, presumably to call attention to the code 98 Eldorado paint, in combination with the standard de Ville green Covington interior. Since it is a somewhat unusual color combination, I have assumed that the mark served to reassure the assembly line that, yes, this is correct.

Besides the build sheet, I have no other documentation or stories on who or why this combination was ordered. The car has gone through so many owners, that the pedigree has been lost.

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

Blade

Jim:
Thanks for the info. Since we met at the GN in 2015 (Milwaukee) and found out about your car I kept forgetting to ask if you knew the story on yours. My convertible was built in a similar manner with a special color combo request.

Eric:
We also call it "Santa's Caddy". I am trying to find someone from the original owners family but no luck yet, I too am curious why they picked these colors. Honestly though if you think this is the 50s it's not that much of a mystery. I did find some info on the dealer but does not exists anymore.

Blade

Quote from: Ken Perry on August 02, 2016, 12:58:10 AM
I have a 59 series 62 coupe SO car,black with a sadle color leather interior.Ken Perry
Ken:
Do you have the story on your car?

D.Smith

Yes,  Cadillac would build pretty much anything you wanted.  Providing that you put down a substantial deposit so they wouldn't get stuck with the car if you backed out of the deal.

Here is the oddest one I came across.   This guy added every option then wanted to two tone the interior.
There is an extra charge noted on the window sticker.

Scot Minesinger

At Cherry hill, NJ GN2008 there was a 1976 Eldorado convertible SO in Plumb Crazy Purple painted at the factory. 
Fairfax Station, VA  22039 (Washington DC Sub)
1970 Cadillac DeVille Convertible
1970 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1970 four door Convertible w/Cadillac Warranty

Barry M Wheeler #2189

Scot, is that the one the owner swore up and down it was all original and painted a Chrysler color? I crawled under the back of that car to see if it had been repainted.
Barry M. Wheeler #2189


1981 Cadillac Seville
1991 Cadillac Seville

V63

"Chances are a worker slapped the wrong label on the rad support. 500 engine was Eldorado only in 1974"

This engine discovery was by quite by accident. It was a fairly low mile car of 60k miles, but had sat for an extended period of time. The gas was bad and the owners son having inherited the car...ran it on the bad fuel. Valves were now stuck open and I ended up with the car when he lost interest in further investment.   

I took the heads to a head shop to have them repaired... I told them initially they were for a 472 engine. When I picked up the heads, they informed me they were actually 500 CID? 

Content the engine was original to the car...I was attempting to solve the mystery when I noticed the emission label supported the 500CID suggested.

The car ultimatly had a noticeable performance difference as I have had numerous 1974 models at the time as a particular favorite. Some as low as 8,000 actual miles.

Adding to the mystery was the engine code of the VIN. Over the years I have seen many anomalies in the automotive production industry. It impossible to explain with the scrutiny of today as they were just a consumable when built.


Chances are a worker slapped the wrong engine over the rad support.