Your first time.....in a Cadillac that is!

[Davidinhartford]

Let's all post a brief story of their first time in a Cadillac.       I'm sure we'll get some great reflections back!


It was 1983.  I was seventeen years old.   My first job was as a lot attendant at an Airport Valet service.   I had to park cars, plus wash and/or wax them if the customer wanted that done while they were away.   I clearly remember my first day on the job.

My boss said :"Go in the shop and bring out Mr.So-and-so's car.  He'll be here shortly".     I walked in the shop and there in the washbay was a brand shiny new, 1983 Sedan DeVille.   It was Dark blue with a matching top and cloth interior.    I opened the door and because the keys were in it, the chimes started chiming.     I had never heard that before.  Ordinary cars had those annoying buzzers.     The shop was real loud with mechanics using air tools, etc.    As I pulled the door shut, there was silence!    Wow!   I was impressed.     I nervously turned the key and slipped the car into gear.   It was huge in comparison to the 1977 Ford Maverick I drove into work that day.  LOL.

Yup.  I was hooked.   I knew then and there that I would buy a Cadillac sooner than later.   Not a new one, but we all know a late model used Cadillac is still more prestigious than a new anything else.

[RAMcGrew]

Ok, here is my story:  the first Cadillac I ever drove was in 1975, when my girlfriend and I went to her parent;s house after school which was just then starting to draw to a close for the year.  It was our senior year, and I drove a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sport.  When we drove up to her house in Trevose, PA (we both went to Neshaminy Sr. High in Langhorne, PA), I saw this gorgeous vision sitting in the driveway.
It was a brand, spanking new Sedan DeVille in Jennifer Blue, white padded top and a blue and white cord interior.  Well naturally we went in to see what was up.  Pat's 'Uncle', a family friend, was visiting her father, and when he heard that I loved Cadillacs, out of the blue, offered me the keys to take her around the block.  I was stunned!  Sure!  The keys were pristine, shiny and seemed almost magical.  We climbed into the rich interior and fired the car up.  What a moment!  I took her around the block, and after thanking her 'Uncle', took her out for something to eat and to dream of that long, low car with that wonderful new Cadillac smell.

[Dave Leger CLC #19256]

My first time was when I test drove the first Cadillac I ever bought.  It was a 1968 Eldorado.  Silver with a black vinyl top, and B&W houndstooth interior.  This would have been around 1978, so a 10 year old car.  I remember how huge that hood seemed.  How comfortable the seats were.  How quiet it was.  What a great radio it had (1st car I had with stereo).  I remember, after buying it, it running out of gas halfway out the lot!  After a quick fill up from the dealer I was off down the street, with Dancing Queen by Abba playing on the radio.   

[Dennis DiNorcia #19071]

It was in 1971 and i was 17 years old and only six months ago I bought my first car from my brother-in-law: a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner. I was so thrilled to be driving my own car especially a muscle car. Most of my friends were still "borrowing" their father's 4 door chevy or other family car. I was traveling along an avenue in Brooklyn when out of the corner of my eye to the left I see something that would change my driving preferences forever. It was on the other side of the avenue so I quickly made a u-turn and stopped at this Cadillac dealer. Lo and behold facing me in the front of the lot was a 1966 DeVille Convertible. It was gold with a black top and black interior and in absolutely mint condition. I figured I would ask the price which I'm sure I could not afford. Was I surprised when the salesman told me $2,200.00. Right there I said I had to have this car. I went home to break the news to my father that I wanted to sell the car that I just bought 6 months ago. He was livid. After some pleading, coaxing, and begging I convinced him that I would but the car if I could get a loan. The insurance was under his name so I would not get creamed on the rates, that's why I needed his OK. I sold my three year old Road Runner to my friend (who was driving his father's Chevy) for $900.00 and put that down on the Cadillac. I was making $80.00 a week and soon was driving a Cadillac with a $55.00 a month payment. What a joy to be cruising in a Cadillac Convertible, at 17 years old! This was before the age of teen driving BMW's and Mercedes like today. I felt like I was a rich man since Caddies were always looked upon as lawyers or doctors cars. From that time on, I never drove anything else but Caddies. I never was able to but a new one but always got great deals on used ones. I now drive a 1989 Sedan DeVille that I love and do not want to get rid of. And by the way, four years ago, I bought a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner like the one I used to own. Now I can enjoy the best of both worlds.

[veesixteen]

The year was 1956.  It was a sultry, summer day in July. The place:  Geneva, Switzerland, where we vacationed every summer from school in Scotland as my dad worked there for the European Office of the UN. 

My older brother (18) and I (17) were invited to a birthday party and were to be picked up in a car by an 18-year-old buddy, the son of the then US ambassador to the UN.  He turned up in his dad's 7-year-old 1949 Cadillac "Series 60 Special" !!!  I'll never forget the sumptuousness and comfort of the interior of that car.  In those days my dad, who rode a push-bike until he was 42, still drove his first car, a 22-year-old 1934 Chrysler CB6 convertible sedan [actually a much rarer car than the Cadillac, with only 450 units built compared to 11,400 for the Caddy - but he didn't know it at the time and got $40 for it in a later trade for new VW Beetle!].

I already had convinced myself, at Christmas the previous year, that my first car would be a Cadillac, like the 1956 Sedan de Ville I had admired in a National Geographic ad in Dec., 1955.  I had to wait 11 more years ...but I got my car! It was to be the first of a dozen or so Cadillacs I went on to own over the next 35 years !

BTW, my other fond memory of that birthday party was gyrating to Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", on a vinyl EP that our buddy's dad had brought back for his son from a trip to NY !

[Kevin M. Parkinson]

My first memory of riding in a Cadillac was in 1977.  I was in kindergarten.  School let out and I was heading out to get on the bus.  My grandmother was waiting for me in the hallway because no one was going to be at home to get me off the bus.  I was excited because I got to ride in her Mayfair Gray 1972 Sedan deVille.  I loved riding in that car and I especially liked sitting on the folded down armrest in the front seat.  That winter the car was parked in her garage with 19,000 miles on it and was not driven again until she sold it in 1984 for $800.  I used to go out and sit in the car once a week when we visited grandma.  Sadly, the car was sold to a relative who blew the motor while driving it hard the day he bought it.  I saw the car six months later and was disappointed to see dents in the left side and the rear end.  They also had a dog that scratched holes in the door panels which had been coated with duct tape.  So I guess that is a happy and a sad story.

Funny!  I ran the spell check and the word deVille came up as incorrect with only the following suggestions: defile, devalue, and devil.

[Steve Cole #22466]

My first memory would probably be as a young kid sitting behind the steering wheel of my dad's 1962 Series 62 Fontana Rose (or 1962 equiv name) convertible as it sat parked in our driveway. Unfortunately, I can only remember it in BAD condition since the rocker panels had rusted through, the top was a mix of duct tape & top, and the white leather interior looked like a dry lake bed. I now know that the car had suffered some sort of mechanical calamity that put it into an automotive cocoon. The fins and the styling of the interior have always lingered and that's what probably planted the seed which eventually sprouted into the purchase of my 1961 SDV.

My dad eventually faced the ultimatum from my mom of fix it or get rid of it. He did so for $500, a few years before I learned to drive.    It's been a little more painful now that I'm into it because I recently converted old family films to DVD and have some great footage of the car in its prime. I'd love to track it down if it still exists and try to get it back & restore it.

Anyways, I also remember the time when my sister discovered the remote trunk release button in the glovebox while driving on the freeway in the 1969 Coupe de Ville we had. 

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

My first ride in a Cadillac was after I purchased a 1941 6127 coupe. I didn't even drive it before I bought it. It had been used as an everyday car by my dad's boss (in 1958) until he purchased a 1953 sedan.
I had to get in on the passenger side as the door return spring was broken on the driver's side. It seemed as if second gear would "go on forever."
The speedometer was broken, so I found another unit in a junk yard. Managed to find door lock units. Taking off those pesky spring clips on the door handles was quite an experience. One flew clear across the garage. After I got the LH side fixed, the RH door spring broke as well, so I had it to do all over again.
Needed a new wiper motor, so I managed to get one out of a 60S. It worked, but the wipers parked "backwards."
Found some chrome inside window moldings, and found out the difference between the body shells. They were from a 62 coupe.
My dad's tools were of the quality that resided in one of those fancy oak tool cases, so I had pliers, screwdrivers, and a few wrenches. Sockets were an un-known till after I got back from the service in 1964.
Drove all over the state looking for parts. Even went to the Chicago area, staying at a friend's mom's home. Actually found some neat stuff there.
I didn't know you could purchase cars out of junk yards. The 60S referred to was actually driven into the yard. Evidently, the kids didn't want mom and dad's old car. It was nearly perfect, having the original papers in the glove box, and special Series 75 upholstery.
I've owned lots of different Cadillacs...We put a "39" on Gay's new '95 SDV grill badge..., but the first one was truly special. How many guys get to tell their wife-to-be on their first date, "The Cadillac is outside..."

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

The first time I remember riding in a Cadillac was in my aunt's med. blue 1960 six-window Sedan de Ville, followed by another aunt's gold 1963 62 four-window sedan and my godmother's gold 1964 Coupe de Ville.  I remember how beautiful they all were, how comfortable the seats were, and how smoothly they ran and rode.  My first time driving a Cadillac was in my mother's gold 1968 Hardtop Sedan de Ville with black vinyl top and black leather upholstery (identical to the one shown parked in front of a fancy hotel in one of the print ads for the 1968 models).  It was everything all the other Cadillacs I had ridden in were with the additional performance of the new 472 engine.  After I had gotten my learner's permit, I drove the entire way to Colorado and back from SE Texas on our summer vacation and it just seemed to flatten all the mountains (including Pike's Peak) despite its 5,000 pound weight. We averaged 15 MPG on the trip which didn't seem too bad at the time. A few months later, I took my driving test in it and flunked the parallel parking part, but the trooper gave me a second chance because the car was so big.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

My first time in a Cadillac, and I actually purchased it, was a '72 Eldorado, in 1985 here in Tasmania, that a Drug Dealer was selling to pay off his court fines.   It was a high-mileage car, but drove that smoothly, and the factory AM/FM/Cartridge Player was the best sound system that I had heard in a car.   It was fully optioned and included the Track-Master Brakes, which I didn't find out till rounding a corner one day in the wet, and having an oncoming, out-of-control car heading my way.   Avoided the impending crash, and made be find out more about the "Pulsating Pedal".

That car did mean front wheel burnouts, and it was fun getting to 100mph, setting the cruise control, then slowing down to 35mph, and hitting the "Resume" button.

Bruce.

[35-709]

My family had a Cadillac dealership continuously from at least 1925 until the mid-70's.  I rode home from the hospital after my birth (1942) in a Cadillac.  Except for my Grandfather's "beaters" I grew up riding in Cadillacs.  My sister, 5' 6" tall and one year younger than me, took and passed her N.Y. State driver's license test (parallel parking and all) in my father's 1959 Fleetwood!  As her "pain-in-the-neck" teenage brother, I was most impressed with my sister's skill!  Bet the examiner was too!  I took my test the year before in a 1958 Chevy station wagon owned by another branch of the family business.
 

[Richard Sills - CLC #936]

Colonel Albert Anthony DeProspero (U.S. Army, Retired) was responsible for my first drive in a Cadillac.  Recently, I had the sad occasion to attend his funeral.  Upon sharing reminiscences with his family, I was reminded of the Cadillac story, which I will now share with you.

While attending high school in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania in 1960, I became friends with Albert's younger brother Bill.  We shared an interest in cars, and worked together on the school newspaper.  In December 1963, Bill called to propose a road trip.  The Army had transferred Albert from Okinawa, where he had been stationed, to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  After a stopover at the family home in Upper Darby, Albert and his family drove to North Carolina in a new 1964 Ford Country Squire.  Now, someone needed to transport Albert's other car – a 1954 Cadillac Series 62 sedan -- from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.  Bill asked if I wanted to go along on the 500-mile trip and share the driving.  He didn't have to ask twice. 

We left late in the chilly afternoon of December 28, 1963, heading south on Interstate 95 in a handsome two-tone green Cadillac.  I remember looking over the massive hood at the gleaming chrome stylized "flying lady" ornament, and the elegant steering wheel with the center bullet containing the Cadillac crest.  The sensory experiences of driving the car included power, comfort, and a general feeling of well-being.  It's hard to describe, but it is a feeling that has endeared Cadillacs to their owners for generations that came before and after.  My own car then was a 1957 Ford, and I began to understand the qualities that made a Cadillac worth its additional cost. 

The trip was uneventful, and the ten-year-old Cadillac performed faultlessly.  One funny experience occurred when we stopped for gas.  The gas station attendant admired the car, and then his gaze fell to the Okinawa license plate, which had a couple of Japanese characters along with the numbers.  He studied the tag for a few seconds, and said, "I see you fellers are from Oklahoma."   

After driving through the night, we reached Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  Albert got us breakfast and drove us to the airport, where we soon caught a flight to Philadelphia.  It was also my first airplane trip.  (Note to our younger readers:  Kids didn't travel nearly as much in those days as they do now.)  When I got home, my mother – a great devotee of air travel – was anxious to hear about how I liked the airplane ride.  I told her that it was OK, but I sure did enjoy driving that Cadillac!

[Eric S. Maypother #15104]

Hi All,
My first time in a Cadillac was when I was probly around 4-5, about 1970, my father had a 1963 Eldorado convertible for a few years, I remember sitting on the folded down arm rest, the car was kinda an aqua color with white roof and interior, even at that age I knew it was a special car, he ended up trading it for a motorcycle and didn't get another Caddy till 1979 he got a 1977 Sedan deVille, he had lots of Caddy's in the 50's I didn't get to see, also in the early seventies my Uncle Chris had a 1960 Cadillac Fleetwood, black with grey velour interior, right after he put $400 in it he got drunk and sold it for $200, the guy who bought it kept telling my brother was a nice guy my uncle was everytime he'd see him, the guy drove the car over a year and sold it for $1,000.

My very first car was a 1969 Cadillac Sedan deVille, all black, I bought it a few months after graduating high school when I was 17, I bought it from a guy who bought it from a guy who bought it from my Uncle Rick who sold used cars in town, mostly luxury cars, I drove the car for about a year and it sat another 9 years, I've had nothing but Cadillac's, my current Cadillac is about my 18th, I once had 6 at 1 time but I'm down to 1 right now.
Eric
1990 Brougham D'Elagance

[homeonprunehill]

05-23-07
Davidinhartford,Randall Mc,Dade,Dennis,Veesixteen,Kevin,Steve,Berry,Rusty,Bruce-The "Tassie Devil{le},Geoff,Richard, Eric. Eric, I
 enevy you for coming-up with this post. (read 392 times, resulting in 13 posts replies) When the post was first posted, I tried to thank of the first time for me and I thought it was when my Father died and I rode to the Church in my older Brother's Cadillac. But, I remember trying out a '57or'58 Cadillac in 1059.

[Art Director]

I would say my first time in a Cadillac was in November of 1958, about 9 months after I was born. My parents moved from Chicago to Colorado Springs at that time to be near my grandmother, who owned an Elvis Presley pink 1957 Sedan de Ville at that time. It was her first Cadillac, trading in a 1950 Buick for it.

I learned in later years that Grandmother had nothing but trouble with that car and in September 1963, traded it in on a 1963 Sedan de Ville 6329 that I own today and have taken to two CLC Grand Nationals, 2001 and 2005.

[John Morris #23947]

Well, here's my story. I 1976 was 17 years old and there was an auto repair shop a block from my 1st apartment in NW Portland. There sat two 54 Caddys, a Fleetwood and a Coupe Deville. Both were flawless in appearance except faded paint. Mint interiors. Perfect bumpers ect. The man said I could have my choice for 50 bucks. I chose the green coupe. I paid the $50 and jumped in, started right up, running smoooth! Put in drive and go. But, 1st stop sign no brakes! I drove around Portland using the park brake. Then the window started steaming bad, heater core. I filled the radiator every morn and drove around with my head out the window due to steamy windows. I filled it with teens and cruised Portland every day, steaming, using park brake. I tied all Ma's bra's on the antenna and got pulled over, no licence. The angry cop said "GET THE BRAS OFF THE AERIAL, AND GET THE CAR HOME!!" Mom never could untie all those bra's. I loved that car, just needed brakes filled and bled from sitting and bypass htr core to cruise, but I was young and dumb. It got towed one day, police gave me name of tow lot, they said they never saw any green Caddy, me being 17 it was lost. I think about that car every day. 

[homeonprunehill]

05-23-07
Davidinhartford,Randall Mc,Dade,Dennis,Veesixteen,Kevin,Steve,Berry,Rusty,Bruce-The "Tassie Devil{le},Geoff,Richard, Eric. Eric, I
 enevy you for coming-up with this post. (read 392 times, resulting in 13 posts replies) When the post was first posted, I tried to thank of the first time for me and I thought it was when my Father died and I rode to the Church in my older Brother's Cadillac. But, I remember trying out a '57or'58 Cadillac in 1059.

06-02-07
TO; ALL READERS, I put in the wrong date in the last line of my initial post. Should have been 1959. Sorry 'bout that
 JIM, CLC #15000, Thomas

[Rob NZCLC#162]

Hi all,

November 2006 I finally got my '58 Sedan deVille mostly finished and took it for a drive with my mechanic friend so we could tune it.  Unfortunately it wasn't a great drive as a couple of pins on the new push rods had broken for some reason so it wasn't running at it's best and the brakes left a bit to be desired as well.

I've since fixed most of the little problems that happen after a complete restoration and at the end of April took it on a 2 week trip to the North Island covering about 2000 mile to what is one of the bigger car events in the country. Cruised beautifully and was a bit of a head turner throughout the trip - most impressed with the way it drove, keen to get some more miles on it now.  Check it out at www.beachhop.co.nz - plenty of photos.

This is my first Cadillac, already starting to think about what to do next and have found a '54 Limo in need of some TLC.

 Cheers, Rob.