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1953 Cadillac history

Started by july76, November 08, 2015, 08:25:17 AM

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july76

 
This is my 1953 series 62 Cadillac that I imported from Minnesota, where the car was registered.
by its previous owner. It seems to have passed all his life in that state and out of circulation for years
(last license plate (CPS 824) is from 1979!). Now it's in hands of a restorer from my country. I'm trying
to trace the vehicle history. I contact the seller but he don't have any document related  to the purchase
that was made in an auction held probably in 2012. Maybe someone from Minnesota can shed some light
about previous owners. In other hand it would be possible to obtain some info from the MS DMV?

A photo of the car and title







Barry M Wheeler #2189

Once a car is sold, the manufacturer has no further use for it. In fact, if they could get away with it, any and all connection between them and the purchaser would vanish into thin air. Of course, nowadays, they do have to keep track of the purchaser for recalls, and the like.

But, unfortunately, there is no magic list somewhere that we can go to to find out this information. If, the car manufacturers had used a crystal ball to peer into the future to see that certain of the population would desire old, worn-out autos to spend outrageous sums of money on, they most certainly would have assigned an intern (that they didn't have to pay a salary) to copy down this information, stored it,  and then charged money for us to obtain such.
Barry M. Wheeler #2189


1981 Cadillac Seville
1991 Cadillac Seville

chrisntam

I can't help with your question, but I can say that '53s are one of my favorite years.  Great looking front end!!

What country is it in now and where are you from?

In general,  8)  !!
1970 Deville Convertible 
Dallas, Texas

july76


I'm from Spain and that's where the car is now. Yes '53 was a great year for the Cadillac style

Dan LeBlanc

Hate to break it to you but the vin number is missing a few digits on the title.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

savemy67

Hola Julio,

Pine River, Minnesota has a population of about 1000.  You might try contacting the mayor's office or the Chamber of Commerce to see if anyone remembers the owner of such an elegant (for Pine River) automobile.

Christopher Winter
Christopher Winter
1967 Sedan DeVille hardtop

july76


I've just received the GM report for my '53. Now I just need some help to decode  :(




Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

Quote from: Dan LeBlanc on November 08, 2015, 06:05:12 PM
Hate to break it to you but the vin number is missing a few digits on the title.

It sure is.

I make out the rest as 96355(?) as shown on the invoice sheet document under engine serial number which is the VIN; the prefix "5362" refers to 1953 Series 62.

This should be resolved before registering the car.
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

july76

#8
 Yes in the title it appears 5362 but I've sent to them the engine number that is located on the tag of the door pillar.
49er the codes are indeed on the bottom left but are impossible to be read.

Dan LeBlanc

Your car was a late production car - invoiced to the distributor in Duluth, Minnesota on November 4th, 1953.  I'm not sure if it was one of the Dynaflow cars or not as the Hydramatic plant fire was in August and was back in production 9 weeks later.  If it has a park position on the gear selector, then, yes, it is.

Fairly well equipped Series 62.

FSA = Firestone tires, equipment group A which included:

Heater
Signal seeking radio with pre-selector
White sidewall tires
Power steering
EZ-Eye Glass

Also has accessory group 2 which includes:

Oil filter
Windshield washer
vanity mirror
LH rear view mirror
Fog lights
License frames
Autronic eye

Also has option code # 2 - 4 full wheel covers

AF = anti-freeze.  Being sent to Minnesota in November, that makes sense.

Hope this helps.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

P W Allen CLC# 20193

According to the Cadillac Twin Turbine (dynaflow), service manual, it states that "This transmission will be installed on 1953 Cadillac cars above engine # 84799". This did NOT include the Eldorado or the 75 series cars. This car with #96355, should be a Dynaflow. My car is with Eng. # 99844. It is not clear to me that after Hydramatics were back in production 9 weeks later, were they installed in the very late 53's. or did they just wait until the 54's went into production?
Paul
53 Coupe
Twin Turbine

july76

#11
 Thanks a lot Dan LeBlanc for your valuable help  ;) "Also has option code # 2 - 4 full wheel covers" what it means? The radio
was not installed from factory on my car so maybe it was an option avaliable that the buyer refused. In other hand, I suppose
the numbers on the right side are the price of the vehicle and all the shipping tax.
P W Allen, the car comes indeed with the Dynaflow trans so maybe they continue to mount the Hydramatic only on Eldos and 75
until following year.
I contacted the DVS to obtain some info about the vehicle registration and they provide a form to make the order. Duluth is
a town with a great population now and in the 50s so without the help of archives it won't be easy to recover something.
In other hand the car was invoiced to a "main dealer" but that doesn't mean that it was sold there. I suppose that the tons of
papers of each dealer were destroyed after some years...

at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis




Dan LeBlanc

The wheel covers your car has in the picture are the ones it left the factory with. Pictured here are the standard wheel covers with the optional trim rings.



Your car definitely left the factory with a radio. A likely scenario was that the car was ordered for dealer stock and the buyer did not want a radio. Perhaps for religious reasons. The dealer would've removed it for a buyer if they wished and added a radio delete plate.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

july76

#13

Is this as the original hubcaps?


Dan LeBlanc

Those are 49-52. 53 are a 1 year only cap.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

july76

#15
 Yes they are different. I've never seen that hubcaps showed on your picture for a '53 but the sombrero ones.
This seems more


Dan LeBlanc

The ones on my parts car were used from 41-53 and only cover the centre of the rim. The outer trim ring is separate and was optional with those caps.

Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

Tito Sobrinho

Quote from: P W Allen CLC# 20193 on November 13, 2015, 02:28:23 PM
According to the Cadillac Twin Turbine (dynaflow), service manual, it states that "This transmission will be installed on 1953 Cadillac cars above engine # 84799". This did NOT include the Eldorado or the 75 series cars. This car with #96355, should be a Dynaflow. My car is with Eng. # 99844. It is not clear to me that after Hydramatics were back in production 9 weeks later, were they installed in the very late 53's. or did they just wait until the 54's went into production?

Besides the Eldorado and the 75 Series, the Hydramatic was sold to independents and the RR in lieu of the Cadillacs.
I loved the smoothness of the Dynaflow as well as the Power Glide.
Tito S.

1949 CCP 6267X  (First Series)

Thanks to Frank Hershey for its design and thanks to Harry Barr, Ed Cole, John Gordon and Byron Ellis for its engine.

Tito Sobrinho

"Where's Waldo"?

In that wonderful picture of the University of Minnesota parking lot posted by Julio Fernandez, I spotted a 1953 Cadillac Coupé de Ville. Any other Cadillacs ?
The newest car I was able to spot was a 1958 model.
Tito S.

1949 CCP 6267X  (First Series)

Thanks to Frank Hershey for its design and thanks to Harry Barr, Ed Cole, John Gordon and Byron Ellis for its engine.

july76


That wheel covers used until 1953? I can't see how they could keep an accessory with the previous emblem  ???