Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

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The face that only a Mother, or a Cadillac lover could love.

Has it come to this?

I have been wondering a lot about that lately, do I want to own another real vintage car?

I'm always looking through CL for bargains.

Besides that '40 LaSalle that I've been posting about, I just saw this '55 Cadillac a couple of weeks ago.

I have had a thing for mid Fifties Cadillacs for a very long time. I finally got one back in the 1990's, a four door hardtop.

It's not as sleek as the hardtop models, because the roof is
much taller and the tail is not as long.

There aren't any pictures of the right side, but from what I can see, the car looks to be in good shape.  For 1955, the rear window had the "Florentine Curve" bright molding that looks particularly good on the hardtops. It doesn't look as graceful on a sedan, but it's a nice touch.

Certainly an elephant in the 
driveway.

This looks like a nice place to spend time.

That's a real nice interior. It's not done in authentic materials, but so what? Most cars in this price range come with  pretty worn out and stained upholstery. This had to cost a fair amount of bucks. I've never had a car reupholstered.

It looks very inviting, I'd bet that it even smells nice and clean. 

The original Cadillac V8 was long lived
and reliable.

The seller states that the car runs really well, and all the windows work. Miraculously it still has the original air cleaner in place. The seller states that all the lights are in good shape and work. It doesn't have a/c which is just as well, as it likely wouldn't work anyway.

It looks like it's challenging the buyer,
"Let's do it Bro!."

This reminds me quite a bit of my '56 Sedan de Ville hardtop. I sure do love the face of this car! The '54's and '55's have smooth flat quarter panels without the jet pod shape. This is much cleaner.

A very basic four door sedan, nothing glamorous. 

For most of my enthusiast lifetime, these were the bottom of the barrel in my mind's eye. Though this model was the best seller that year. 

This car however looks pretty good, straight, complete, reportedly currently running well with a nice redone interior. 

The car had been posted without any pictures of the interior, which was a mistake. The price has been pretty reasonable, it started at 4,900 bucks then the seller amended it to 3,900 firm, Now it's dropped again to 3,698. 

It just gets better.

If I bought this car I would immediately have it painted, a medium dark blue, like my '97 Explorer, with a white top. I would not remove all the trim, that would be likely to break old clips and studs. I'd just have the trim masked and left in place. 

A good running car, with a redone interior and a new paint job, Wow! This would be a finished car, wouldn't that be nice. 

In earlier postings the seller asked for cash plus a good running car. I get the idea that they may have inherited the car, or bought it at a really low price, They don't want to keep it and complete it, they just want to move it on. 

This is my '56, which I owned almost 30 years ago.

A car like this really hits me in the heart, I wanted a mid 50's Cadillac for years, since I was a grade school kid. Sure, I'd prefer a coupe or a two door hardtop, but this car is available, affordable, and in good condition. Sedans are really solid, and a Cadillac never really suffers for having four doors. 

This is a Series 62 sedan, and these are seven inches shorter in length than the hardtop models, that makes them look a bit stubby, but it should fit better in my garage. The '55 has a cleaner rear design than the '56 and the hood has a narrower more prominent center section.

A '55 would be more conducive to everyday driving, as it would be much more modern than the '40 LaSalle. It has power steering and brakes, as well as an automatic transmission. It would be easier to fit it with radial tires.

Though it's more of  a "Godfather Part Two" kind of car, instead of an early Noir car, it's still very cool and "fedora and pinstriped suit "ready. Film Noir actually came into prominence after the War, from 1950 to 1955 or so. So it actually has real cred in that area.

So, would this satisfy my itch for a real vintage car? 

Maybe.

Currently I've just been following the car on CL. I would like to go check it out, but it's in the Sacramento area.