Hej there. I figured that it would be nice, or it would make sense, to write a bit about what is goin' on around here. I like to write but english is not my native language, so bare with me... For the record, around here is mostly southern Denmark, where I live, and northern Germany where most of my cars are stored at my best friends place, and where our workshop is. See, in Denmark there are some obscene taxes that make it almost impossible to have more than one car, to put it in numbers, if you have a car that is worth 1000 bucks, make it 3000 Dollars and then you'll be close to what you have to pay for the very same car here in Denmark. Being just about 90 Miles from here to my friends shop, and having the possibility to keep my cars on German plates, and this way avoiding all that, it was an obvious choice to have most of my cars down there. Now... Yes, cars. I got this bad girl end of Febraury from a fella who traded it for a bike after he became a dad and his wife forbid him to race around. Having five cars, he had no use for the Cadillac so he put it up for sale, and that is where I joined the game. According to the paperwork the car was improted in 2008 to Denmark via New York from Missouri or Kansas. Don't know for sure, the numberplate reads Missouri, Title reads Kansas. Who cares. The story goes that the company that had the car shipped, sunk some hard cash in it and lost most of it. Then the beast changed owners for few times before it was traded to the guy I bought it from. During that period the car never saw a garage or a roof, and was standin' outside not moved whatsoever growing into the weeds and loosing against the elements. I guess these 3 years in the harsh danish weather count for rusted out floors, and rusted out doors, and rusted out anything else. The first time I went to see the car I had no intention of buying it. I was just curious, these cars are very rare in Europe and I couldn't remember that I ever saw one in person. Since I can remember, I always wanted one of those things, or whatever but American and old. I spent loads of time browsing thru old magazines, drolling to Ed Roths art, admiring stuff by Gene Winfield, Bo Huff, Bill Hines and all those people who made Hot Rods to what they are today, so I have something that I would call "the sense of how it was back then", and I guess I have a clear idea of what is nostalgic, and what is pure crap. However, the Cadillac was cheap enough to be a parts car, so I was expecting the worst, but I love cars, this would be the ride that I would not even dream about just because even if I had the money to get one of those, I wouldn't spend that much cash on a single car, and giving the fact that most of them here in Europe are either perfectly kept or restored to better that new, we speaking lots of money for one of these. But I hate better than new, cars need to show off what they did, where they were, scratches, dents, faded paint, rust, old car smell, that is all people don't want and trying to get rid of, and for me that is something I desire. Since life is being strange sometimes, as soon as I was standin' in front of it I lost it completley. There it was. A giant rusty piece of amercana, drivers window smashed, faded paint, fenderskirts screwed on, rusted out this, rusted out that, engine looked like it has been dug out of dirt a while ago, half of the stuff on the car didn't work, tailfins from here to Arizona, beautiful curved windscreen, nice interior with loveley patina... It was amazing. After I checked the fluids the engine roared to life almost instantly. After three years of standin' still that thing was just spittin' fire and makin' noise that gave me the chills. I din't know what to do, I knew that I had to have it, but I had no Idea how much I'd like to spend. See, I am doing mostly Fords from the 70ies, so naturally I never got into the 50ies cars, had no idea how much they are, had no idea how they work, where to get parts, and nothin'. Knowing about the existence of a car, and standin' in front of it with an intention to buy it, that are two different things. Well, even before I got home that day I called the dude and told him that I was gettin' it after I test drove it. The following two weeks I checked some websides, prices and part dealers, made a fair offer (just because I lkie dents doesn't mean that I pay as if theyweren't there), agreed that he would check the brakes and chainge fluids and then, after I drove it, I would see if I still want it. I went to that guy with some friends two weeks after I saw the car for the first time. Cash in my pocket and scared to death. It was Febraury, snow everywhere and temperatures far below freezing, I drove some big cars in my life, in fact my Granada is a giant car compared to European cars these days, but I felt a slight discomfort driving 5000 pounds of Iron that sat still for a while on slippery roads... However, as soon as we were there they made me hop in and I tried to turn on the engine, after got that thing started and scared all animals and children for the next 15 Miles around that dudes house, I found myself trying to manouver the Cadillac out of the way too steep, and way to narrow driveway. The first miles I had no idea what to think and ni idea what to look for. The car had a mind of it's own, and on top of that the turnsignals didn't work, speedo didn't work, the lights just on drivers side, brakes were a catastrophy, the smashed window hung half open, no heat, you could see the pavement go by, engine ran on 4 cylinders, wipers didn't work, there was a major leak between the block and the header, the car was spitting fire and it stank like hell, suspension seemed loose, the car wanted to go left, while brakes pulled to the right, with every single bump on the road it was whallowing from side to side and front to back, screeching, and making strange noises... And then the width that I was not used to whatsoever, bastard car, almost impossible to keep in line, Jesus Christ... After 10 miles or so I reached another village, found a place to u-turn the thing without killing anyone and ran back. By the time I was at the sellers house the engine ran smoother, all 8 pots seemed to play with me, the noises were less, and I kind of got used to the size of that thing. I didn't want to buy that bastard, it seemed too much work to get it roadworthy. I was pissed. It felt so good to be in that car, knowing that there are giant tailfins behind you and that you could sweep small family cars from the street, the V8... Damn. Leave it? If yes, then I want to have 30 minutes more fun with it! I turned over and made the 20 mile trip to the next village again, but this time I blew the doors of that thing. I was unmercifull to that car, I drove it as fast as I could, full throttle, kickdown, adrenaline shoot thru my head, I was kickin' it and trying to accelerate as hard as possible, braking as hard as possible, and with every corner there was this smell of burnt rubber and hot brakes... By the time I was back again I had no Idea what the hell I was gonna do. Checked everything over and over again, froze my ass off, crawling on my knees trying to check out everything and trying to find a reason to either buy it right now or leave it there and go home... An hour later I found myself sittin' at the guys place with a pink slip in my hands and watching him counting my money. We were off. It was sick. I had no money to buy me some smokes, but a 50 year old Cadillac under my ass. I drove behind my friend's car since I had no Idea whatsoever how fast I was going, my buddy, the dude with the shop, sittin' with me just in case. We were freezing our asses off and grinning all the time like dumb children that stole a bubblegum machine. We were pushing the monster for a while, racing around other cars, and havin' the time of our lives. The Cadillac made the 160 Miles to the workshop without any problems, after we arrived it was too dark and we were too tired to do anything, or even realizing what just happenend so I just pulled in the workshop and left it there for the night... The day after was sick, do you know this "what the hell did I get myself into?" feeling that most people have after they got wasted on Saturday night? I had that. But in a good way. I felt that this was the one and only chance to get a car like that. This was the one, after that, there is hardly anything that I would like to drive. Seeing that car in the shop looked like we stole a spaceship. We checked it out from every side and decided that the only thing we can do is to pull out the moldy shelf behind the backseat, made a template, sat down, smoked cigarettes and called it a day. Over the next few weeks I was at the shop literally every weekend, from friday afternoon til sunday at night and did some bits on that car. After some research I found out that it is a DeVille, almost full 1960 options (no airride and no cruise controll), we sorted out things as we went, no particualr order, but one Idea, whatever we would do, we are able to put the car back to driving something within 24 hours. With the help of my buddy I managed to sort out the brakes, e-brake, lights, valve cover gaskets, air filter, lubed the suspension, front suspension sorted, sparkplugs, cleaned the frame, cleaned the interior, sorted out some electrics, polished the brightwork, ripped out the aircon, horns honk, wipers wipe, sorted out the engine bay, replaced the sidewindow, made a new shelf behind the seat, sorted out some of the wiring, and most likley a billion other things. But what is more important, I drove the hell out of it! Till this day I had it on open road for three times and covered about 600 miles in it (not counting the ride home). We drove to local shows, drove around the block with no reason other than burning gasoline, or just to get some groceries. ...Or to get into a speed trap, will be the most expensive black and white pic I ever got. It all might not seem like much, but see it this way, for me that car is full of alien technology, never seen shit like that, we learn as we go. All parts need to be shipped from the states and hunt down on Ebay or what. I have just 2 days a week to work on that thing, and having three other cars that also want something once in a while doesn't make it more easy. Thruh is, that car stays with me, they'll have to burry me in it. And it will see road for the rest of it's life and won't end up as a half finished something behind a barn. That is the state that this car is in as for today: Until september I want to have it as far as possible so I can race it in Germany, in Finsterwalde on their 1/8 mile track. By next year I want to have the rust sorted out, so that it can be inspected and put on normal plates (that what you can see in those pics are just temporary insurance numbers), and then I will slowly turn it into a Kustom, I'd like to keep the bodywork and paint as is, eventually spritz on some candy and metalflake on the roof, make the wheels gold, '59 taillights and get some chrome bullets, or hubcaps, lakes on both sides, closer to the ground, spotlights... I'll think of something. It won't stay absolutley stock, that's for sure. Thanks for listening, see you. Adam
Adsam, what a story! Thanks for taking the time to share the old Caddy's tales with your H.A.M.B. brothers and sisters.
Hej, I spent the last night browsing thru the froum and found a pic that shows where I am goin' with this one, once it runs how it is supposed to. Whoever built that car, whever took that pic, this is beautiful. Add two doors, age the details, change this or that (love those upholstered fenderwells) and you got yourself my car in about a year time. This thing is smashin'. Love it!
Cool man! That's a wild trip for a local caddy! Being from Kansas City Missouri, somehow I feel a connection. It's doing a number on my imagination.
Yup, that car has been around the block. Unfortunalley it was badly abused at some point in it's life. I guess that all the bondo sculptures that I found in serveral spots and peeling laquer, that would be a sign for a quick respray in the States. All technical issues might be a result of a quick fix here in Denmark, so that the car could be sold as driver. The story goes that the company who ordered the shipping lost about 10 grand on this car. But whoever fixed it should be hung by his balls. After I had her on the lift we found a gazillion of issues like new brakelines that ran just next to the old ones, Fuellines ran "somewhere", all four brakehoses are from different cars, the wheels were held by just three lugs each, they changed the waterpump but never build anything back that they had to take off, the screws that held about anything on the car were not tight whatsoever, trunk release was held with a screwdriver (heh, free tools!), the exhaust is brand spankin' new, but bolted on the car just in two spots (I guess hence the bad leak, the headers don't seem to hold up to that weight), many bits and pieces are just drilled and held by scrws that you would use to mount your woodden furniture with, half of the electrics was just bypassed and so on... But who cares, it is mine now and I take care of her, love this car to death. And Kansas, there is just four things that I think of when I hear the word "Kansas", that would be Dorothy, OZ, Wind, Tractors, and this very car. But as soon as I have the possibility or a reason to visit, I'll drive thru Kansas, just because I#m curious where that thing is from.
I have a question! Maybe there is somebody out there knowing more than I do. See, I saw about a thousand pics and videos of different 1960 Cadillacs, and I haven't found a single one with the same upholstery. I mean, It is not even close, not the patterns, not the color, not the materials, but what I found was a video of a 1959 Cadillac with it. According to what the previous owner was tellin' the car is supposed to be from 1959, menaing one of the first 60ies Caddys out there, I can not proove it, and don't really care, but it would be nice to know. Here are some pics: Other than that not much progress, at last not what I planned, on a trip around the block, about 50 miles from home the car was burnin' in the middle of the night, the generator gave up, so we poured some windowwash over it, disconnected and prayed that the battery would hold up until we managed to come back to the workshop. The day after we changed thegenerator to a used alternator from an Audi or what and it ran 3 hours later. Few days ago I had to fix a bad gasoline leak, but other than that the car gets driven... Alot. I praise the Lord for every day since I have this car. It is the most awesome vehicle out there, this is truly the standard of the world, the doors close as precise as back in the days, the overall quality is stunning, even after all those years in abuse this car still is the "prodest Cadillac of them all"...
Hey bud thanks for sharing your story.I love the fact that you are trying your hardest to get her on the road with limited skills & hardly any access to parts etc.You are lucky that you have great friends with knowledge that are willing to help.The great thing is that she is a 4 door so you can take all your pals cruising as a thank you for their help. Deadbeat
Hej, limited access to parts just due to this big pond between here and where the parts are. Things like the alternator were adapded just because we wanted this thing running asap. Limited skills, just because what the hell do we know about those vehicles? See, these things are driven by snobs over here, I was registered in about half a dozen forums and tried to get help, but the people who owe a car like that simply have no idea of what is under the hood. If it's broken they just call the classic car workshop who charge them for whatever and that's it. Nobody actually crawls under a car like that because people are loaded. I could bring this thing to a professional, but where is the fun? Well, at some point I will spend some money on rebuilding and adjusting the carb by a professional, here is a dude who does just Cadillacs for 50 years and he is just plain awesome. But other than that? Fuck it, I can read, if we can not figure it out we learn and we do it by the book. If something is not working, hell, we make it work. Hell, some people ment that there is no way to get this car runnin' with an alternator! We tried to order body panels, spent 400 Bucks on floorboards and figured that we could have built them ourselves. We tried to order rockers for that thing, but I can build them faster, chepaer, and most important perfectly fitting, which is not always the case when you get some repros. All those "owners" can go and fuck themselves, I had her recently on a car show, just as is, and i did a major clean up in the enginebay, everything is clean as a whistle and treated with fluid film (so it is kinda' sticky) so it won't rust where we are ready with the bodywork, but we decided that a car is original just once, so there is no touch ups, no fresh paint no nothin'. And this pal with his better than the factory restored Packard was freakin' mad at me. "When are you gonna clean it up? When are you gonna paint it?", why should I? It needed 50 Years of abusement to get that car that good! And I could take all my pals criusing even if it was a no door. We are just two dudes working on that beast. All others don't even touch it because they are scared. What is most important, it's a runner, and we drive it any chance we get, I covered more miles in it since February than most of the people owning a car like that in 10 years. There is nothin' like waking up and looking out of the window seing that thing parked on the street in front of your house. There is nothing like driving it to get usual groceries, there is nothing like driving that thing to your local parts store. There is nothing like driving this thing every day! It has only one fault, it says Cadillac on it, and not FORD...
Thanks for posting,you guys have to work a bit harder than we do to keep these cars licensed,and on the road.Good luck with it.
Thanx. As I said, you can get everything from the States, but unfortunalley this is are 40000 Dollar cars over here, and so are the spare parts, not willing to spend 300 Bucks on a generator if we have a dozen alternatros lying around. Just scratchbuild some wiring and you are off, put that money in the tank and drive wherever. Works the same for many other things. Gaskets for this and that? Just cut Äem out of gasket paper, no need to ship that crap around the globe. Unfortunalley we seem to be almost alone with this kind of thinking. Most of the people I know were bitching for weeks after we ripped out the original aircon because the compressor was in our way to the sparkplugs and the exhaust. There is a ton of people bitching about the sorry state of that thing. But they forget something very important, the very same time we burnin' tires on the road, their cars are sittin' in a garage and gettin' the 27th coat of polish...
great car man.. iv enjoy the read.. hell your English is better than mine.. at any rate, you will find snobs every where.. personally i think the body looks to be very strait.. and you guys have some cool cars we do not get to see over here very often.. so i think its cool a cad is cruising around on your streets. keep enjoying her and being a four door everyone can go for a drive and ride in comfort.. that's what Cadillac are all about driving in luxury. take care. chris.
Thanks! With my english, I do my very best. Heh. I guess we have some cars you don't see whatsoever, and even more you have no idea they exist! How about a 1977 Ford Granada Coupe? Ever seen one? It is my daily driver, it's got a 2,6 litre (who knows how many cubic inch that is supposed to be, 170 somethin?) Cologne V6, and 125-130 horses, hooked to a 5 speed manual transmision. This particular one has also the rare "S" package, factory sports update, stronger this, bigger that, vented disks and some more stuff. Or how about that one: European Ford Granada Mk III? 1982, 1,6 litre and only 75 horses? But a four gear and it goes forever to the gallon? This was actually my daily driver for almost 3 years and some 50000 miles before I got the coupe. Still have her though. Or that thing: 1975 Ford Taunus? 1,6 litre straigt four, one carb, 4 gears, manual of course, but so light it runs with it's 1400 Pounds like a cat on cocaine. Lots of fun.
ADAM, First thing first, If you are lucky - look under the back seat and you might find a BUILD sheet. If you never heard of that ,its what the factory used to build your car from the factory ,it will tell you everything about the car. LIKE the size of the motor ,the size of the rear-end ,what kind of interior it came with,the size tires it suppose to have on it even the amps of the generator ! AND so much more..... I have my fingers crossed for you , good luck I hope its their for ya ! Its kind of like a treasure map. You are already very lucky because you found the car and bought it, AND it got you AWAY from the FORDs ,hahahhahahahahhahh...... Just joking with you and pulling your chain. I love the Fords you showed the pictures of.... Anyway if I can help you with anything let me know....I'll do my best to help out another car-nut Hotrodder........
Hej, I had a look under the back seat (had it out for cleaning), but the ol' lady has been thru so much, there is not even a trace of a build sheet. As I said, I don't really care, but I am curious as hell, since the upholstery appears to be original. Strangley, judging by the outside, the seats and all, even the carpet and the headliner are in really loveley condition. However... Is there any other way to find out all that stuff? The American Title doesn't say much. I heard of some Cadillac Classic "somethin'" where you can send of your VIN and they will send you all details, like what options (that I know) what year, where it was built, who was the first owner and so on... Is that true? How is it called? Yea, this car got me kind of away from the Ford, half of my family is from Cologne, I spent half of my life there. Cologne in Germany is where Ford sits in Europe. My uncle used to work there all his life, and in Germany you'll end up driving Ford if you live in Cologne (just as you'd end up driving Mercedes if you are from Stuttgart, and Audi if you are from Ingolstadt, VW if you live in Wolfsburg and so on). With that one exception I never owned anything else than old Fords, I love these cars, I'd tattoo FORD on my forehead and won't regret it.
This is so amazing, I can really only congratulate you, this car has finally found its real owner, ahhhh, this is so inspirational
Congratulations ! It's always so GREAT to see fans & collectors of "American Iron" on Foreign Shores. And, the work you've put into it is superb !! Good luck on keeping that Kool Caddy on the road for many years to come ! Jonnie King www.legends.thewwbc.net
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