Projects Unearthing a 1957 Cadillac coupe from a 25 year slumber

A few years ago I saw a 57 4 door Caddy in a farmers barnyard while doing one of my back road drives. I saw an old guy sitting on the porch so I stopped to talk to him and got around to asking about the Cadillac. He said his wife had won it in a jingle contest back in 57. She didn't drive and he wasn't going to drive it and have every one calling him "uppity" she wouldn't let him sell it so he put it in a shed and there it sit until the shed fell in and he pulled it out in the barn yard. He said the old lady died a few months ago so he figured he could get rid of it. I asked if I could look a it, he said go ahead. The thing was total junk, rusted out every where, interior a total mess from rats and who knows what other animals had lived in there. Just under 5K miles showing(remember, he didn't want anybody calling him uppity) I tried to open the hood and it started to buckle but from what I could see it was untouched under there. It had sit so many years in the dirt that the wheels had rusted almost a quarter of the way up. I ask what he would take for it as I could use it for parts. He said you are a couple days late, he had sold it to a guy that junked cars for a hundred bucks and he was going to drag it off in a day or two. My luck seems to go like that a lot. I saw that the wheel covers were missing, he said he took them off before he put it in the shed so they nobody could steal them and asked it I wanted them. He went in the barn and came out with them in a burlap bag and handed them to me, wouldn't take a dime for them. I got the phone number of the guy that had bought it, he told me to piss up a rope, he was going to part it out and already sold the engine and trans. I ended up with a new old friend, a set of almost nos 57 Caddy caps and a great story, all in all a pretty good day!!

 

I',m subscribing in hopes that Garrett will continue this thread or start another with a link as he brings this beauty back to life.
Buckeye Buick I also enjoyed your story.

 

Off to a good start it has all the trim. Those narrow stainless pieces above the rear clip blister molding are almost non existent for the two doors, I had mine fabricated from four door stock.

 

When I was jerking junk cars, those were known as "bonus cars" since they weighed so much. If a regular car was $45, Caddys and Chryslers were $65. But a nice save for a complete car!