Mad Men, Tin Men, and Made Men all agree

MAD MEN, TIN MEN, AND MADE MEN ALL AGREE

I was riding my bike along the warehouses of lower Sunset Park when this mighty vision appeared:

Yes! This is a 1962 Cadillac Series 62 convertible in the appropriately named Olympic White.
I've said it before and I'll say it again; the streets of Brooklyn are littered with old Cadillacs but this one manages to tower over the rest even in shabby condition.

Cadillac was the undisputed king of class in 1962. There were more expensive cars out there (not many) and several that were more exclusive but none more damn American than this. One look at how stylized the logo here had become will show you how streamlined the entire look was.

It is a coincidence that this is a Series 62 from '62 as the Series 62 name was used from 1940-1964. It represented the entry point for Cadillac but let's put that in perspective. First of all this is absolutely a luxury car, and a convertible to boot. The lowest Caddy is like the most humble Rolls Royce.
*The one surefire way to pinpoint the vintage on this ride is the shape of the turn signals. The otherwise identical 1961 Caddy had perfectly round signals as opposed to these rectangles.

This sleek front end treatment was only produced from '61-'62. The massive yachts of the '50s had brooding eyebrows hanging over the headlights, a look that would return from '63 on. For these 2 years there is a fresh faced eagerness to these big rides that suits it beautifully.

One great design element left over from the previous decade is the fact that the front bumper makes up the leading edge of the wheel well. These bumpers are absolutely mammoth.

My favorite features of the '61-'62 Caddys are the lower fins that start just behind the front wheel and emerge as sharp points in the rear. This car has 4 freaking fins! At the same moment when they were leaving the automotive scene Cadillac decided to double down.

Few cars are such natural convertibles as these big Caddys.

Dig the faux grill treatment on the rear - another design holdover from the 1950s. The Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters was based on a Caddy from just 2 years before this example. These fins, while prominent, are massively downsized from the 1959 peak.

Even grubby and schlubby the lines on this ride are unbeatable. A little bit of black electrical tape is securing the end of the fin. Those fin lenses do light up with the larger taillights by the way.

A free breathing 390 V8 lurked under the massive hood which had plenty of grunt to toss this beast around as if it were a much smaller car. Cadillac was proud of the performance and handling, something you might not expect from a 4,600 lb car. Since they were the flagship of the entire General Motors company they spared no expense in perfecting these rides as best they could. Starting price for this ride before options was a whopping $5,588!

Anyone who watched Mad Men knows the deal with this ride and they weren't exaggerating the lifestyle. This Caddy came from the factory with 4 individual cigarette lighters and ashtrays! If they offered an ice machine and martini bar option they would've sold a million of them. The somewhat forgotten Danny DeVito/Richard Dreyfuss movie Tin Men featured Caddys like this as part of the backdrop. It goes without saying that this was THE car of choice for the Mafia (not that there is a Mafia of course because the Mafia doesn't exist).

If those pointy spoke wheels didn't already give it away we can see from the interior that this ride has led a couple lives. This is flashy period correct early '80s lowrider style upholstery. Seeing the fender skirts in the backseat means that this ride is only missing a front signal lens.

Chrysler tried with the Imperial and the Ford Motor Company tried with their Lincoln Continental (losing money on every one they sold) but nobody made a convincing attempt to topple Cadillac from the top of the automotive heap. In this era the Old World stalwarts Rolls Royce and Bentley produced bloated, out of date cars by hand. As a result the production would remain minuscule and prices astronomical. Cadillac produced 16,800 Series 62 convertibles in '62 alone while Rolls and Bentley combined for less than 6,000 cars.

Out of the many vintages of desirable Cadillacs the '62 is a wonderful choice for the collector or classic car fan who wants a drivable ride. The mechanicals are widely available and easy to work on. You'll never save on gas money with one of these but you can sit in it while parked and still outclass everything on the street.

The perfect metaphor for Volkswagen 2017

FROM ROLLIN' JOINTS TO ROLLIN' COAL

Scott from South Jersey sent the following pics from a vacation up in Maine and they gave me an ironic chuckle. Behold opposites ends of the same coin:

This is a 1981-1984 Volkswagen Rabbit pickup in a cool color I can't be sure of (Assuan Brown perhaps?). The Rabbit Pickup was a plot twist because it is a VW that was first introduced in North America. In fact it was built in Pennsylvania and was sold only in the U.S. from 1978-1982. When it was made available in Europe it was given the name Caddy.
Look at that ridiculous smokestack sticking up out of the bed! 

We can see from the emblem on the side of the tailgate that this is a diesel model. Diesel Volkswagens have been the darling of the biofuel set as they are very environmentally friendly. From the factory these would offer up to 50mpg when mated to a 5 speed stick shift (incidentally the 5th gear was labeled E for Economy!). However that smokestack is a part of the recent Rollin' Coal movement. When you're Rollin' Coal you are blowing the maximum amount of black smoke from your diesel exhaust to thumb your nose at wimpy Prius drivers (and increasingly "protesters"). I'm totally serious folks! I suppose it is the perfect metaphor for VW now that it famously got caught cheating on the diesel emissions software of their rides.
So here you have the beacon of hippie environmental consciousness transformed into a pinko hating vehicle for the Right. Who knew?
Thanks to Scott for this schizophrenic vision!

"AS ALWAYS - THE STANDARD OF THE WORLD!"

"AS ALWAYS - THE STANDARD OF THE WORLD!"

I was on a brief field trip to Connecticut when this ocean liner presented itself:

This is a 1953 Cadillac Series 62 sedan in (mostly) Black. Normally I would write that hood off as primer but I think it's the handsome factory color Court Gray. This car is basically a building.
I ran across the original salesman's booklet that Cadillac gave to their dealers so this post will be sprinkled with quotation marks. They copy was great!

Try to let it sink in just how much metal and chrome we're talking about here. The bumper is absolutely monumental! That V on the hood was originally gold in color. Those two chrome rockets jutting out of the sides are Dagmars named after a voluptuous actress of the same name who was basically a blonde Jessica Rabbit. Here she is singing on the Frank Sinatra show back in 1951. I always thought they looked a bit like cigars on the side of some old time gangsters snarl. 

There are styling cues here that will show up on other GM vehicles in the coming years. In particular this lidded headlights would be mimicked somewhat on the 1955-1958 Chevrolet Bel-Aire/Impala series. The Dagmars would appear in more modest form on the '57 Chevy.
What looks like turn signals are actually the newly optional fog lights bragged about in their sales brochure of the day. If the option wasn't chosen there would be a metal filler plate in that space with a small round turn signal in the center.

This stylized hood ornament is simply known as The Goddess.

When this beast was built it was the mountaintop for styling and engineering in a luxury car. Packard was still around and producing high end rides as well but there lack of innovation was starting to show. Chrysler was making Imperials and they were great cars but not produced on the same scale as Cadillac. If you were someone important or of serious means it was either a Caddy or a Rolls Royce.

The interior is nicely laid out and relatively free of flash for '53. A 331 overhead valve V8 engine mated to a 4 speed Hydra-Matic transmission was standard. I can't tell if this one is so equipped but air conditioning was available as an option for the first time. This one sports a clock and radio. Power steering was standard too. Check out the little crank for the vent window!

This funky little lens is mounted on the dash to the right of the steering wheel. It is the Autronic Eye! This device would sense oncoming headlights and automatically dim your brights for you. Remember that this was 64 years ago to get a feel for how futuristic this was at the time.

For an enormous vehicle this has great lines and nice proportions. The fins are still subtle compared to what was to come later in the decade. These smaller fins were first introduced in 1948 and were almost identical to these.

The exhaust comes out of those holes on the lower corners of the bumper. The brochure refers to the "big, husky rear deck" of the trunk which has a "luggage compartment of cross-country proportions."  

One of the coolest features of this ride is the location of the gas cap, which is hidden within the drivers side taillight! Press that small reflector button and the top lens pops up on a hinge, exposing the cap underneath. I explained this to a fellow gawker who was walking around the car barking out questions like "I wonder what this is?". I would answer each one of them and then I mentioned the gas cap. He pressed the button and it opened. I wouldn't recommend doing this without permission!

If this were the "magnificently luxurious" Fleetwood 60 Special there would be a series of chrome gills in front of the rear wheels. It's a shame the fender skirts are off the car because they add to the formality.

These hubcaps were optional in '53. Known as the Aerodynamic Wheel Discs, they were said to reduce wind noise and drag. I just think they're cool.

I'm including this interior shot because the floor is busy with switches. There is a headlight dimmer switch on the far edge and above that there ought to be the on/off switch for the Autronic Eye. There is yet another floor mounted button that's next to the brake pedal that activates the signal seeking Wonderbar radio. Again, in 1953 stepping on a switch to change the station was unheard of!

That vertical chrome bar at the front of the rear fender is marketed as a simulated air scoop gravel guard. Up close it does indeed have 10 little fins giving it the look of a huge intake.
"And here in this car is new massiveness, new strength, and new beauty for 1953" reads the copy of the sales book given to dealers for that year. Every page of that booklet boasts about the sheer size of the car, using the word massive at least 6 times.

10 minutes into Netflix and Chill the Caddy leans over and gives you this look.
This is where I respectfully back away from this majestic craft. Sales were fantastic for Cadillac in 1953, with a record-breaking 85,446 Series 62 cars sold. These heady times wouldn't be gone anytime soon as the prestige of the brand continued through the '70s unabated while other historical marques continued to fold. Hudson, Packard, Rambler, Nash, Kaiser, and DeSoto would all be gone by the turn of the next decade. Ford tried to crack into the luxury market with the Continental Mark II in '55-'56 but they lost money on each one and surrendered quickly. Imperial would become a stand alone brand from '55-'75 but the numbers could never quite compete and they, too, went back into their parent company. Somehow Cadillac soldiers on as the top of the heap in the domestic market to this day. 

THE BASS IS BUMPIN' OUT THE BACK OF MY F EETWOOD

THE BASS IS BUMPIN' OUT THE BACK OF MY F EETWOOD

Somewhere out by the elevated Broadway tracks in Brooklyn I found yet another huge old Cadillac. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the streets of Brooklyn are littered with Caddys from the '60s and '70s in every sort of condition.

This formidable beast is a 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 in Tropic Green Poly. The 70 Series was the Caddy line that included a factory limousine so the appointments and comfort level were top notch. Without hubcaps or fender skirts this looks a lot tougher than if it was properly dressed.

This was the third year for the stacked headlights, but the forward leaning aggressive rake of the front end was new for '67. Most of the Cadillac line would look the same for '68 before a major restyling the following year. The big news for Cadillac in '67 was the Eldorado which, in addition to hidden headlights and a new body, adopted the front wheel drive layout of the Oldsmobile Toronado.

This wide lens is the side cornering lamp which illuminates the area you're about to turn into when the turn signal and headlights are switched on. The bumper is classic Caddy: unabashedly huge and deeply chromed. The little indentation on the top of the fender is the fiber optic indicator housing that shows when you need to replace a headlight or turn signal bulb.

F (L) E E T W O O D spelled out in individual letters is a classy departure from the frilly script on Caddys both before and after this year. This ride is actually in remarkably good shape with little rust.

Formal and stately are two words applicable to the full size Fleetwood with its straight back quarter panels and squared off roofline.
With no license plates or stickers in the windows it's anybodys guess what has become of this beast. Maybe it's holding down this edge of the garage lot in perpetuity? It was missing some small trim items but overall sat level and looked nice. This was the last year for the 429 V8 but that motor is a monster of torque and smooth power so driving this would be lots of fun. Hopefully it's found a new owner or set of plates to roll on.

Cannonball Gold Caddy that took the Bronze

GOLD CADDY THAT TOOK THE BRONZE

I'm going to take a minute to feature yet another '70s Cadillac because they seem to live forever. Way out in rural PA I passed this dusty beast sitting in the Summer sun:

This is a 1971 Cadillac Coupe DeVille in Chalice Gold Firemist Poly. You can call it Chalice Gold but let's face it this thing is BROWN.

As massive as this car is it looks sleek with those awesome taillights that trail the quarter panel edge top to bottom.

Build quality was top-notch for Cadillac as we can see here by the tight and unblemished vinyl roof. This roof treatment is known as the Halo Roof as it doesn't go all the way to the tops of the window openings. This is a hardtop coupe as there are no pillars between the front and rear windows.

The interior is a super comfortable expanse of various browns (called either Carmine or Saddle in the brochure). The dash wraps around the drivers seat a bit even though there isn't much to see. GM figured that anyone buying a Caddy didn't need to mess around with gauges other than the speedometer and the fuel level. The prodigious ashtray is open only adding the overall brown feel.

This long hood holds a monster of an engine; a 7.7 Liter 472 V8 producing 375 horsepower and 365 ft lbs of torque. The only available transmission was a 3 speed automatic. Even though these beasts weighed in around 5,000 lbs their sheer power make them fun to drive hard. Amazingly the engine to succeed this one was even bigger! 1975 ushered in the 8.2 Liter 500 V8.

A bone stock '71 Coupe DeVille just like this one placed 3rd in the original Cannonball Run (this was a real yet unofficial race that was run 5 times in the 1970s). It managed to hold the highest average speed of the race at a whopping 84.6 miles per hour! To average that speed over almost 3,000 miles means hours at over 100mph. They reported an average 8.9 miles per gallon for the race but with a 27 gallon gas tank they still had a while between fill-ups.

This car is as wide as it looks. The '71-'76 Cadillacs had the most door-to-door interior space at 64 inches. Three people can easily sit abreast in the front seat.

Why anybody would bother swapping the Coupe and deVille words so that it reads deVille Coupe is beyond me but whatever. This beast is sporting new tires which can be pretty expensive for such a large car. I don't mind the letter tires and mudflaps on this ride actually.

It's too dark to see but this little housing on top of the fender has 3 small lenses. These are connected via fiber optic to the lights and turn signals to let you know when they need to be replaced. Being a Cadillac it has its own compliment of chrome trim to keep it classy.

Overall this ride is in solid shape with only surface rust emerging here and there. It's sitting nice and tall which makes me assume the suspension has been redone. The ride in these cruisers is like floating on a cushion of air. It can take some getting used to, but things like speed bumps appear in the windshield only to be reduced to a slight movement when passing over them. In addition to the ride these cars are almost silent in stock form. There is sound deadening equipment throughout and the exhaust has a resonator in addition to the muffler to keep it quiet.

This is the sort of car I grew up in. My grandparents had a succession of Cadillacs through the '70s that they would pass along to members of the family when it came time to get a new one. When you're a small child in the backseat of one of these monsters it's like sitting in a room. Power windows and ashtrays (usually full) in every door were the norm.
In high school I had a '74 Coupe DeVille with a less powerful engine than this and I still laid strips constantly (I was 17 years old what do you expect?). It was such a hilarious car because it was super fast while enormous. Gas at the time was around 90 cents a gallon so it was doable. I remember once getting my Shop Rite paycheck and filling the tank from almost empty with the best gas available. even at that low price 27 gallons left me with only a few dollars extra, but what else did I want to do at that age?

Who knows if it's still available but since it was for sale and I snapped all these pics I figure I might as well give the seller a plug. You could do worse for this money if it's in as good repair as I suspect, and if it is still available I'm sure the price is much lower. Good luck!

First generation American with dual citizenship

A CADDY BY ANY OTHER NAME

Today I'm featuring another selection from my Oregon heatwave visit from last year. Here we have a first generation American whose parents are from Germany. Who would've guessed this ride is as American as it gets?

What we have here is a 1981-1983 Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup Truck LX in Cashmere White.
VW introduced this spinoff of their popular Rabbit in 1980. In only that first year the turn signals were located within the bumpers. Starting in '84 the headlights were more flush with the grill rather than inset so we know it's in the '81-'83 range.
From the moment these little trucks were introduced they were built in a Pennsylvania factory making this the first foreign car built in the U.S.

Just like the AMC Gremlin this ride is a doppelganger of another vehicle from the doors forward. However where the Gremlin was a car chopped in half this one grew an additional 9 inches in length. The bed was 6 feet from cab to tailgate which was pretty good for a mini truck.
This looks so plain-Jane but it actually is the mildly upgraded LX edition. The only way we can tell (since the original tailgate with its badging is missing) is by the bumpers being chrome.

To see one of these so rust-free is astounding to any East-Coaster!
The VW Rabbit Truck spread to other continents and was known in the rest of the world as the VW Caddy. This fits the VW mantra as the Rabbit was always labeled  Golf outside of the States.
Production of the Caddy lives on to this day elsewhere in the world currently only in its 3rd generation (though face lifted several times). The 2016 Caddy has some amazingly-named versions such as Caddy Life and Caddy Maxi Tramper.

Even though the tailgate has been changed there is an excellent chance that this is a diesel. Most of the first generation trucks were diesel with a 5 speed manual. Interestingly the 5th gear was labeled E for Economy. If you wanted the automatic you had to choose the gasoline engine. None of these combinations (5 speed included) were quick but the truck proved very capable at small tasks. That same legendary diesel engine propelled Rabbits of the era to 300,000 mile lifespans, something that was absolutely unprecedented in its day.

Well there we have it; a small, cute, capable little donkey that just wants to work and please its owner. I remember as a kid riding in a friends moms Rabbit that they bragged was the cheapest version available. It had black rubber mats in lieu of carpet and no radio (it was the most yellow car I've seen to this day!). Finding a stripped-down truck to drive around in today would be great as reliability and parts availability are both top-notch. With a small camper fitted to the back it might be the ultimate road trip vehicle. Hats off Caddy!