We see an enormously diverse range of classics at Barn Finds. Having recently completed an article about a 1950 Crosley Hot Shot, I am now confronted by this 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine. The pair represent either end of the scale, with the Hot Shot tiny and the Cadillac almost as big as my house. The seller states that it has a genuine 8,000 miles on its odometer, describing it as being in “museum condition.” They have listed the Caddy here on eBay in Houston, Texas. It seems that plenty of people subscribe to the “bigger is better” philosophy, with thirty-two bids pushing the price to $5,100. However, that figure falls below the reserve.
The history of this Cadillac is unclear, although it appears from my investigations that it hasn’t spent its entire life in Texas. It appears to have spent time in Canada before finding its way to its current location last year. That always raises the question of potential rust issues, although the seller’s willingness to host in-person inspections suggests they have nothing to hide. The first owner ordered the Limo in Hudson Bay Blue with a Black vinyl top. The image quality generally isn’t great, but there are no glaring issues or problems visible. The panels are straight, and the vinyl looks crisp. The exterior bright trim sparkles nicely against the dark paint shade, and the glass is clear. This Cadillac is far from subtle, but it is ideal for anyone who wishes to channel their inner Texas oil tycoon.
The Limousine tips the scales well north of 5,000 lbs, meaning it requires something fairly substantial under the hood to provide respectable performance. What buyers received for their money was a 425ci V8, a three-speed automatic transmission, and power assistance for the steering and front disc brakes. The power figure of 180hp sounds modest, although it is worth noting that with power and torque hitting their peak low in the engine’s rev range, performance was better than first impressions might suggest. This is where we face the biggest question hanging over this Fleetwood. The seller states it has a genuine 8,000 miles on its odometer without mentioning verifying evidence. It may exist, and it would be the first question I would ask before committing the funds to this purchase. They yard-drive this classic occasionally, but it is unclear whether it is genuinely roadworthy. Therefore, that is the second question to pose.
One criticism leveled at some classics is a lack of interior space. There are no such problems with this Cadillac because the rear passenger area is humungous. There is room for three to occupy the back seat, while a pair of jump seats boosts that number by two. The included images are slightly deceptive because while this one seems to reveal dirty carpet, the remaining shots show no apparent problems. The front seat photos are limited, but there are no signs of abuse or damage. The overall condition is consistent with the odometer reading, although I never consider that as iron-clad proof. It features all of the creature comforts you would expect from the marque, including climate-control air conditioning, power windows, power locks, a power front seat, cruise control, a tilt wheel, headlamp delay, and an AM/FM radio/CB.
The listing statistics suggest that people like what they see with this 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood, with the interest translating into a healthy bid tally. Interestingly, a brief online search revealed a previous auction for this Caddy, confirming that it last changed hands in October last year for $14,000. The biggest question is whether it will exceed that figure this time or if someone might become its new owner for a lower price. Confirming the odometer reading will have a major influence on where the bidding heads in the coming days. What would you be prepared to pay for this gentle giant?
🎸 🎶 🥁 ” Well, I was rolling down the road in some cold blue steel
I had a blues man on the back and a beautician at the wheel
We’re going downtown in the middle of the night
We’re laughing and I’m joking and we feeling alright
Oh, I’m bad, I’m nationwide
Yes I’m bad, I’m nationwide
Easing down the highway in a new Cadillac
I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back
They sporting short dresses, wearing spike-heel shoes
They smoking Lucky Strikes and wearing nylons too.. ” 💅 👠 🚬 😎
Nailed it. My favorite Top tune and so applicable here. I often thought the Series 75 would be perfect if you had a bunch of kids and wanted to ride in style.
Nice BF article, BUT sure was something fishy with this Ebay listing. Ebay not only ended early, but Ebay erased the listing having ever existed. 3 days ago I wrote: “Has anyone else run the VIN# 6F23S7Q143923? According to my records, there is no I or Q, and the number of characters is incomplete. Unable to read…” I also wrote the seller 3 times asking for clarification. No reply. I was interested in bidding too, but the unknown / unreadable VIN# raised my concern. Any others here see these issues?
Too many characters. Should be 13. I and O is always 1 or 0. Q is not used to my knowledge. 17 place VIN began in 1980.
My parents had a brand new ’78 Coupe Deville tripple burgundy. I remember the brochure showing these factory Limos. Very nice. This one looks good enough to be in the brochure. I’m not going to comment on the mileage, but, I will say that to me, it sure does appear to have the original Lacquer paint on it. And if it is, its definitely been stored very carefully for decades. The interior too just looks top notch. I dont know about the limo here, hut I can attest to being a teenager and getting the rears to light up with that 425, even with the tall 2:73 (I think) gears. 180 hp doesn’t sound like much, but when Dad leaned his foot into it on the highway it would drop down a cog or two and take off with no problem at all. This is one nice factory Limo, and I don’t think there’s many left in this condition.
On the fuel crunch of the late 70’s before overdrive became common 2.26 rear end gears were standard so the engines had peak torque and horsepower low in the rev range. I hope GM bumped these to 2.73’s or 3.08’s for the added weight. This is a nice example that should find a nice home
I just found the brochure online. I was wrong, they came standard with a 2:56 rear standard 3:08 standard for high altitude and optional in California only ( don’t know why only high up or California).
Woops. I was looking at the Seville, I’m wrong again, the Deville was a 2:28 standard, but not for the limo ( thankfully) Sorry about that. I need new bifocals
I also stand corrected. 2.28’s were indeed right, 2.26′ were over at Chrysler. I must be getting old not to have remembered that. Correction i am old. ;)
Seems like OLD times! I’m now a Vintage 1947 Rolls Canardly, Roll down one hill and Can ardly get up the next. The golden years can 💋 my 😲 . Fleet would help! Still lucky to be Drivin in Style!
@Robert Proulx at least you were way closer than me!! We seem to have failing memory and eyesight here today.
Car looks mint, just not sure when Caddy started using aluminum blocks. Overheat those blocks once, and they were toast.
The Cadillac 425 was a variation of the 472, 500 and even 368. Fortunately, it was not an aluminum block like the early 80’s 4100 HT. They were good engines, that held up very well. ( the 425 not the 4100).
What kind of man lets someone else drive them around like a child? If you had the money to buy something like this when new, you had the means to buy a real car, a damned nice one to.
Perhaps a person who makes a lot more money per hour sitting in the back reviewing documents or working on a laptop or phone than sitting in the front while commuting in rush hour traffic. It seems to be fairly common in high level business and entertainment circles.
Godzilla, I’d hire Howard. 😎
My late brother once had a 68 Fleetwood Series 75 Limousine. Incomparable in style, comfort, luxury and a real attention getter. Being chauffeured in it was feeling like Royalty. But when colleagues thought he was putting on airs, he sold it, moving to ROLLS-ROYCE then to Mercedes. THAT was a decision I never understood. Angel, where are you? You’ve got to weigh in on this!
For the record, looking at interior, I don’t see the glass panel separating front and back compartments. That would make this a Series 75 Fleetwood Formal Sedan. Yes, I’m still Picky Ricky! 😅 🤣
Saw that too. No partition, so I think not technically a limousine.
Greetings and Rick
I believe this discussion was discussed to exhaustive means before. This is a limousine. Same wheelbase. Partitions were optional.
Per the 1977 Cadillac brochure, this is a Fleetwood Limousine, while an example with the divider window would be a Fleetwood Formal Limousine.
Rick,have you sit in a Rolls –once? It will spoil anyone. Its like sitting in a Lay Boy. I have a 89 Caddy–sits nice. My sister . Helped my brother and I rebuild the seat in his 76 Ford 4 wheel drive-short wheel base. We put 3 inch foam in the back and 6 inch in the bottom—what a soft ride that mad. I like this Caddy. To bad I,m not young anymore. I,d have this as my home. Go camping in the trunk. Leave everything in the back and camp all the time..
@Rick
Hey boo! What’s shaking?
(I mean besides everything?)
This car is post 1976. You know I don’t care for GM products post 1976 with only a couple of exceptions…… 1980 —> Cadillac Seville bustleback, 1987 —> Cadillac Allante, 1992 Cadillac Fleetwood, 2004 GMC Envoy, 2010 Cadillac XLR. That’s about it.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Rick, but I believe that’s the wrong hood ornament on this one. That’s a ’75/’76 hood ornament. 1977 had a see through with no crest ornament. The condition of this formal sedan is in nice condition so I guess the milage might be in the suggested range. Rust, living in Canada is possible but this does look like it was well taken care of. A carry over from the 1976 thru 1978 Eldorado was the color coded hubcaps which look nice on this vehicle.
I have had discussions with TKC on horsepower numbers, gross vs net, my 1976 CdV with the 500 cu.in. had 190 hp (net) which may corelate to 230 hp (gross) but whatever the numbers are, it was pitiful for a car that size and weight. Even after I had the engine rebuilt it couldn’t get out of its own way.
I’m not a fan of muscle cars but I do like luxo barges that are fast and powerful.
I had bought a beautiful 1973 Cadillac Limo(yes, with the divider window)in 1989. It had 62,000 documented mikes on it and was immaculate inside and out. Dark metallic blue. I learned a few things though.
1. Driving my 65 Cadillac and all my others I was very coooool because to the people looking at me, they knew I owned it, BUT looking at me in my Limo, they just thought I was driving it.
2. They were more interested in who was in the back than who I was.
I was virtually invisible.
Hey, RICK W! You instantly took me back to Guy Lombardo around 1946 (if memory serves):
Seems like old times
Dinner dates and flowers
Seems like old times
Staying up for hours
Making dreams come true
Doing things we used to do
Seems like old times
Being here with you.
Hey, RICK W! You instantly took me back to Guy Lombardo around 1946 (if memory serves):
Seems like old times
Dinner dates and flowers
Seems like old times
Staying up for hours
Making dreams come true
Doing things we used to do
Seems like old times
Being here with you.
Hey, RICK W! You instantly took me back to Guy Lombardo around 1946 (if memory serves):
Seems like old times
Dinner dates and flowers
Seems like old times
Staying up for hours
Making dreams come true
Doing things we used to do
Seems like old times
Being here with you.
I think Vaughn Monroe had a version of that song, too, but I liked the Guy Lombardo one better (which is why I have it on a DECCA 78)
Has anyone else run the VIN# 6F23S7Q143923. According to my records, there is no 7 for manufacturer or Q, and the number of characters is incomplete. Unable to read. Seems odd as my past experience when using ebay Motors is they reject incorrect VINs being posted. Thoughts? Adam Clarke wrote that he was able to see that this car sold last year. Did he use the VIN # posted on ebay?
The VIN decodes to a 1977 Fleetwood Limousine. 17-digit VINs weren’t used until 1981. Hagerty.com has a tool that will correctly decode pre-1981 VINs.
Look here, another body style, that’s been discontinued by the Cadillac. What a loss!
Love that early 60s Lincoln.
@Ken Fulton
The black Lincoln is a 1968.
There is also a white car behind a van in one of the pictures that looks like a 1970 Galaxy or a 1970 Lincoln, can’t really tell. But definitely a FoMoCo
Funeral Home Limo does not use a glass partition behind the front seat. Anybody else that would be an option. Fine car if you could afford to pay for the gas it would use and have a BIG garage to park it in. That is a special occasion vehicle not an everyday cruiser. With it being so long its different to drive it not like a small car. Drive this you would quickly learn that you drive it like a bus. EX: like 54 passenger school bus.
Hello, Angel Cadillac Queen Diva!
Hi Harrison,
Glad to see you hear and appreciate your input. Nice Caddy though, huh?
TO Angel Cadillac Queen Diva: HUGE Cadillac!!! Or, as a certain Italian-heritaged car dealer who sadly passed away used to tell us in his inimitable New York style: “YYUUUU-GUH!”
TO Angel Cadillac Queen Diva: HUGE Cadillac!!! Or, as a certain Italian-heritaged car dealer who sadly passed away used to tell us in his inimitable New York style: “YYUUUU-GUH!”
TO Angel Cadillac Queen Diva: HUGE Cadillac!!! Or, as a certain Italian-heritaged car dealer who sadly passed away used to tell us in his inimitable New York style: “YYUUUU-JUH!”
TO Angel Cadillac Queen Diva: HUGE Cadillac!!! Or, as a certain Italian-heritaged car dealer who sadly passed away used to tell us in his inimitable New York style: “YYUUUU-JUH!”
Hi guys! Nice to see you all here. First, let me address Terry”#
comment about a man being driven around like a child. For me, that is an every day fact of life as I am legally blind and will never be able to drive at all. Oh sure, I could buy ’em build ’em, and fix a lot of ’em, but I was never able to experience the joys (?) of driving a car and the freedom it gives you. And that’s why I don’t have a classic car now. I have to buy bland expensive cars to make my SIL and niece happy instead. And yes Godzilla, I was
one of those folks that worked from the back seat of my 1950 Packard 9 passenger limousine on my way to many one night stands my friends and I played as a young band leader in the early ’70s. I made set lists, signed contracts, all from the back seat of my car. And Angel,, it’s always a pleasure to see you here dear. I’m surprised that you would want to comment on this car as I know these are not your favorite type of Cadillac. And BTW, I recall the story of how you worked in a bakery to pay for your ’62 Lincoln . You must’ve been a real knockout with your hair in a bee hive wearing one of those waitress outfits they had back then. But enough of that. As for this car, my step-dad had a sedan DeVille of this year. His was ice blue with a dark blue interior. It was an okay car for what it was, but not a Cadillac as
we knew them to be. And yes Angel, I still challenge my kids and they won a championship last night. Their service time was 94 seconds, plus maintaining that time for back to back $1,000 hours . Couldn’t have been any more proud of them even if they’re not my children. But I digress. You could use this car for proms, weddings, or if you have a very large family. But sorry folks, I’m gonna say that this car is well taken care of for 108K
miles and not 8K. Just sayin’…
You couldn’t get a prom party or a wedding party in this thing if you were offering it for free. They’d all turn their nose up and say eeeew, gross.
Morning Harrison! I think that same fellow came here to Florida in the 2010’s and opened up a string of Kia
dealerships in the Tampa Bay area. And if I remember right, he always had a pretty young lady or two with him as he talked about his newest promotion. First saw him in ’15 and
found his ads to be very funny compared to other dealers. And as for the 🎵 music, you sir, have very good taste. Nowadays, I listen to the oldies 😁 and that’s pretty much it. If I had the money, and the audience, I’d
open up a radio station that plays all the stuff you talk about and more! We had such a station in my hometown when I was growing up. They played any and all types of music too. They would play stuff for the adults through the week. And on the weekends, they had a Teenaged Dance Party Saturday nights and a show called The Country Corner that
ran Saturdày and Sunday afternoons
Oh sure, there were stations that were playing all the formats I mentioned, but it just wasn’t the same. Now that’s when local stations were really local! Such great times those were.
,
Hello, Kenneth Carney! Thank you for the nice words! The man’s name was Fucillo (spelling?), and he was ALL OVER EVERYWHERE, with the same N.Y.C. schtick, larger than life. Then he very suddenly died, the ads abruptly ended, and his sons sold-off all of the dealerships. Sad. Could you please favour me with the call-letters and frequency of that radio station, and its location, if you would be so kind? I once ran a very local totally live radio station, so I know whereof you speak.
Sure Harrison, the call letters were WJBC 1230 AM out of Bloomington, Illinois. Not THAT was a local station!
Tune in, and you heard Louis Prima, Al
Hirt, Burt Kemphert, Teresa Brewer, and so many others. Used to know all the DJs there and my kid sister went to
school with the owner’s daughter who was Don Munson. And if you were a
young musician that had a record to sell, they would play it so that the whole town could hear it. And though I never had any of my stuff played on
the air, I knew guys who did. Groups
like the Shattertones, the Cobblestones, all got their start there
But sadly though, all the locality died
15 years ago when WGN radio out of
Chicago bought them out in 2010. And like the song says, “Oh it always seems to go, and you don’t know what you got til it’s gone”
I have been booted off this site for the LAST TIME by ADs, losing what I sent more than 1/2 hour typing. CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP AND REFUND MY MONEY — I’M OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been booted off this site for the LAST TIME by ADs, losing what I spent more than 1/2 hour typing. CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP AND REFUND MY MONEY — I’M OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have complained endlessly about this, and you DO NOTHING to stop or prevent it!!! I won’t invest any more of my time and attention to this! I regretfully applogise to the friends I have met here. Great sadness…