The Calais was the no frills version of the De Ville. Many options standard on the De Ville, like power windows, were extra cost options on the Calais and several, like metallic paint, were not available. This Calais is being sold through the museum here in Sacramento. The asking price is $8,000. Considering the condition of this Cadillac, that seems reasonable.It hasn’t been registered or driven for a few years, but it isn’t suffering any ill effects from not being driven. The owner has owned the car since 1988 and is the third owner. It’s been stored inside. This Cadillac is very original, rust free, complete and unmolested. The paint is original, the engine was rebuilt about 60,000 miles ago and the front seat base was reupholstered with matching GM sourced material.
The interior is near perfect. There is a rip on both sides in the vinyl on the base of the back seat. The windows are hand crank and are a bit stiff because the window seals were replaced.
The engine was rebuilt about 60,000 miles ago but it is is stock. The A/C even works and was converted to 134. There is an exhaust leak between the header and the exhaust pipe on the left side.
There are no signs of rust underneath.
There’s no pitting or rust in any of the chrome or trim but there are a few dings. The paint is a bit faded and has been touched up in places but this old Caddy is about as nice as you’ll find. It has too many doors but it’s a survivor, a beautiful, original old Caddy. I would drive it exactly as it is. Others might want to improve the brakes, but I hope it stays original.
Dang – $8K seems cheap for most anything 1965 in this condition!
Looks great, pretty reasonable for a vehicle in this condition.
Can’t EVER have too many doors with a Caddy IMHO, And for me I like all the room of a 4 door better than the Coupe De Ville, no better way to comfortably tour with a few close friends. Nice clean survivor, needs nothing, esp like it’s orig Cal black plate, supports its provenance.
Having owned a perfectly nice Sedan De Ville and sold it for the princely sum of $750.00, admittedly a long time ago, I have a hard time getting my head around an 8,000 dollar Calais …… As nice a it might be. I especially like th ’65 iteration .
Nothing quite drives like these on the open highway. Take it to Sturgis and camp out of the trunk, tow a trailer or haul everyone around just for fun. As I recall, these had a 340 horse V8 and were spirited to drive. Just use it and enjoy it.
My Aunt got married for the first time at age 66. He husband always got the first new Cadillac of the model year in their town. It was always a Coupe Deville in off white with Green cloth interior one year and brown the next. His last car was a 1958.
My Aunt had never driven, but kept the 1958 in a large attached garage until 1965 when she decided to learn to drive. She called the Cadillac dealer and had them send over a 1965 Calais coupe. It was off white with brown. My Aunt was 5 feet tall. She needed cushions with the manual seat all the way forward. My Mother taught her to drive, and Auntie passed on the first try, including parallel parking.
Auntie died in 1986. The 1965 Cadillac had 11000 miles; many put on by my Father when he drove it to keep the battery charged. None of those Cadillacs had AC.
cool story.
Enjoyed this story.
I had the twin to the car several decades ago. Loved it!
That interior is nicely styled, and looks both comfortable and beautiful. Wondering what the small vent is for just above the speedometer…looks out of place and unusual.
Land Barge par excellence
I’ve always had mixed feelings about the Calais line. Would I rather have a stripped down Caddy or a loaded 225 or 98 for probably the same money?
Leave it just the way it is ,no need to change anything. Looks like a good deal for someone looking for a car to cruise around in .
What’s the towing capacity? Might need a tanker trailer full of High Octane to make it between filling stations! ;-)
My parents had a ’65 sedan de ville, beige w/ matching leather w/all options. The kept it for 10 years. My dad pulled a 26′ Coachman Bunkhouse every summer to the smoky mountains in North Carolina on the annual family vacation. I remember we were parked at a restaurant called the “Fish Camp” as a kid rolling match boxed down from the roof to the fins w/my sister. An elderly man approached and we shouldn’t do that to such a fine car. My parents spent a good amount of time driving friends around in the car. They all wanted to experience driving in a Cadillac. Cadillacs were a big deal back then. My dad ended up selling it to a neighbor who had a white ’65. His wife drover hers without oil and destroyed the engine. They needed another engine so they bought ours. I remember it sitting our engineless car sitting on the side of there house rusting out for the next 20 years.
Hey, just for your information, this beautiful Cadillac is now in me and my wifes ownership, the car is now in Karlstad, Sweden, and we are really happy to own this car. it will stay original, and the blackplate now hangs on our wall in our home.