When it comes to the tail fin era, the seller of this 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille is absolutely correct that it doesn’t get any more iconic than this! Raised quarter panels pointing out the back were in their heyday during the fifties, and none were as outrageous as those that Cadillac put on the DeVille back in ’59. Although it was the custom-painted Elvis Rose colored 1955 Fleetwood that The King of Rock and Roll used as his touring car that later inspired Bruce Springsteen to write the famous song, any pink Cadillac is rather renowned in auto history, so with this hue combined with those tall, bullet-shaped taillights, you’ve got one attention-getting car here. This one is in Bryan, Texas, and can be viewed here on eBay, where the opening bid of $29,000 is already in place.
Named Pinky, this cool Caddy looks like it needs almost nothing from a distance. Only when you get up close does it become apparent that the exterior could use a bit of minor work, such as repairing a few rust bubbles under the paint in some of the lower areas. There’s also a small amount of paint peeling near the taillights on the driver’s side, along with a couple of minor nicks, but this one’s probably nice enough already to let all of this go for a while. I’d have to think long and hard before deciding to do anything other than just enjoy driving this car, and getting a kick out of the many thumbs-ups I’m sure it receives from passersby.
Besides the steering wheel showing some cracks, most of the interior is also in fine shape overall, and likely in acceptable condition as-is for most enthusiasts. Perhaps replacing the carpet might be the one thing I’d consider doing soon, but it’s not that bad and certainly nowhere near an eyesore. The seats appear to be good, as are the door panels, dash, and instrument cluster, with what looks like the factory radio still intact.
One component that will need attention before the car is roadworthy is the brakes, but the car does start, run, and drive. The seller also mentions the idea of renting this one out for photo shoots or weddings to generate some extra income, but I think just sitting in my garage most of the time would give me a better peace of mind. Other than fixing the brakes, there’s little more I would consider doing immediately to this 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. How about you?
“Enjoy driving,” Mike? You might not, even with the brakes made functional. These a big, heavy boats, with numb steering and a ride that tends more toward “floaty” than “sporty.” They’re not bad boulevard cruisers, though, as long as you’re pretty sure where all four corners are. I speak from experience….
The backstory of GM’s 1959 designs was fascinating. The late GM designer Dave Holls related it to me many years ago, and admittedly cringed a bit at the Cadillac’s flamboyance. He preferred the more conservative ’61s.
But he admitted the ’59s sent a message, as they do today: “Look at me!”
I think I’d prefer a color other than pink — as I would on any car — but this is still historic and well worth preserving and enjoying.
The ’60 shared a lot of the ’59’s lines but lost the missiles and lowered the fins a bit. An automotive queen.
I’ve always wondered what were the 59 Caddy designers thinking when they came up with this over-the-top beauty. If you would be so kind, I would LOVE to hear that “fascinating” backstory, even patches of it. Thanks!
“We goin ridin on the freeway of love, in my pink Cadillac…” You don’t see these every day, and looking at the rear you can see why the US had a missile crisis in the early 60s.
I’m surprised that Angel hasn’t seen this one yet. Very nice for what you get but that price IS a bit much though. My folks had a
pale yellow one when I was growing up. And what a great used car it was too! It would take you anywhere you wanted to go
and do it all year round and do it in style. The only down side was getting stabbed in the back by the tailfins if you didn’t watch where you were going playing ball 🏈 with your friends. Went out for a pass and got skewered by the left tailfin! The refs would call
that roughing the receiver today.
Honey I just wonder what you do there in the back of your pink Cadillac, pink Cadillac,,and for the record, he’s “The Boss”, not the king, that would be Elvis. What a car, honey we don’t have to drive it, we can park it out in back, not a movie goer, but I heard that movie about him wasn’t the best. Still, can you see future generations scooting around on their motorized suitcases, and just think, this was for ONE person? What were they thinking?
Some folks think it’s too bid🎵 and uses too much gas! 🎶 Some folks think it’s too OLD! 🎵 I love my PINK Cadillac! 🎵 Nuff said! EXCEPT, also recorded by ARETHA,
I’m an old Cadillac-er and it don’t get no better than the king of the fleet than this Titanic! Good luck seller, if I didn’t have so many projects I’d make it mine.
Is this a Coupe de Ville or a 62 series coupe? I don’t see the Coupe de Ville script on the rear quarter panels.
You didn’t look closely enough ~ the script is missing on the passenger side but it’s there on the driver’s side.
The missing horn ring is over $1000 if you can even find an original, plus another $25k + on paint and body work (since shops believe just owning it means you’re wealthy) and it should be a felony to paint everything under the hood FORD BLUE! The dash looks terrible in that “Battleship gray”, it should be dessert rose with matching leather. Between buying it and restoring it you’d have over $100k in it and you could buy one at a high end auction for less than that IMO. Good luck to the new owner.
Found a NOS 59 horn ring in an auction back in 2017. Outbid the only other guy who knew what it was and got it for $400. Auctioneer was flabbergasted that one piece went for that much (yeah, he didn’t have clue either – started the bidding at $5!!). Listed it the next week in an eBay auction for $900, and it sold for $2200 to a guy from Sweden. He had a guy in Camp Hill, PA (Harrisburg suburb) that was gathering stuff for him and container shipping it, and since I was going to Hershey the next week, I hand delivered to Camp Hill in person, saving the anxiety of me shipping it and worrying about UPS losing/breaking it. All in all, made for extra presents for Christmas that year, and the guy in Sweden let me know a couple months later he was overjoyed when he eventually got it.
Checked back in my records and found it was actually $2375.00 end price!
I looked at the Ebay photos, lot of bubbles in that paint all over the body. The car has one badge declaring it as a Deville and the interior door panels are from a Deville. Everywhere you look there is lots of overspray in the door jams and inside the trunk. Obviously the horn ring is broken and my best guess this vehicle was originally Grey to match the Dash and Steering wheel. The new color scheme is very pleasing to the eye, but nowhere near correct or an original option. It has no factory air, but does have power windows and power locks.
I keep looking for a Mary Kay sticker in the back window.
My father’s is a 59 Fleetwood 4 door, series 62 it’s beautiful I used to drive weddings in it back in the 80’s for extra cash . It’s tan no post tan leather with 70 k and it’s all original except stainless dual exhaust. I drove it with my 3 sisters at his funeral a couple years ago. I like the high beam eye ball sensor on the dash and you can change the radio stations with a button on the floor that looks like an extra headlight switch. It’s a tank but we used to ride from Cape cod to Detroit every summer when we were kids all 6 of us. It’s a cool ride. Great on the highway it would run 75-80 all day long .
My ex mother-in-law had one of this series of Caddys because they were the only cars with a large enough trunk to hold her outboard motor and all her fishing gear.
it’s neat. not a fan of the interior. i would bet that’s not factory. some really poor repairs done under the hood to point of being scary. i would not drive it like that. that’s a problem waiting to happen
it’s got an electric fuel pump riding on the valve cover and the original fuel/vacuum pump looks disconnected.
My 59 Coupe Deville was white (like this one was before they painted it pink) with grey interior. It was a great long haul car that would get me in trouble if I wasn’t careful. No cruise control. A cop clocked me at 87 on the Interstate one day and I didn’t even realize my speed had creeped up that far ~ that’s how smooth it was. It was a nice car till my brother borrowed it and totaled it.
For your listening enjoyment – Coupe De Ville by The Del Fuegos. Boston band with a couple of local hits that should have made it bigger than they did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srWYLLyDt68
My favorite year of the Caddys. This one looks to have an older repray in a diifferent color years ago and is still worth putting money into if you have that kind of money. Still looks in OK shape and would like to set undercarriage pictures.
At the young age of 7, I got my first 3 stitches from my folks ‘59 tail fin. Thanyou very much!
SOLD for $32,600.
18 bids.