In the big tent that is the old car hobby, there is a group of enthusiasts that totally eschew the perfect shiny restored look for something a bit more sweaty and lived in. This 1959 Cadillac Coupe deVille for sale on Hemmings in Indianapolis, Indiana for $19,000 is aimed directly at that group.
People know the ’59 Cadillac as the zenith of findom that began with the 1949 models and led to a styling craze that went around the world. All of Detroit jumped on the bandwagon along with European brands such as Mercedes and Peugeot, and then it was all over a few model years later. Finned cars – especially ones with wear beyond “patina” – are on the radar screens of those who want to drive something out of the ordinary.
The seller states that he has carried out at lot mechanical work on the car with replacement fuel system, ignition system, brakes and shock absorbers to name a few. He claims that it starts up quickly and runs without smoking. The mileage indicated is 65,000 but with a car of this age, who really knows?
Body wise, this Coupe deVille has a number of rusted-through areas on the rocker panels, fender bottoms and hood and there is a lot of paint that is just missing. Whether the paint loss was helped along with an eye towards making the Caddy a bit more funky is not mentioned in the ad. There are places where it could have worn away, but the passenger rear fender looks intentional.
The interior is in reasonably good condition with some cracking on the leather trim on the outer edges of the cloth seating surface. In the rear there are the remains of those clear plastic seat covers people installed in the fifties and sixties. The rear upholstery looks a little toasty with the sun worn seat backs and it would benefit from a cleaning. The dashboard and interior trim look decent, too.
If this is the original engine, we’re looking at Cadillac’s 390 cubic inch V8 fed by a four barrel carburetor. Gear swapping duties are carried out by a four speed Hydra-matic transmission. There is an air conditioning compressor in place, but getting the system to blow cold again might be an expensive undertaking. New belts and hoses would be in order, too.
Nineteen large isn’t chump change, and a full restoration on a car like this would be astronomical. The acres of chrome plating alone will demand a very large check to be written, so maybe the best and highest use for it is to be preserved and enjoyed as it is. If it gets another driver involved in the hobby then we all win because in the end, it’s about the cars.
It looks like some one hit it with a high pressure washer and a bunch of the paint fell off. Now what I see is a car that is vulnerable to rust and decay this thing needs to be garaged until it can get a protective coating of paint reapplied.. This is NOT patina it is a crappy paint job falling off the the car body.
That is factory paint, and yes, with neglect it has a tendency to fall off after 60 years of life. I appreciate that the seller left it as is, rather than covering up the issues with bondo and “good” paint.
Nice boobies on the tail lights 👍🎯
These all are required thru the “boss” Bruce to be pink
👍🤠
Looks like a great restoration candidate. That should sell quickly
Love it, love it , love it !!!!
It wasnt so long ago that a car in this condition was considered pretty rusted and certainly not worthy of a 5 figure ask. Somewhere, somehow sellers and obviously some buyers decided that there was merit in presenting and then buying a rusted and clearly ignored car for crazy money.
I think they need their heads examined.
Is anyone else sick of hearing “patina”….?
I was sick of hearing “patina” ages ago. I first heard the term used on Gas Monkey Garage.
Classy ladies such as this one here deserve to look their very best.
My dream garage holds a 59 Eldo converible, as well as a 59 Fleetwood 75 Series
If the 57 Chevy Bel Air is the King of classic cars, the 59 Caddy is arguably the queen. This baby needs & deserves to be restored.
Restomod this sessy beast…if you have the 💰💰💰.
Airbags…rims…A/C…fresh leather…gold re-plate…cream white…500 ponies under the hood.
Back in the ’60’s, my older brother rear ended one of these while riding his Harley, considering the fins, he was very lucky to only lose a fingernail.
For $19000 I want AC
If you all don’t mind I’d like to take a moment to to tell you all a funny but sad in a way story. Many years ago about 1971 or 72 I had the opportunity to purchase a 1959 Caddy limo. That belonged to J. Edgar Hoover bullet proof glass and all. Well it was really rusted out being from New York. So rusted the rocker panels were gone to the point you could sit in the front seat without your feet ever leaving the ground, yea that bad. I gave up the restoration and went to watch them crush it between the glass and the steel in the doors they couldn’t it broke the crusher weighed 8600 lbs. and went in not crushed. That’s my short story I sure wish I could have restored it
Kind of an unpopular opinion but I like the looks of the 1960 m/y better. This one is worth saving, even at an asking price of $19k. You’ll never make your money back on a full restoration, so just get it reliably drivable and enjoy.
I guess there must be an upside here, if this ad is any indication of current prices :)
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/cto/d/1959-cadillac-coupe-deville/6650696177.html
Now here’s a ’59 Caddy! Yeah, it’s a 4-door, but so what? Beautiful!
https://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/d/cadillacseries-special/6644822567.html
Yyyyyyyeah. I’ll be right over. Need it for an F&F sequel!
That ad….LMAO!
Now here’s a ’59 Caddy! Yeah, it’s a 4-door, but so what? Beautiful!
https://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/d/cadillacseries-special/6644822567.html
The right 1/4 panel could have been replaced once upon a time, that black primer was what they used on replacement fenders. This would be a labor of love to redo this baby, you would be better off spending $50K for a nice one…
True, but at least this is a nice driver which doesn’t require another $30k worth of work to avoid embarrassment…
Back around 1971, when I was a teenager, I bought a baby blue ’59 Coupe de Ville. A wonderful ride! Ran great, no rust or dents, perfect chrome and interior … except someone had repainted the car WITH A BRUSH! As soon as you got within 10 feet, you could see the brushstrokes everywhere. Because of that paint job, I only paid $200 for it; sold it in just a few months because I couldn’t afford to keep the gas tank filled. Makes me wonder what it’d be worth today….
What other car will let you check the tail lights from the rear view mirror?
Love the tail lights, give you ten bucks for them.
These are great cars! They were made way before the throw away Caddys came! I believe if my memory recalls this was the height of the fin! From here on every year the fin decreased a little each year! To bad for this poor car that someone will probably chop it up lower it and put rediculous tires on it!
The ’57 “Forward Look” Chryslers challenged Cadillac. GM responded with the ’59 Caddy fins. Cadillac went over the top. “Jumped the shark” if you will
My Dad had a yellow ’59 Coupe when I was a kid in the very early sixties. I thought it was the coolest! Boys kept stealing the tail light lenses to put on their Cushman Eagles. lol
Price drop….years back you couldn’t touch a 59/60 hardtop for under 50 grand thanks to that Hard Rock Cafe bunch. The wrecking yard owner/friend had a hardtop parked in 1968 folks clambered for well into the 1990’s….went to Cadillac John who flipped in after he had passed around 2001 or so…
I had a 59 yellow and white coupe in about 2004, it was a very nice car and I paid13.5K for it, and believed, I stole it. When I got it home, I was afraid it might not fit in the garage. My plan was just take off a few rough edges and drive it, just a cool cruiser. Unfortunatley, some things changed and I sold it, didn’t loose any money, but every time I see one, I wish I had mine back
Apologies if I’ve shared this before but in HS I knew some guys that claimed they could strip the taillights off of a ’59 while it was sitting at a traffic light. Not sure if it was possible (opinions? could it be done?) Never saw them do it but sounded good unless the Caddie was yours of course. Those taillights could bring good money from the customizers back then.
Also, back then before ’59’s weren’t really collectible my dream car was a 4 Door Caddie w/ the top removed and converted to a 4 door convertible touring car, powder blue, white upholstery and top, spun disk wheel covers, lowered with a tuned exhaust. Low rumble. Ahh the stuff that dreams are/were made of.
All it takes is one screw and unplug the light.
very easy.
The two different steering wheels are interesting.
One has the horn ring and the other does not.
I wonder how much time is in between those two pictures.
The first Caddy in ever rode in was the neighbor girl’s ’59 Coupe in the original color of this car. It was still like brand new in ’68 and her dad bought it for her first car because he felt she would be safer in a big car.
And yes, I knocked my knee so bad getting in I almost started crying. All the GM full size cars had those crazy windshield frames guaranteed to wound a newbie.
That one ride home from school fueled a desire for my own Caddy and I finally got one five years later in the form of a ’63 Fleetwood 75.
@Michael,.. you were the first to comment on the Knee Knocker frame, I also nearly forgot about it as I am so used to avoiding it having a ’59 Chevy El Camino… I guess most all commenting here have never had the pleasure of riding in a ’59 or ’60 vintage GM land yacht.? It really can be a painful memory when you hit that frame just right.
I have often thought that it would be fun to put a set of these fins on a smart car. Paint it black and put a batman logo on the door.the fin would likely go all the way to the front.
You’re Canadian right?