I’ve been doing a Cadillac thing this March, covering cars like this 1937 Series 75 limousine and this 1952 50th anniversary sedan. And today, it’s a ’55 Coupe de Ville. Why so many Caddy’s? I’ve been thinking about what Cadillac, and GM, in particular, was at one time and what they’ve become today. Yesterday, the General announced they were canning the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Encore – did anyone notice, does anyone really care? Probably not. Anyway, let’s take another look at Cadillac when they were still worthy of the moniker, “The Standard of the World”. This de Ville is located in Miami, Florida and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $21,500. There is a make an offer option too.
OK, first up, I have no idea why there are Texaco Fire Chief decals on both doors. They seem unbecoming on a car of such stature. Regardless, considering the green hue of the interior, methinks “fire rescue red” is not this Caddy’s born with shade. The seller states, “Car has a Patina look all original car!” Well, I know from comments, that “patina” is not a big hit with readers, and it’s not a big hit with me either – it just looks worn out. The body, however, is in pretty decent condition with scratches, surface rust, and maybe just a bit of more invasive corrosion starting. The extensive trim all appears to be present and it’s still in bright shape, right along with the bumper’s chrome plating. Get a load of those Dagmars! What was Cadillac design thinking?
As previously mentioned, the green interior doesn’t synch up with the red exterior and I’m betting the green is original. The entire environment is in nice shape, the carpet, surprisingly so. The odometer shows 47K miles but there’s no documentation to validate that recording. Note the clear plastic cover protecting the front seat. Our ’64, non-airconditioned, Chevy Bel Air had one of those and you haven’t lived until you park your unsheathed thigh on one of those suckers on a bright, hot summer day! I always consider the instrument panels in Cadillacs of this vintage to be a work of art.
The Standard of the World should have nothing less than an overhead valve V8 engine and that’s exactly what’s here, motivation in the form of a 270 gross HP, 331 CI powerplant. Claimed to be all original engine-wise, the seller adds, “This car drives exceptionally well“. A Hydramatic four-speed automatic transmission was the only game in town in ’55.
This is a nice example but the “patinaed” red over a green interior just seems awkward. Images of opened doors and its door jambs show a poorly applied red paint job over the original Wedgewood Green so it’s evident what happened. And the faux fire-chief vibe, using Texaco gasoline decals, seems non-sensical. You can take it all in with this operational and walk-around video. But if you can get around those items, this Coupe de Ville would serve as a sound basis for a cosmetic restoration, wouldn’t you agree?
Its unfortunate this once standard of the world has been slowly killed off by GM. Nice youtube video called A Struggle called Cadillac by Eds Auto reviews. parts one and two. Surprise ending on II.
As far as GM ending more vehicle production they have not a clue to what the market wants. I am not looking forward to it but its is coming. It should be back to Government Motors. The only thing we ended up with has been SUV;s and Trucks.
Nice person who turned this car into a rolling gas pump. Sad.
Nice hooters,,,what did he say? Oh relax, they were actually intended as a grill saver, but I think would do more damage to the other car. The story of “Dagmar”, Virginia Ruth Lewis, was an actress in the early 50’s, that was hired to portray the sterotypical “dumb blonde”, and was one of the 1st to show off her, um, lady parts. Not sure why car makers picked up on that, it was still quite offensive to many( the rubber tipped ones, even more so) and I think they called them “bullet bumpers” because they originally were to mimic artillery shells.
I went off on a bender on the last Caddy, and the “Texaco” decals can be easily removed( is Texaco still around?) and not to reiterate, but just a fantastic car. My old man had a painter friend when I was a kid, his name was Lester. Painters are generally a loose bunch, and he had a Caddy like this. We always wondered how a painter could afford a Caddy. Nice(st) car and all the babbling in the world won’t tell you what a nice ride these were. Rolled like thunder.
Thanks Howard, I had to look. This was the 4th photo to pop up. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=IryXpB%2bM&id=9DD72C0499447ABB4F2F2FA30E8527E45EB70CB7&thid=OIP.IryXpB-MqLc-QIGd7bkxTgHaFs&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mgexp.com%2fphorum%2ffile.php%3f1%2cfile%3d243529%2cfilename%3dvirginia_aka_Ruthie_aka_Dagmar.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.22bc97a41f8ca8b73e40819dedb9314e%3frik%3dtwy3XuQnhQ6jLw%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=366&expw=476&q=virginia+ruth+lewis&simid=608012617429367531&FORM=IRPRST&ck=1A8455AE000AA7292957200983048B0B&selectedIndex=3&qpvt=virginia+ruth+lewis&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0
This should be left as is .Great Driver
This `55 never was red to begin with, and why someone chose to paint it that way is beyond me. The firewall and inner fenders show the factory shade of green it left the plant with. Then, adding fake “patina” all over the body doesn’t help either. As much as I love Cads, I could easily pass on this one. Can’t wait for the fake patina and flat-paintjob fads to die off. Blah!!
Seems to me the car is worthy of a good paint job to return the car to its original color. Love the Fingerhut clear plastic seat covers. I remember that they promoted the heck out those covers back in the day to “protect your investment “. Huge direct mail campaign!! Also sold them for your sofa and easy chairs. Big business back then. I absolutely hated them.
One wonders if it’s present strange condition could be the result of a certain brand fuel distributor trying to come up with a promotional idea! Sillier things were done to innocent Cadillacs before!
Cadillacs were all kinds of things, but they were never innocent.
Got my love of Cadillacs from my aunt and uncle next door. When I was 4 they had a 1956 Coupe de Ville. Replaced with a 1959 Coupe de Ville when my uncle slid on ice and T-boned into a tree. Large limb fell on the roof and basically crushed the car.
I actually prefer the ’54 and ’55s to the ’56.
As for this car, a little paint and love and I think you’d have a decent driver.
Nice looking Caddilac. If it had a nice paint job and done right, Beats the looks out of any new piece of plastic traveling down the road now. This is when GM had people working for them. That knew how to do some thing right
$21k seems like an ok price for a road legal running driving 55 coupe deville. In the video it seems pretty usable. The paint job is pretty sad but maybe the price reflects that? What’s a driver quality 55 Cadillac cost these days?
The seller is a dealer. Their youtube channel has some pretty nice and interesting cars.
I hope the graphic on the door is a decal that can be taken off. It’s beyond cheesy as is the fake patina. Maybe the red paint can be buffed off?