To satisfy all of your 1965 Cadillac needs, we have three units in various condition and price ranges. But all are barn-finds. None of that shiny stuff around here. The first one appears here on craigslist in Decatur, Illinois. It’s a convertible which is white with black leather interior, which is a popular and still very attractive color combination for a sixties-era Cadillac. The seller says it has the 429 engine, which is in running condition, but needs the fuel tank flushed.
The body looks pretty good, solid and straight, but the seller mentions it has minor rust in one of the rocker panels. A little ominously he also says the car was partially stripped in preparation for paint, but it’s unclear if that means just the front headlights and trim shown to be missing in one of the photos, or if perhaps he means the paint from the driver’s side of the body which isn’t shown. The convertible top looks decent, but obviously it needs the back window replaced.
The black interior looks to be intact, possibly with carpet still installed, and the front seat appears to be of a possibly usable driver quality.
The interior panels shown, look to be in good condition, and the seller says the dash pad is not cracked.
The asking price is $7,200, which may be a little high, but he says “or best offer”, and this looks like an easily do-able car, and without many of the missing-parts and other problems normally associated with similar cars that could be purchased for a lot less.
And that’s the perfect segue to our next car. Also located in Illinois, this one is in Alton, just north of St. Louis, Missouri. It’s certainly one that can be purchased for a lot less. And it does come with many of the aforementioned problems previously discussed. This one is also a convertible. Up front, this one needs extensive restoration, and there’s no getting around that. But there is a silver lining behind this cloud. The first part of that silver lining being the asking price of just $1200 OBO, with the claim that it was running as recently as two years ago. The second part is that it might not be as bad as it looks. We’ll get back to that in a minute. The third being that it’s a very cool color combination, with a bright red body and red interior. The fourth part of the silver lining is that it looks to have at least two cool extra-cost options, that being a tilt and telescope steering column, and the listing doesn’t say so, but it appears to also have factory air, which as an option, was a little more scarce in 1960s convertibles than it is today.
While these cars shown sitting on flat tires in the grass are generally going to need extensive floor repair, the exterior of the body might not be as bad as it looks. In his ad, the seller provides plenty of close-up photos of various areas of the quarter panels and rockers to show how almost-solid it is, but doesn’t comment on the condition of the interior floors and trunk floor. I’m guessing that’s probably because he’s never seen them. It’s likely rough, but it could also have a trunk full of goodies, such as the exterior trim. Or quite often, lots of other parts and items that are completely unrelated to this vehicle. Could I have a show of hands? How many of you have found parts in the trunk of a car you bought, that when sold, paid for a significant portion of the car’s purchase price?
It happens.
Our third and final sweet chariot, is this Calais, or perhaps this is a low-option deVille. But you can’t buy this one. I can’t either. It appears to have been marked “sold” as I was writing this post. It was located in the tiny town of Cairo, Missouri, and was listed on the Columbia, Missouri Craigslist page found here. This one was, or is, a four-door hardtop. With beautiful patina. The seller’s listing says it has just 58,000 miles, and that it is running, and has had extensive recent brake work done to it.
The best part, is it looks like the body has never been fooled around with. It’s a matter of personal taste of course, but I would probably leave the patina as it is on this car.
But if I did find myself unable to keep my hands off of it, it looks like it would be an easy re-paint, because it appears to be so straight and complete, and doesn’t look too rusty.
The interior is blue, which lends itself to all kinds of color options. The original color appears to have been silver, but it would also look good in black, white, or any number of shades of blue.
The asking price was $1000. I think that was a good deal for this car. It looks like at least one other person agrees with me. So what do you think? Was this a 1965 Cadillac triple play? Or just another strike out?
Three fouls, one more and you’re out! ;>)
For the collector, it would be all three. For me, none of the above.
Surprisingly, that back window on the first one might be salvageable. I bought an old Miata one time with a cloudy window, admittedly not quite as bad as that one, but still pretty bad, and a bottle of plastic window polish and very little elbow grease brought it back to near perfect.
The yellow one appears to be the best of the lot. Still, as you sort the brakes, cooling system, hoses, tune-up, tires probably, fluids, electrics, and whatever else you’d need to do to put this one on the road, you’re gonna spend what…another $4000? That would put you at around $11,500 for a partially-disassembled driver. Seems like a lot.
The other cars? Well, cheap to buy in, but they too would cost real money to get on the road, especially the junk yard car, which I wouldn’t touch if you gave it to me.
I had a ’65 Calais and it was the coolest car I ever owned. It was $850 in 1991 but all it needed was plates. Down the line, of course, the was a lot more to do… These are the nicest-proportioned, most elegant of all postwar Cadillacs in my eyes, and each is probably worth the price. Seriously, people, who wouldn’t pay $20,000 for a restored Caddy convertible?
This body style (to me) was sleek, trim and fast looking.. Always liked it.. heavy car with heavy bumpers.. Sort of like a no go show boat..
But I like it..
Perfect if you say had 3 wise guys that had to deliver a message to somebody, say in the stable what better way to arrive than in 3 caddies ?
The poor white car screams for some color and the black interior is very negotiable!
“white with black leather interior, which is a popular and still very attractive color combination for a sixties-era Cadillac.” Huh? Since when is white with black gut attractive? Maybe red with black, or white with red interior. Sometimes the writers on Barn Finds come up with some lame things to say. Can I get a high five?
On a serious note, I know a guy who could use those Caddies to haul some bodies to the state line. Anybody else thinking Fargo when looking at these mid-1960’s behemoths?
Opinions on color combinations are very subjective, aren’t they? While I would like to see the red exterior with red interior, I would be a lot less enthused about red exterior with black interior.
White on black looks good to me. Black with red interior would be better. But with this particular body style I would probably most prefer black on black.
I had a ’65 Deville convertible many years ago and miss it tremendously ! Awesome car . . .
While I like the convertibles in this listing, I like the much older Cadi convertibles. Wings, drop top, and a big engine life is good!!!! Fortunately, in this instance, too far and eventually too much for my poor butt!
The guy with “25 estate vehicles” is also selling a Hurst Olds. What a shame! How can people let something this valuable, even back then, just rot and rust away??? I don’t know if they ever made the H/O in convertible form but if they didn’t, the one this guy has for sale, certainly could be the first. Seeing as to the fact that the top is rusted out worse than I can remember having seen!!