Let’s face it, it’s easy to get sucked into the gloom and doom of the collector car market and prognosticate that nobody wants anything from the pre-muscle-car era anymore. Sometimes, however, you take one look at a car for sale and know immediately that blanket statements such as those just don’t hold water. That’s what I felt when I laid eyes on this Pastoral Blue 1953 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible. It’s actually a mild custom rather than a 100-point restoration, but its indisputable presence lets you know that it’s going to sell for a big number, and it’s being sold here on eBay in Cincinnati, Ohio, with (gulp) no reserve. The high bid is currently a fast-climbing $23,088 (although the seller reserves the right to end the auction early if a good enough offer transpires).
The mild-custom theme begins under the hood with a body-colored “Batwing” air cleaner from a later Cadillac feeding a dual-quad intake manifold, and the carburetors look like modern Edelbrock four-barrels. The engine also has neat finned Edelbrock valve covers. The car was painted seven years ago and has been stored ever since, so the seller, who is responsible for clearing the late owner’s estate, pulled the car out and got it running. He says it could probably use some tuning, but when it’s running well, it produces 210 horsepower from 331 cubic inches, and probably somewhat more than that, thanks to the hotter induction system.
The interior is in great shape, although some will wince at the aftermarket CD player cut into the dashboard. While Series 62 cars didn’t have wood trim on the dashboard and door panels, that was a feature of the Sixty Special and the Series Seventy-Five Limousines and therefore easily swapped over to other models. This convertible also has power windows and some auxiliary gauges beneath the dashboard for keeping track of the 331 up front. One issue to be dealt with: It “has a short hairline crack in the passenger door glass”; the seller claims that a new pane is available from “Caddy Daddy” for $165.
The rear seat is in fairly decent condition as well, and the pattern matches the illustrations in Cadillac’s sales materials.
The only downside of this charismatic Cadillac might be the rear view and its polarizing Continental kit. In my opinion, the 1956 Thunderbird is the only fifties car that should have one, but many collectors enjoy the full “Back to the ’50s” experience; it all comes down to personal taste. These fifties Cadillac droptops can still sell for big money, so it will be interesting to see what this beauty, although it has a few needs, will bring. Who says the fifties are out of style?
When I first saw this on Fast Finds All I could say is wow!!! Very nicely done. The only thing I’d do different would be the radio. Love the dual quads too. Cadillacs from the 50’s are always going to be popular. At least. I think they will. Love the wood on the dash too. Hope someone gets to enjoy this classic “Drop top Cadillac” ( to quote the great Jim Croce). This is just beautiful. Aaron, thank you very much for the great write up. I hope it goes for a good price for the seller.
Beautiful car, I’m sure it will sell for a good number. I’m too much of a purist to get really excited about this, seeing one of these nicely restored to original condition would be impressive enough for me.