When I review a car such as this 1958 Cadillac Sixty-Two, four-door hardtop, I think most often about how much things have changed over the years (and I often forget about how much time has passed). Cadillac claimed to be ” The Standard of the World” in ’58 and rubbed shoulders with Lincoln and Imperial. Well, we can throw all that out the window. Today’s discovery, courtesy of Mr. Zappenduster, harks back to that long-ago time when a Cadillac made a statement just sitting still. This one still does, but not for all the right reasons – stay tuned, and I’ll elaborate. Found in a barn in Fayetteville, Tennessee, this standout member of the flashy fifties is listed here on Facebook Marketplace for $6,000, OBO.
I just finished watching a documentary on the ’58 Chevrolet Impala, and the descriptive banter always goes in the direction of how “Cadillacesque” the Impala’s styling followed. I never thought much about it, but I have to admit, minus the Dagmars, there are some shared front-end characteristics between the bottom of the ’58 GM ladder and the top. I’m not sure who is Cadillac’s target market these days (I’m not sure they know either), but back in ’58 it was well-off gentlemen in dinner tuxes taking their fur-draped and gloved ladies out on the town for dinner at a private club.
You could say that the Cadillac Sixty-Two was the “be all” model in ’58 as it served as a basis for different body styles and trim levels. Total Sixty-Two production reached 105K units (including the Seville), with at least 37K in four-door form. There’s a lot of sharply formed steel and stainless trim going on here, but this Caddy’s forlorn appearance may just be hiding an underlying car that’s still pretty stout. You figure there’s gotta be rust going on somewhere here, but it’s not overly obvious. Size mattered in those days, and this Sixty-Two stretches out about 217″ in length, all while riding on a 129″ wheelbase – lots of rear seat legroom! The weight is closing in on 4,700 lbs., but that’s in about the same league as, unfortunately, many modern SUVs.
Cadillacs from this era were renowned for their power, and this Sixty-Two is no exception! A 310 gross HP 365 CI V8 engine tethered to a Hydramatic automatic transmission is responsible for smooth but assertive power. There’s no word as to whether this one’s a runner, but I get a drift that it’s not. At least the engine compartment appears to be complete.
The interior, in its entirety, is not that well photographed, but from what I can spy, I’d suggest its condition is on par with the exterior. Other than some discoloration, the two-tone fabric upholstery, known as “Moroccan Cloth,” looks OK. The front floor is wearing a rubber mat, so its condition is unclear. The instrument panel with its heavy chrome features still presents well and is perfectly representative of this era. This is an A/C equipped Caddy, but my guess is the system hasn’t functioned in many moons.
I’ve encountered a lot of barn find Cadillacs over the years, and their conditions have run the gamut from soup to nuts. This example, however, I think has some staying power as a resto candidate. No, it won’t be cheap, but it is worthy. That’s my take; what’s yours?
Lord, what do you suppose its MPG is…?
Right now, about zero MPG. I don’t see that ever changing, but who knows?
I’d bet that engine starts with no problem after the usual fixin’ for such. These cars were top quality and unless something bad happened to the car it will cleanup and run just fine. Wish I could have it.
5, it gets 5 miles to the gallon. I don’t know for sure I just said that.
8 to 10 around the town would be about right. Maybe 18 on the road. Better than the same year Lincoln by a bit.
My 58 got more like about 12 to 14 city and about 18 highway. It all depends on how congested your area is.
As they used to say back in the day, if you have to ask then don’t buy it.
More like GPM… gallons per mile!
8-12 city. 14-15 hiway
Is that an A/C compressor on the passenger side of the engine ? If yes , that’s worth quite the penny if the system is complete
Yes, it is.
It looks like a decent car to restore, but make sure you know what the cost of restoring the chrome trim and grill will be. It might make the cost of paint and bodywork look like chump change.
Raz the trim man from New Orleans told me that he did a grill for this vintage Caddy around 2003. The car was lost in the 2005 New Orleans hurricane. Raz found a buyer for the grill, it was still in good shape. The owner got $2000 for the grill and that was less than the cost of restoring a good core at that time. I’m sticking to Camaros.
It must have been a very fun job to be an automotive stylist back then.
Good job Jim taking us back to this time. What a presence this car had. For comparison, a standard current Escalade is a bit shorter, and the extended length model is a bit longer.
Looks pretty good for what you’re
getting. Usually, these cars are ragged out to the point that they’re only good for parts. My Uncle John had a ’58 2-door hardtop painted a creamy yellow
with the same interior this car has. And to a 5-year-old kid, that
thing was huuuge! I remember
Mom taking my Aunt to the bank
one day and my Aunt whacked a
a parking meter pole when she
opened the right door into it by accident, leaving a shallow dent in the door. They were both pretty upset about it. They didn’t
know what to do or how to tell my
Uncle that Auntie dented his brand new Cadillac. Then, my Mom got this off the wall idea on
how to take the dent out. She got
a toilet plunger, wet it down, and
pulled it towards her and thwang!
the dent popped out. Thankfully,
there were no scratches and my
Uncle never knew the difference
when he and Uncle Frank got back from their business trip. As
for this car, I’d try to get the 365
running again. But if not, I’d go with a slightly tricked out 472
mated to a T-400 tranny for power. And yeah, the rear end would be up to the job of dealing
with the torque that elephant under the hood can dish out. The
interior looks serviceable, so I’d
have it painted the same dark gray as my KIA K-5 sedan. Then,
if possible, I’d buff out the chrome using WD Detailing polishing compound. Dress ‘er up with a set of Coker WSW tires
and MAYBE a Connie kit out back
and call it a day. I can see my SIL
and niece taking me to work in it!
And being the doting Uncle that I.
am, I’d hand her the keys and tell her and her young man to have a good time. And maybe, just maybe, I might get a date!
I got a 56 with a frozen motor… Put a concoction of blends in it 2 years ago… Maybe I should check on it… But what a gawd awful spot they put the huge battery in behind the passenger fender well…
I remember an Alfred Hitchcock movie had a ’58 Caddy in it. I was so stately I really loved it
So, I was going to comment on the factory air, as most Cadillacs had that in the trunk with those little air vents on top of the rear quarter panel but after doing some research, I found out you could get either or. You could get trunk mounted or under the hood compressor. The other thing I was going to comment on was that there are no a/c outlets on the dashboard. Again after some more research I learned something new. 1958 Cadillacs with factory air had a completely different dashboard. The top of the dashboard sloped downward towards the windshield. Under the windshield were 4 separate doors that when opened allowed the cool air into the interior. I never knew that and learned something new. Probably most of you guys already knew this.
I personally like the a/c in the trunk with clear tubes on the package shelf going up into the roof. Then there were chrome outlets above each door for the cool air to fill the passenger compartment.
I didn’t know all that stuff, thx!
JO
Here you go, Jim.
4 little doors under the windshield for a/c outlets
Also, factory a/c but no power windows, door locks, seat? Weird.
@Ken
Does this float your boat, Ken?
OK, That does it. I’ll follow you anywhere as log as I can drive. Ha! That car is beautiful. When I was in my sophomore year at college I was hitch hiking home for the week end. Along came a 58 Cadillac convert, bright red like the picture and the guy stopped to give me a lift. It turned out that the driver was a friend of my family and he had borrowed the car from the dealer where he lived and took it to Cape Cod for the weekend. I felt like King Kong riding in that car however he didn’t have the top down but he did have the AC on. We had a very nice ride all the way to my home in Dennisport. I found out later the guy didn’t buy the car as the dealer had hoped. Said he didn’t like it but thanks for the use of it anyway. True story.
really cool caddy. i would get to run and be safe and cruise it around. the price seems fair. these were the standard of the world in 1958. its shame we can’t have those times again.
Appears sound and complete. If the X-frame is not rusted at the X, then this car begs for a restoration. It still won’t be inexpensive but this is a great starting point!
Sorry to say but cars like this will empty your bank account it not worth restoring the front bumper chrome will be 5k+ alone 100k in body work and paint
Yeah it does Angel! And that’s just the way I’d make it if I were doing a print of it too! I saw one
like it in the film The Giant Gila Monster up on YouTube. It was driven by a guy named Steamroller Smith in the movie. My Uncle’s car had the dashboard
A/C but I have seen them built both ways. My ’58 Biarritz 4-door
hardtop I owned as a teenager had the dashboard A/C and that
God awful air suspension that always gave me headaches. But
at least it didn’t vapor lock like my
Lincoln Premier did!
Angel, did you see the ’73 Eldorado ragtop they have up here? Thought of you when I saw
it earlier. And how ’bout that 59
sedan near it? Looks like one that Sarah has at the Caddy Girl
Garage on YouTube. Looks pretty
good from what I see in the pictures they show here. Did you
see the Cadillac motorhome I sent you the other day? Very
entertaining, but they act like a pack of dumbasses. What they
should’ve done was to tow a trailer behind that Ram pickup they rented and trailered it back to Salt Lake City INSTEAD of possibly ruining the engine. And
yeah, the timing chain DID take a
crap by the way it was running when they drove it. It was probably 180 degrees out of time
when they tried driving it. But I digress. Nice ride when finished.
Too bad I’m not the one doing it!
Certainly is a “whale” of a car. But a Cadillac without power windows? Isn’t that akin to blasphemy?
That 472 swap should get your
Cadillac running before you know
it. The engine bsy looks to be large enough to swallow a 472, but do your due diligence and measure everything before you make the first cut. You’ll need motor mounts from the year of the 472 you’re using (’68-’72) to make bolting things together easier. Next, I’d swap the tranny
for a T-400 or newer as the Hydramatic is NOT amiable with
all that torque that 472 makes.
The factory rear axle should be up to the task provided you don’t
go batsh*t crazy when leaving a red light. Wanna say your car has
a 2.80 rear axle ratio out back that’s gonna amplify all that torque even more. So you might
wanna spring for some HD U joints just in case you find the 472 is putting out a little too much twist. And lest I forget, you’re gonna need to fab up a new cross member for the tranny
too. Now add a 2 pot master cylinder and disc brakes and call it done. Hope that helps you out
Rogue 1.