Before the 1950s virtually terminated automotive fenders, Cadillac and others eliminated front fenders with designs like this 1948 Cadillac Series 61 Coupe. This semi-fastback body style is often called “Sedanette,” a phrase used in the car’s description. This running, driving classic features original paint and upholstery, and a recent rejuvenation has it poised for a second life after serving one family since new. Check out pictures, more details, and a video of this Yucaipa, California Caddy here on Facebook Marketplace. The $27,000 asking price buys a highly original driver with fewer question marks than may cars we feature. Thanks to reader T.J. for spotting this solid sedanette.
I’ve spent numerous sessions wrenching on my friend John’s 1949 Cadillac coupe, nearly identical to this ’48 until you look inside. I like the ’49’s nifty faux wood band that wraps from the dash into the door panels, but I might prefer this car’s large semi-circular instrument pod. Decisions, decisions. Either way you get some cool art deco lettering with enough shiny trim to confirm you’re not pounding out horse shoes for a living.
This generation marked Cadillac’s first tail fins, inspired by recently-concluded World War II’s Lockheed P-38 fighter. Hopefully the new owner fits some proper white wall tires. Thanks to the factory brochure at Lov2xlr8 for some details. Believe it or not, the ’48 Cadillac’s Hydramatic automatic transmission boasted four forward gears. My friend’s ’49 makes due with a three-speed TH400 behind its 455 cid Buick V8. The Turbo-Hydromatic won out over the four-speed by its relative simplicity to manufacture and maintain. American buyers mostly waited until the mid-1980s to see four-speed automatics (generally with Overdrive) return.
There’s no picture showing the 346 cid (5.7L) Cadillac V8, but here’s a close look at the “Sedanette” body style with the sloped rear window line continuing to the bumper, and what a bumper! Think twice before thumping this Cadillac in any modern car. If this coupe’s originality checks out, would you restore it or simply shine and drive?
I always thought the Sedanette was a beautiful body style on ALL of the GM cars from that era. I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman years ago who had a grey ’48 Sedan ( not one like this) with the last year flathead V8. He loved it, had it for years. I’d have to agree with you Todd. Whitewalls are absolutely THE way to go here. This is the Cadillac that started it all with the fin craze of the 50’s and early 60’s. Beautiful example here. And you can’t get better than one owner or at least one family as an owner either. I’d just polish it up ( get whitewalls) address any concerns mechanically and enjoy it. Just like the nice older gentleman I met a couple decades ago.
Thanks for your comment, Driveinstile. This is the best page I could find showing the GM Streamliner lineup. Apparently Buick coined the phrase Sedanet which became Sedanette over time. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/gms-fleeting-fastback-phase-the-1941-52-streamliners/
That’s a great link Todd. They all looked good From Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, Buick and Cadillac.
is that front seat upholstery original?
I don’t have any “after” pictures, but here’s my friend John’s 1949 Cadillac with the 455 Buick powertrain. What a beast.
Good grief!!! A Buick 455??? Nice!!!!
This looks like it’s not that much shorter than the ’48 hearse we had in college. Not sure where you got your info on the 4 speed automatic but that transmission went well into the 50s in Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and a couple of others I can’t think of right now. The ’49 Olds 4 speed in my Studebaker was sure not weak in my book after many trips to the drag strips.
This is the series with the fuel filler under the left rear taillight isn’t it?
1941-58 that hidden gas filler ran. Chevy was lucky to have gotten it in `56, but that’s the only year they had it.
More of a reply to Will than Bob- but my ‘57 BelAir disagrees with your assertion.
Yep, I had a 1946/7 Caddy with the petrol cap under the tail light. Four speed automatic but first gear only worked if I floored it and then only for about 3 seconds.
My Hudson Hornets used them-they had good shift quality and were about bullet proof. Rolls Royce started using them in 1953, but complained to GM that they suffered from slippage. GM was dumbfounded, and upon their inspection, found out RR had taken it upon themselves to polish the steel friction plates. After G.M. instructed them to leave well enough alone, the clutch packs had no further problems.
bobhess- So true, G.M. happily supplied these great ‘Dual-Range’ 4-speed Hydra Matics to the independents, from Hudson to Rolls Royce, and they were the best automatics available. Hudson, for one, had to switch to the inferior Borg-Warner automatic for the 1954 model year because the hydra- dramatic factory burn down.
It should be noted that the old Hydramatic had only a fluid coupling – no torque converter. The later TH400 used a torque converter and initially, a switch-pitch stator. My first car, a 1950 Olds, had the Hydramatic, which I rebuilt, along with the engine. Adjusting the bands to achieve decent shift quality was tricky – at least it was for me.
Put an aftermarket shift kit in mine and it really cooked. Don’t remember the details on it but it worked.
It should be noted that the old Hydramatic had only a fluid coupling. The TH400 uses a torque converter and initially, a switch-pitch stator to increase the torque multiplication range so the comparison isn’t just the number of speeds. I had to rebuild the engine and Hydramatic in my first car, a 1950 Olds (what do you expect of a $50 car?). Adjusting the bands to get decent shift quality was not easy.
Didn’t Boolie Werthan drive one of these? I believe his was a ’49.
Wow! Haven’t seen one of these
since 1965. It was in a scrapyard my Uncle Bernie managed in Danvers, Illinois back then. I always thought they were sharp then and I still do now. The car I saw was a 3-speed manual car which makes me wanna find a
3-speed car to convert to an M-22
rock crusher 4-speed with a 472
cube V-8 for power. Back that up
with a 12 bolt posi rear, and I’d have a real winner 🏆 The outside
would be bone stock except for tires and brakes. Then, I’d let Angel drive it and let her row through the gears as much as she liked. And no, I still can’t forgive Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP
for cutting up a nicely restored 61
like this one to customize for their No Deposit No Return tour
in the late ’90s. When they got done with that car, you couldn’t tell it was once a Cadillac. Still like some of their music but NOT
what they did to that poor Cadillac.
…And yeah, I’d use a fairly good
she’ll to build the screamin Caddy
I wanna build. No ruining a really nice car here, just breathing life into a forgotten shell.
ZZ TOPS car was called CADZILLA believe it ran a big block chevy but I’m not sure
It was an “Art Chrisman Messaged” 500 Cadillac engine ( hope I spelled his name correctly).
WOWO WEE WOW, AND HOLY COW. !!!!! after 3 years of searching 8 days ago I found and purchased one of my favorite vehicles. NOT a classic but close enough for me SOOOO of course NOW here is what I have wanted since 1948 when was 16 Years old in love with Those outstanding fastback cars. AND to make it worse I could have Easily afforded this great CADDY…
A beautiful Cadillac Sedanette, and love the baby fins. Why does anyone selling a classic car not include engine photos,, crazy.. GM Hydramatics were bullit proof early automatic transmissions, as were the Packard Ultramatics. I have a 48 New Yorker with a fluid drive that wasn’t quite as advanced.
@Will Fox
The 1957 Chevrolet also had a “hidden” fuel filler”. It was behind the vertical chrome piece above the driver side taillight.
@Todd Finch
That is a fabulous link! Thank you so much. I love, love, love the ’65 boat tail design. Which unfortunately never made it into production but the production roofline was nice also with the concave rear window. It was so much nicer than the Godawful 1968 GP which looks like a severely toned down version in a way.
Fastback design rooflines have always been a favorite of mine. Even for the 40s. They are just sportier.
The 1948 Cadillac was not only the first to start the “fin” craze but it also started the “dagmar” bumperettes which spilled over to not only all the GM cars but Ford, also. Although, Ford always restrained their fins as well as their bumperettes
But of course I’d love it, having owned a ’71 & ’72 boat tail Riviera
I believe you are right about the 1957 Chevy fuel filler location.
1973, my senior year of high school, a classmate showed up at my house with 1 of these. Great shape, black. Beautiful car. Wanted to sell it for $450. I loved it, price was right, but it didn’t fit into my needs or plans. No sale. Over the years I realized that it was the right choice. Going off to college, moving a lot in early life etc. I couldn’t have kept it up. No where to store it, on and on, but still……..
I’ve always liked the fastback design in the GM vehicles. FWIW, I would keep the black walls. GLWTS.
Same car Boyd Coddington used as the foundation for the good Rev. Billy Gibbon’s Cadzilla. The care with the plate that said: ‘I8Tokyo’.
You gots to love these “Torpedo-Backs”!
Nice clean older Caddy!
Yep, I had a 1946/7 Caddy 4 door with the petrol cap under the tail light. Four speed automatic but first gear only worked if I floored it and then only for about 3 seconds.
When you have something nice and original why not leave it alone? I see way too many people wanting to do this especially on this site.
Angel 😇, I wondered if you had seen this one yet. Seeing this made me wanna build a Cadillac
sleeper– one with a 472/M-22 rock crusher 4-speed. Then, I’d look you up and let you drive it! Now if that don’t make you feel young again, I dunno what will.
Been wanting to do that since I saw a ’50 series 61 that a guy turned into a hot rod up on Curbside Classics maybe 15 years ago. His was bone stock
outside. But under the hood was
a whole ‘nother story. He kept the factory 331 but bored it out to
345 CID, added an Isky cam with
2 4-barrel carbs mounted on a ’56
El Dorado intake manifold. It also had headers but not really sure what kind. I liked it so much that I did a portrait of it five years ago.
His car had the 3-on-the-tree the car was born with, but I’ve always
thought the rock 🥌 crusher tranny would better as you could
take more advantage of the torque the engine puts out. His
Asetup was good for 125 MPH at
his local drag strip. Talk about a
ballistic barge, that was it. Well
honey 🥰, time to wake my happy
ass up and work on the Mustang 🐎 after a rain storm totalled out
the first print I made. And no dear, I haven’t dreamed anymore
about the Checkillac after I went back to bed. Glad you got to see
this car and who kissed the front
of your Rivera?
Shine and drive. In 1969 I and two friends drove up to Detroit to watch the drag races. When we got there they were having drudge (race what you brought) races. There were these two guys sitting in a beautiful black 49 Cadillac with a 396 with an automatic in it. They were blowing the doors off everything. We went up and talked to them. They were sitting in the car and each had a small bottle of wine wrapped in brown paper bags. Not to promote drinking and dragging. We had a great unforgettable time (we did not drink anything, had a long drive back home, we were only 19 at the time).
I almost forgot, but I spotted this beauty at Road America years ago. I’m retired now so I don’t mind confessing I did “Parade Laps” (do whatever you want except pass) that day in the company-rented four-cylinder Camry. This one has La Carrera Panamericana stickers. I’d love a ride!
Being that I wasn’t born yet, I had no idea Cadillac built a fastback.