We all have some cars that make us itchy, ready to make an ill-advised decision. The ’55 Coupe DeVille is one of mine because we have a history. About eight years ago, I saw one parked outside a shop as I picked up a pizza from the local pizza joint. It was in similar condition to this one, and I went stark, raving mad over it. If that weren’t bad enough, the shop’s proprietor said that the owner wanted to sell it; unfortunately, he threw out $15,000 as a number, which was just a little higher than I wanted to spend. Turns out, my lovely bride had the same idea and was tossing this around in her head as a 40th birthday present, but she too found 15 grand a little hard to stomach considering its condition. Subsequently, we let the Caddy pass and now I get antsy whenever I see one. The seller of this ’55 calls it his “ratty Caddy,” and Barn Finds reader Zappenduster found it on Nashville’s craigslist. I’ll be thinking of DeVilles all day.
He doesn’t call it the “ratty Caddy” for no reason; it’s mostly an original car with mostly original paint. Apparently, a previous owner “rebuilt and rewired” it “front to rear,” but has certainly left it cosmetically alone. I’m fine with that, but something certainly needs to be done about that seat. A quintessential craigslist faux pas is not including a picture of the engine compartment, and indeed our seller has omitted any shots of the Cadillac’s 331 V8, which had a Carter WCFB four barrel and 250 horsepower. Behind the 331 was General Motors’ four-speed Hydramatic, a robust transmission that was around for decades. It would be worth asking the seller if it too was rebuilt, although the car “runs and drives great.”
Although I haven’t looked up Cadillac parts recently, I imagine that factory material to trim the trunk is available, and it would be a first-year project if I owned this ’55 (after the front seat was reupholstered).
The ’55 Coupe DeVille is by far my favorite Cadillac, one of a handful of cars I’ll regret not buying if it never works out. It’s also a little too long for my garage, which was another reason my wife and I both passed on the original DeVille we found almost a decade ago (I have to buy some land!). Here’s another example where buying a good one may pay off, as nice drivers seem to sell in the 30 grand range, give or take. But a nice “ratty Caddy” has its advantages, too. At $16,000 (firm), do you think it’s nicely priced?
Totally agree Aaron, the ‘55 has just the right presence, from the Dagmar’s up front to the exhaust out the rear bumper!
However not mentioning the rust in the lower extremities is perplexing, and no clear shots of the door sills means it’s there, just exactly how much would require an on the ground inspection
16k is in the ballpark, would be quite the cruiser…
Three Little Tree air fresheners? It must really stink in there.
Methinks it stinks.
Yeah, literally ratty.
The color says it all.
Maybe a little high, but not bad. Body looks pretty tight, and we’ve all seen horrible interiors, which this is not. I bought a 57 Caddy, with faded paint, in about the same condition, with a frozen motor for 2k last year. This is a runner… Makes a difference.
@CC Fisher
I was thinking the same thing. There must be a lot of mouse pee in that vicar.
Gorgeous car otherwise. ’55 is one of my favorite. Nice color.
@CC Fisher
I was thinking the same thing. There must be a lot of mouse pee in that car.
Gorgeous car otherwise. ’55 is one of my favorites. Nice color.
I so miss my 56 Coupe De Ville,”Maybelline”.Very similar to this but had the 365 engine.Mine was in much better shape than this but a driver nonetheless that got parked in pole position at every high end LA restaurant…and was an amazing long distance cruiser. Check that rust,fix the seats and hit the highway..the rest can wait…I guarante you’ll have more of a head turner than any new Bentley..
The C pillar treatment is the best, where it wraps around the bottom of the rear window (NOT THE REAR WINDSHIED). Shared with the big Buick and big Olds ’54 – ’56. This very close to the ground, but, a great color.
You’re correct about the shared C pillar styling with the Buick Super and Roadmaster, but I don’t think the 54-56 Olds 98 shared this style.
@Charlie
That’s called a serpentine roofline
’54, ’55 & ’56 had it
And it rides and drives cuz them Cad mills were built to last forever. This car is saying to me “BUY ME AL” but I just ain’t got the space or time anymore. Done this thing is a $50k land yacht.
Everyone who can put gas in this car is my friend.
These were beauties — but my personal favourite Coupe DeVille, is the 1954. Chevrolet tri-fives are one “group”, and the 1954-’56 Cadillacs are another. But, after the rather frumpy and long-in-the -tooth ’50-’53 Caddys, the 1954s were so WELCOME!!! THE ’55s didn’t change all that much, but the ’56s were gaudy and excessive. The 1954 Buick was beautiful also, for the same reasons — and then they loaded on the chrome for ’55, ruining it. The 1953 Studebaker coupe was beautiful, and the ’54 didn’t stray TOO far. But the ’55 was a chrome-laden mess. If I had all the money I don’t have, a near-perfect 1954 Coup DeVille, with factory air-conditioning, would be one of my potential targets.
These were beauties — but my personal favourite Coupe DeVille, is the 1954. Chevrolet tri-fives are one “group”, and the 1954-’56 Cadillacs are another. But, after the rather frumpy and long-in-the-tooth ’50-’53 Caddys, the 1954s were so WELCOME!!! THE ’55s didn’t change all that much, but the ’56s were gaudy and excessive. The 1954 Buick was beautiful also, for the same reasons — and then they loaded on the chrome for ’55, ruining it. The 1953 Studebaker coupe was beautiful, and the ’54 didn’t stray TOO far. But the ’55 was a chrome-laden mess. If I had all the money I don’t have, a near-perfect 1954 Coupe DeVille, with factory air-conditioning, would be one of my potential targets.
I must run in the the wrong circles ’cause I don’t see anything even approaching 15K, but as they say, different strokes for different folks.
Oh yeah, it stinks in there.
But you are going to gut the interior and replace all the stuff that gets smelly with new stuff anyway.
A little tip! If you are sealing a car take the 4 christmas tree deodorant freshners out before taking pic!
In 1966 my girlfriend’s college-professor father gave me his 1955 Coupe DeVille. A faded gray, it needed two universal joints but was otherwise in fine shape–except, for a reason I don’t remember, gasoline wouldn’t be drawn from the fuel tank. No problem, though, for the impecunious 16-year old that I was. Necessity–and desire–being the mother of invention, I wedged a one-gallon bleach container under the hood, filled it with gasoline, and drove the car that way for months!
If your girlfriend’s father had a Nash, I’ll bet he wouldn’t have given it to you!
In 1965, MY girlfriend’s father tried to give me a ’56 Nash, 4 door sedan (I think the only car they made, the Hudson version was much the same) two colors of green, and white, but I had a ’56 Chevy which had been in my family since new, and had been maintained by the book, and I said no to the Nash, and, eventually, the girlfriend, as well.
Love those 55s; I drove my grandmother’s in high school and loved it. It wasn’t peppy but man what a great road car. I don’t notice the air scoops on this one so not sure if it has AC. Great memories
@Skooter
There is a picture of the trunk. There is no a/c unit there, hence, no outside quarter panel scoops.
Is it only me? — or, is this Caddy riding a bit LOW??
@Harrison Reed
Hello my knowledgeable friend,
You are correct it is low, but after 70 years of 5000 pounds sitting on your springs you’d be a bit tired of lugging all that weight around, too. 🤣
Of course this car, as is, would appeal to the 10 batteries in the trunk hydrolic lowrider crowd.
I would jack it up an inch or two
And even though this particular one doesn’t have factory air I still want it in the worst way.
Finding a rich husband or even one with good credit is slipping away. 🤷♀️
Seems to be a whole lotta’ girlfriend’s father’s with funky old cars to give away.
Hi Angel! Nice caddy if you wanna pull the trigger and buy it. The inside is more than likely more funky than
James Brown! Gonna be a great day as I heard Pink Cadillac by Bruce Springsteen while driving to the doctor with a friend. Well folks, time to go to work. See you guys later.
@Kennth
Pull the trigger? I’d have to pull a bank job to get this (or any other car for that matter)
Just can’t seem to impress the wealthy men. LOL 😄
It’s a shame so many of us are born good looking but poor as a church mouse.
If I had a talent at least I could parlay that into $$$ but the only talent I’m good at is considered illegal in most parts of the country . 😉
Hope you are well & I will be texting you soon about acquiring the painting.
Life is too short to drive boring cars and if you don’t look back at it each time you park it why would you want to drive it? The lines on this thing flow like fine wine on a warm autumn evening.
Yes dear, all is well with me–except the fact that I’m a bit sleep
deprived after dashing all day, work8ng on my neighbor’s ’56 Mercury M-100 pickup, (the print I showed you of the old truck
I’m making right now.) I’ve since added a 302 V-8 disguised as a
’66 289 V-8. It has the Fitech EFI unit I saw on the ’66 Ford wagon about a week or so ago on BF. I mated the engine to a 4-speed tranny with a 3.70 to one rear axle out back. I also added a PTO to raise and lower the bed using a dump cylinder from a ’54 Ford F250 farm truck like the one I had in ’68. I just got done
laying out the interior when my store manager called me into work after two kids called out last night. Here it is after 2 and I
gotta do it again in a matter of hours. Good night Angel, I’m off to dream land.
.
Well, at least the two large Dagmars are not sagging, though I’d still like to see a custom car bra on them!