Cadillac produced about 166K automobiles in ’64 and it seems that a whole lot of them have been featured here on Barn Finds. A convertible DeVille, such as today’s subject car, is another matter, however. Owing to a convertible production volume of 18K copies, and knowing that rust will often devour a ragtop from the inside out, they don’t surface that often these days. This triple white whip cuts quite a swath – it’s an imposing car, not perfect, of course, but not bad either. Hailing from Fernley, Nevada, this fun-in-the-sun cruiser is available, here on eBay for an opening bid of $2,000.
With a 129.5″ wheelbase and an overall length of 223.5″ this is a BIG car and it seems that its white finish accentuates its length. It might even seem longer still if it were still wearing its missing stainless side trim. The seller mentions the presence of some surface rust in the lower passenger side quarter but the image isn’t definitive. The tires are an interesting study, they seem to be of a rather low profile for a car of this size but it may be an illusion caused by the wide white wall. The seller mentions that there is a small rip in the folding top but it’s not obvious. What is obvious is that there is an interior image of the top’s underside and it is moldy.
Caddy power means a 340 gross HP 429 CI V8 engine connected to a leaky, first-year Turbo-Hydramatic three-speed automatic transmission. The seller refers to it as a “running rebuilt motor” and my assumption is that since it has been rebuilt, it runs. How well does it accomplish that running thing? Don’t know, nothing’s offered. The mileage listing is 80K miles but there’s no authentication and how much of that reading applies to the engine rebuild is not disclosed.
The diamond-tufted, white leather upholstery shows exceedingly well for a 60-year-old car that has logically spent some amount of time in top-down mode. As a nice contrast, the white interior environment is enhanced with a red dash pad, carpet, and seat belts. I would expect some upholstery “yellowing” effect but none is noted. Air conditioning is courtesy of an automatic “Comfort Control” system though the beltless A/C compressor tells me that it’s non-functioning.
So, an opening bid of $2,000 and no takers yet. As I have said many times before, there will not be another substantial car like this DeVille ever produced again; and with less than three days to go with the auction, this big Caddy could end up being a pretty good buy, wouldn’t you agree?
Depends on why the rock behind the front wheel is there.
Looky at the little Hi-Lux lurking across the street!
The listing was ended by the seller. Looks like this one is gone.
Yes I agree J.O. This looks to be worthy of a good refurbishing if Bought at the right price. I love these old Caddy Convertibles. I’m getting a long in the tooth to be starting a new project, but I might have to see how far this one goes and perhaps cast a bid for ownership. Red is my favorite color for these old battleships but I could live with white hoping my late wife wouldn’t be too upset about the color since her teenage car was a red 63 Caddy convertible.
God Bless America
Good luck finding those 1/4 panel moldings, if you have to go to Cadillac King it might cost as much as the current bid.
If I’m not mistaken, the missing side trim is sitting on the trunk in the photo with the car sitting in the weeds (photo 23 of 26).
I remember when these rolled into the wrecking yard by the gross. In our area there were quite a few of these. I had a friend with a turquoise and white one that we made a super nice car from my yard. I actually haven’t seen a 64 rag in quite a while. I fixed the cruise control on my 64 Impala from the pieces from the 64 Caddy as they share a bunch of items.