Just about any vintage Cadillac has a certain appeal due to the styling and luxury they executed through the years. This ’49 Fleetwood is a “survivor” but needs a lot of attention on the interior. Being a California home body, there is little concern over rust, and in fact the exterior looks very acceptable for a car of this vintage. With only a couple of days remaining to bid this Cadillac is currently bid up to $1,525 with the reserve not met. Find it here on ebay out of Hemet, California.
There is currently no engine installed in this Fleetwood, but there is an engine included with the sale. The seller speculates that the engine may be from a 1948 model. No hints are given as to the engines condition, but hopefully living in the reasonable climate of California means the engine is not seized. Looking in the engine bay reveals a bare bones situation that makes me think that there may be some missing items that would need to be found to complete re-assembly.
Unfortunately the interior of this Cadillac is a wasteland. It seems odd that the exterior would look like such a reasonable condition survivor, but the interior looks like a car that spent some time under water. In the photos the windows appear to be down or missing, which I am chalking up to be the cause for this interior. What remaining upholstery is left is only on the back seat, and it is heavily stained from moisture exposure. There appear to be no door panels, and there is little remaining of the original interior other than the seat frames. The factory gauges are still hanging in, but the remainder of the dash is rough with most of the paint appearing chipped off. Even the steering wheel has some dry rot, and cracking going on. When talking about a restoration, everyone seems to like a fresh and clean interior, so perhaps this rough interior isn’t terribly off putting to some. My only concern would be of the floor boards and other various areas that were exposed to moisture.
It seems quite ironic and amazing that the rough interior lives within this solid looking Cadillac. The exterior looks to wear a lot of old paint with only a few small areas with surface rust. Even the body seems straight with only a couple of dents in the driver rear fender. The engine bay even wears a fair amount of black paint with little surface rust to report. Getting past the rough interior, this Fleetwood looks like a fantastic restoration candidate with its solid looking body, and drivetrain. What do you think happened to the interior of this Cadillac?
Seems like it must’ve been treated to a dry, covered barn… but with the windows left down to provide the perfect recipe of animals consuming the interior while the exterior avoids the bleaching sun and deadly moisture. I’d love to leave the exterior alone – it has the look of an old military general’s car, and would look great with a fresh coat of wax. Inside, I’d treat it to new upholstery — maybe even something really unique like ostrich leather.
Another blank canvas to RestoMod!!
1949 is when Cadillac had there new OHV engine
These are such stately vehicles. Damn shame about the interior I also think it looks like water damage. You’d have to gut it and start from the ground up. Big job
This is what the interior looked.like when I bought my 47 series 62 .After yrs in a barn the animals / rodents did a tune on the seats. Literally all that was left were the springs and the base trim around the seat bottoms,even the carpets were devoured.Rats will eat anything and everything,and the squirrels use the stuffing for their nests.
That flathead doesn’t belong in this car at all. You would have to find the proper OHV engine for it.
The seller is correct, the ’48 engine was a flathead where the ’49 had the new OHV engine. If I were to buy it, I’d go with a resto-mod theme and use the interior parts from a newer car. I’d try and find a 472 from an early ’70s Caddy and mate it with something like a 700R4.
It is a pretty unique car. The Fleetwood must have used the 42-48 body style. I don’t know if it had the new ohv engine. The dash looks like it is from a 49 rather than a 48.
Use the flathead in your rat rod and power this Cad with a 500 cid front whel drive Eldorado unit, air, pdb, ps and all the rest.
The suicide doors look like a convenience for a chauffer.
This is actually a very rare car, it was the last year for the pre-war body, but only on the Fleetwood 75 limousines. All the other Cadillacs had the new post war bodies. This body dated back to 1941.
I used to play a joke on so-called Cadillac experts. I would ask what model year was the last Cadillac to have suicide doors. Most of them would say 1938. But the limo had them into 1949.
I’m attaching a photo of the finest 1949 Fleetwood 75 limo around. It’s only done about 8,000 miles since new, and was the special car for a ruling king in the middle east [a personal friend], he used it once a year to go to Mecca. It’s all original. Photo was taken by me outside the garages at the palace. [Worker’s apartments in the rear]
What ruler?
ruler ees 12 eenches
I love the horns.
the city I live in used a Caddy like this one for it’s DARE program, don’t really know if it was refurbished, or a survivor but it looked great. don’t know what became of it, cuz I don’t see it any more .. I can see this one with a glossy black paint! and, if it will fit, don’t see a problem with putting a more modern interior in this
Looks like the rodents had a field day with the interior. Would look bomb when all redone.
Looks like the rodents had a field day with the interior. Would look bomb when all redone.