My favorite Cadillac is the 1955 Coupe DeVille, but given the circumstances where I could own two, I’d also have a 1962 Cadillac, like the Coupe DeVille that Barn Finder T.J. found here on Hagerty Marketplace in Smyrna, Tennessee. Not only did Cadillac refuse to shed their tailfins, but they also added two more “skegs” on the lower quarters of this car’s 1961 predecessor. They might even look better on the ’62 model; the result is something completely audacious and worthy of the name Cadillac, and with a few days to go on the auction, the high bid on this example is a light $13,500.
Barn Finders love when a body tag is posted, so here goes:
- 62-6347: Coupe DeVille
- FW19058: Fleetwood Body Plant (from what I can gather)
- 46: Turquoise Camelot Cloth and Turquoise Leather Trim
- 29: Turquoise Metallic Paint
- E: Soft Ray Glass
- Y: Power Front Seat
This seems like a fairly lightly optioned DeVille, but remember that a lot of equipment came standard on this model, including power windows, brakes, and steering.
The engine is Cadillac’s 325-horsepower 390, which is paired with GM’s four-speed Hydra-Matic transmission, both of which are said to be original to this car. It would be fair for onlookers to assume that the master cylinder has been upgraded to a later dual-circuit unit, but 1962 Cadillacs had that system as standard, five years before most cars followed suit. You can see in some of the pictures that there’s an air conditioning compressor mounted on the passenger side.
Even though it wasn’t installed on the car from the factory, it looks like someone has installed an aftermarket AC system. Nice. This car also has the Autronic Eye, which was supposed to dim your high beams when faced with oncoming traffic, but everything I’ve read about it suggests that reflections would often wreak havoc on its operation. The seller also mentions that something is wrong with the power seat; the motor runs but the seat does not move. Those in the comment section of the auction have offered suggestions for potential repairs, but that might be left to the next owner. The rest of the interior looks great, and the color combination simply could not be better. I’m in love.
I’m also in love with the 1962 Cadillac’s intricate wheel covers that are painted to match the car’s exterior color. Not everybody likes factory wheel covers, but replacing these with anything else would be a shame. Whitewall tires were standard on the 1962 Cadillac.
The undercarriage looks solid; it’s no show-winner but it’s perfect for driving. Notice the single exhaust system, which was standard on Cadillacs.
But perhaps the best view of the Coupe DeVille is this one, with those fins and skegs. I can’t buy everything I write about on Barn Finds, but I hope I can live vicariously through a lucky reader. Let us know if that lucky reader is you.
The ’62 Cadillac is absolutely one of my all time favorite cars, and is on my short list ( which I’ll never be able to afford) of cars I want. This color is perfect. Even though the ’61 is similar, the ’62 just got it right with the tailfins and tailight design. There is a Mad Men episode where Don Draper is in a Cadillac showroom in 1962 buying a brand new Coupe Deville. I can’t tell you how many times I rewound that one scene with the showroom. Thank you for the great write up on one of my all time favorite cars Aaron.
@Driveinstile
In the movie “The Green Book” they use two identical 1962 Cadillacs in a slightly darker turquoise color, more metallic. Besides the two human stars, those Cadillacs were also the stars in the movie.
That was a very interesting movie
It really doesn’t get any better than this.
A living room on wheels.
My folks had one back when I was maybe 12 years old or so.
Ours looked even more basic with the white paint job it had and
black and white interior. But, it was a Cadillac so all that didn’t matter. That old car carried you
around town in the lap of luxury–
even if that lap was 4 or 5 years old. As for the paint on this car,
it looks to be the same shade as
the paint on my ’66 Calais 4-door hardtop I loved so much. Well, here’s another one that’s worthy of our Queen. Hope she gets to see it.
Yeah, it really cant get any better than this. Love the color. I can’t quite make out what sort of AC compressor that is. The A6 was pretty common on passenger side with other GM models in the 1960s. I’m not usually a hub cap, wheel cover fan, but best to leave these alone.
That is an after market a/c compressor. The dash set up is kind of deceiving because in looks like Cadillac but it’s not
If I am not mistaken 1959 was the last year for the Autronic Eye. In 1960 is was the Guidematic automatic headlight dimmer.
Any car in 1958 would do some flashburn damage to oncoming traffic without the auto dimmers
standard of the world. looks like the 1 used in the movie green book but a 2dr. car has great lines that style we will never see again
Lovely looking car. My favourite years for the Coup deVille are 1962 and 1964. I hope this goes to a good owner.
I know this is a stretch of the imagination, but what if….?
The Caddy is a ’62. With a Tennessee plate that says “Patsy.” Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash in March of 1963.
Coincidence or connection?
I worked in a Firestone tire plant at one point in my life and it irks me a bit to see this fine example of American iron wearing Korean tires (Hankook). Maybe it’s just me, but I would have sourced U.S. made tires – you can tell by the DOT code – either Cokers (if I could afford them) or at the very least a set of Goodyears.
The sidewall of the Hankook is too modern-looking, whitewalls notwithstanding. i get mine on ebay, and they have been great on the Newport, Riviera, and Imperial. Less than 400 for all 4 tires, delivered to my house.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/177902664362?fits=Section+Width%3A235%7CRim+Diameter%3A15%7CAspect+Ratio%3A75&_skw=venezia+classic+787+235+75+r15&itmmeta=01KRF988ZD4SZHKKGCEK1CWAAZ&hash=item296bd33aaa:g:D6UAAeSwZYppqGj7&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA4GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCAjsOK3StbahmymMt6PQ2R4%2BgRa7wLJ8pUYlEMaNhkxM%2FQ93bC0tWAK2w71KgdElZWj2ILtGMYGdieBvSa8%2FzpewrkTSI8EFrY40iLRWFs2bDy6kRPRqcy731S%2Ftx92%2FNJGBj9f63qA7elD5YznZR6L4iWDwLf1I3JYcj9xRdaJ1Q56havPblofo9yEyqPAAOV4i90idS3QDAyLCRgRx3Q747rL5oWJBi90kdzQNkc6JzIHrDXkQQHwDhvgjm7iNwLrwpdO1uaXaS9T66kFGIf%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7SQoenDZw
@Todd J.
I understand the frustration of not only an American car wearing Korean tires, but a Cadillac no less.
Dont know about anyone else, but when I went shopping for white sidewall tires for my SUV, the price of blackwall was expensive enough but white walls were almost $1000 more. I opted for the blackwalls. That’s probably the case with this Cadillac owner. Korean whitewalls are probably cheaper.
I’d bet the Coker American Classics on my ’49 Hudson are ferrin’ made. Never bothered to check but I will next time it’s due for a new set of shoes. Just another example of how this country & we as a society were all sold down the river decades ago.
On the other hand, I guess we should kinda be thankful whitewalls are even still available.
I have Hankooks on my 65 Mercury and they are a reasonabley priced and quality tires. If you buy this car you can put any brand on it you want.
My brother bought a convertible, this year, this color, white top and interior loved that car.
My dad had a 62 convertible–different color metallic green, white top, and oyster leather interior. I loved that car.
In the FWIW department, I have ‘Kooks on my ‘52 Plymouth because Hankook was one of the few tire manufacturers that had my size for a reasonable cost. I’ve had them for five years and they ride great. And because my car is not a show car I prefer practicality over authenticity. Coker can keep their very expensive bias plys. This Caddy is dandy and I love the color scheme. This is the hit of the day as far as I’m concerned. GLWTS.
It looks like the generator was replaced with an alternator update as well
I don’t like the poor wiring job coming directly off the battery. No fuse or breaker and then more splices. I’m guessing that is for the added electric fans for the radiator.
As for the dual brake lines, I understood Cadillac and Rambler came out with them in 64.
Rambler and Cadillac both had dual-circuit brakes in 1962.
I just checked my Cadillac shop Manuals and you are correct 1962. Amazing how you can learn more things on this site.
It does make me wonder though, how Rambler and Cadillac actually came out with something like that the same year.
Beep Beep!
As the former owner of several older Cadillacs with automatic dimmers, they rarely worked right. Most of the time, they wouldn’t operate until oncoming traffic would flash me. This car is sublime. The wheel covers alone would sell me if I had the money to invest in another one. It’s also my favorite color, both inside and out. This is the one to buy. I could get over the tires.
My grandfathers 57 Cadillac had an auto dimmer and the unit was mounted in the side of the vehicle. It had an old power supply using tubes and a vibrator. It’s the first time I learned that you could put 12 V in and get over 250 V out I learned the hard way.
My 1960 had a dimmer as well and it too had tubes and the unit was mounted on the dash.It was very slow to respond. The best one I had was in my 65 Cadillac and it also had tubes but lower voltage ones in a current amplifier under the dash but it worked very well. It had vertical light filters. They were plastic louvers that would block out vertical street lights, etc and the photo tube was mounted inside under the hood on the driver side where it should be. I eventually moved it to another location and installed a second battery there, that was an ideal spot.
My 69, 73, 75,76 and 85 all had dimmers and they all worked very well when properly adjusted on the dash. Now I have an Escalade, and no dimmer, go figure.
Thanks for explaining that. My ’72 Eldorado had one that worked better than any of the others, and I don’t understand why. I don’t remember if my ’78 Coupe deVille had that feature or not, Surely it did? I now drive a 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid that has the feature, and it works like a charm, but it’s done with LIDAR, I believe.
Hi Angel 😇! Good to hear from you again. Hope you’re getting better and getting what I send you. My email is acting up again
and sent the last one you sent me
into something called drafts or
archives. After I found it though, I
got a chuckle concerning what you said about having all those
batteries inside you. But seriously, get well soon dear so that we can take this great old
Cadillac for a ride together– even
though it’ll be in an old man’s dreams.
Sold for 30K.
44 bids.