1955 Cadillac update

[rickr]

This is something that turned out much better than 1960 Frigidaire washer! I purchased this Cadillac in 2003, and finished the mechanical restoration over the years. One thing that remained with the restoration of the interior. This car featured all leather, including the door and kick panels. At any rate, it took six months for the trim shop to do the interior restoration. In my memory is correct, it took six hides of leather to do the car. I am very happy to get the car back, however I only drove it once. From the trim shop, home. It is cold in Indiana, so the car will remain in the garage until spring.

 

[58limited]

Absolutely beautiful! I need to get to work on my poor Buick.

 

[goatfarmer]

Another beauty, Rick, you're going to need a bigger garage!

 

[rickr]

Oh no Kenny! I should be downsizing at my age. I really want another jukebox, but I keep talking myself out of it for now.....

 

[qsd-dan]

That caddy is a sight to behold! Enjoy it in good health.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Stunning car! That interior looks sumptuous!

 

[wayupnorth]

My late brother in law Loved old Caddys. He had a "49 convertible, '50, "52 and '53 Fleetwood with power windows and air conditioning and a 57 Coupe de DeVille black and loaded. Unfortunately, all ended up at the crusher after his passing.

 

[gansky1]

Truly a showstopper, Rick.  Merry Christmas!

 

[ea56]

That’s a beautiful 55’ Coupe de Ville Rick, I bet you are enjoying it.

I owned a 55’ Coupe de Ville myself for about 7 months in 1974. Mine was light green with a cream top and two tone light and dark green cloth upholstery. I had so much fun driving that car! And it was surprisingly easy to handle despite its enormous size. And even though it was 19 years old at the time and 180,000 miles on the odometer it still could haul ass.

But it was not a car to own during the days of gas rationing, 8-10 mpg. The power brakes and hydra matic were as smooth as silk, and I loved the auto headlight dimmer. But it was really fun while it lasted. I hope you’ll get lots of pleasure from it.

Eddie

 

[pulltostart]

Rick,

An AWESOME car with a fabulous interior!  Just think of the fun you will this coming spring.

 

lawrence

 

[circlew]

Lovely car

They did an exquisite job on the upholstery. Are the colors factory selections for 1955? It's a beautiful combination.

 

[norgeway]

Pre 56 are my FAVORITE

Cadillacs, Decent gas mileage and the HydraMatic was SO much better than the 56 and later versions.

 

[toploader55]

You are a very Talented Man Rick.

Everything you restore turns out exquisite.

Beautiful Caddy. Enjoy.

 

[cuffs054]

That was my Aunt's car. Hers was baby blue and white.

 

[rp2813]

What a beautiful job!  I've always liked that shade of yellow Cadillac used.

 

Is that an FM converter below the dash?  I'd been wanting one of those for my '50 GMC, but realized that a 6-volt system ruled it out.

 

[ea56]

I don’t believe this is the original color of this Cadillac. From the steering wheel, inserts on the front seat backs, door panel trim and carpet colors I believe it may have originally been Goddess Gold.

My 55’ Cadillac was Mist Green with an Alpine White roof according to the link I’ve attached for 1955 Cadillac paint colors. I’ve also attached an interesting 1955 Cadillac salesman brochure. Mine was a 62 series coupe. There is a wealth of information in this link.

These were really magnificent automobiles.

Eddie

https://www.paintscratch.com/touch_up_paint/Cadillac/1955-Cadillac-All-Models.html
https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/do...formation-kits/Cadillac/1955_Cadillac_VVI.pdf

 

[rickr]

Thanks for the comments everyone! And Merry Christmas to all! The car was a solid white originally. The previous owner had the car repainted in 1976, and added two tone paint. Therefor the yellow is not original to the car. When these were two toned from the factory, they simply painted the roof a contrasting colour. When I looked for a 1955 Cadillac back in 2003, this one really caught my eye. I feel that the way the car was two toned really makes the car.

 

[rickr]

To EA56

Yes, the quality of the 1950's Cadillacs is outstanding. They are really constructed like tanks. They were comparable to a Rolls Royce back in the day. In fact Rolls used the Cadillac transmission up to the late 1970's. I do not know why Cadillac slipped so badly. In my opinion Cadillac has not built a decent reliable car since the late 1970's. I was service manager at our local Cadillac dealer in the 1980's, and the cars were horrible then, and I feel they are not built much better today. Too bad. So much for "The Standard Of The World" as Cadillac was referred to back in the day.

 

[48bencix]

Our friends Grandfather had one

Rick
Absolutely stunning. Our friend's Grandfather had one like this although I think it was a 1956. So I was 10 years old and I asked if I could play with the power windows. You did not need to turn the car on to use the windows. I ran them up and down and was hoping that I didn't drain the battery.

I did have a 1961 Coupe de Ville for about 4 years from 1972 to 1976. Same Hydramatic as yours but with the dual coupling and same radio, with the Wonderbar. Also had the Autronic eye. Don't know why, but I love putting those into Reverse which is located all the way to the right. Or DRIVE with it's two settings.

Someone told me that Cadillacs were performance cars, easily outdoing a Mercedes of the time, at least until probably the 1990's.

Our family never had Luxury cars, just Chevrolets and Fords. I just love these cars. They also do quite well in the snow because of the weight and even mass distribution. I can see keeping it off the road due to the salted roads.

Happy motoring.

 

[wayupnorth]

I remember my BOL's pre '57 Caddys had column shift with Neutral at the top Drive Low and Reverse at the bottom. The '57 had PNDLR. Even their '64 Olds 98 had the same sequence. I dont remember when GM went to the PRNDL.

 

[rickr]

Wayupnorth

1965,(PRNDL) when they came out with the Turbohydramatic. Prior to 1965 most GM cars had "REVERSE" at the bottom. The "PARK" position was added to the Hydramatic in 1956, when the redesigned Jetaway Hydramatic was introduced. 1955 on down do have a locking "PARK" although there is no detent position for it. One simply places the shift lever into "REVERSE" when the engine is not running, and the transmission is locked in "PARK"

 

[wayupnorth]

Thanks Rick, I always wondered when GM changed that. The rest of my family always drove Fords with the PRNDL sequence, since my great uncle owned the local Ford dealership. I got my drivers licence in 1969 and my first car, a worn out '63 Rambler had had the P R N D2 D1 L.

 

[ea56]

Our 63’ Impala had PRNDL and so did the 61 Chevy Nomad that I got my DL in, and our 55 Chevrolet BelAir with Powerglide had Park on the quadrant, but R was at the lower right end, and if my memory serves me correctly the 51’ BelAir we had before the 55” had the same shift pattern as the 55’, and my Dad’s 57’ Olds 88 had Park on the quadrant too, again with R at the lower right end. GM retained the R on the lower right until I believe 59’.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 12/25/2019-00:02]

 

[tolivac]

COOL CAR!!!!!Really like the colors.Drive it in good health!!!!

 

[foraloysius]

That's a beautiful car! You can certainly be seen in it.

My grandfather had a 1955 Pontiac Starchief in two tone. There are only a few pictures of it, and most of them only a few details on those that were taken on the day of my parent's wedding. It was replaced by a 1960 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan, the only car he had that I can remember from own memories.

Americans were very popular among my relatives, more so than Mercedes and BMW's. But it ended in the late 60's. The last American car was a 1967 Chevelle, that was owned by an uncle.

 

[swestoyz]

Glad to see the '55 is still in the stable, and that it's gotten some much deserved TLC treatment! The new leather looks amazing!

Ben

 

[rickr]

Thanks Louis! My older brother had a 1955 Pontiac as his first car in 1968. It was a 4 door sedan, Chieftain. Nothing special, but I loved it! It was two toned, mint green and black.

Thanks Ben! I was wondering, if you still had that 1959 Cadillac? Or perhaps it was Cory's car. I saw it when you guys drove it to Greg's house in 2006.

 

[kevin313]

A real beauty!!

You have done a wonderful job with it - just stunning! Come spring, get her out on the road and enjoy!

 

[cornutt]

From what I've read, the Powerglide and the Dynaflow were the two GM transmissions that used the PNDLR sequence. The Dynaflow wasn't truly an automatic; it was a slushbox that relied entirely on the torque converter. It never shifted to low gear unless you moved the lever to L. My parents had a '61 Le Sabre with the Dynaflow. There were hills that it would not go up unless it was shifted to L.

 

[ea56]

Originally, GM placed the “L” and the “R” at the end of the shift quadrant to facilitate “rocking” your car out of snow, mud and sand by quickly moving between reverse and low. I’ve seen some Jam Dandy films on You Tube that demonstrate this, and I recall reading about this maneuver in old GM owners manuals.

When I was in HS, in 1966 the neighbors up the road from us had a 57’ Buick Station Wagon and also a 63’ Rambler Classic 4 dr. The Rambler had the PRNDL set up, while the Buick had PNDLR. Once, Diane, the middle daughter was following the school bus up a very step grade, and the bus driver Mrs. Denton always had to come to a complete stop at a certain very steep spot and shift into 1st gear. Well Diane, was used to driving the Rambler, and forgot that reverse was at the end of the quadrant in the Buick and slammed the shift lever of the Buick into reverse by mistake, thinking she was shifting to low and dropped the transmission right on the spot, with all of us laughing at her bad luck. Fortunately, her Dad had a tow truck too, and was able to tow the Buick back up the grade.

Eddie