1955 Cadillac

[petek]

We didn't see many Cadillacs or Lincolns in the small city I grew up. For the most part it was bottom or midline Chevs, Ford etc family sedans. Wasn't until the 70's that people started to get a/c in their cars let alone power windows. I recollect well this older couple friends of my folks who bought a new 66 Caprice, light tan, red leather buckets and console shift with power windows...boy was that cool.. I don't think it had a/c though. And then they day the neighbor up the road pulled in with his 67 Tbird suicide doors..wow that was even cooler, I always loved that car and of course I was always over there when he was washing it...lol

 

[drmitch]

Love those wicked torpedos on the front bumper! I have a book from the early 70s of car horror/sci-fi stories that has artwork of a 55 cad on the cover and a skeleton driving! A friend got a black 55 and he loves it9Been trying to talk him into selling it to me) Ha!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Rick your vintage Cadillac is just beautiful, I’m green with envy. I want to get a vintage car of my very own someday; I would like something from 1951 to 1956 or so. I recently picked up up a college level textbook from the 1960s on the basics auto mechanics and I'm finding it a fascinating read. I know quite a bit about machines that run by electricity, but I know absolutely nothing about gasoline engines and how they work so I slowly learning.

Enjoy, it’s a beautiful car you have there.

 

[rickr]

1955 California Cadillac with 78,000 original miles

Thanks for the nice comments about "The Cat". I bought the car two years ago. It had not been driven since 1982,and the charging system and related wiring had been burnt up. I replaced the generator,and voltage regulator and crafted a new wiring harness for the charging system. I rebuilt the brake system,replaced the tires,and dual exhaust system,rebuilt the carburator,and tuned and serviced the engine. The car still needs the transmition serviced,and a few other things,like all the door and window seals replaced,etc. etc. etc. Also the interior redone (seams splitting due to age) but that will wait a year or two until the rest of the car is finished. Oh yes,the clock will be converted to quartz movement also.

 

[rickr]

No A/C

Yes I almost did not buy this car,as it did not have air conditioning. Then a friend of mine told me,"you don't need it in this car anyway" And he was right. It is not like I drive this car all the time,or I am in the South. Also these old cars were designed to provide comfort in hot weather. The glass is vertical,the roof curves down on the sides for shade,and the ventilation system is the best I have ever seen!
The car was really designed for no air conditioning.

 

[kenmore1978]

old cars

Robert, as you've probably figured out by now there are a LOT of people on here who are also vintage car collectors, so there are a lot of brains to pick when it comes to mechincal knowledge of how things were done in the 50's and where to go for parts/advice/ etc. And you'll pick up the history of "milestones" like Cadillac and Oldsmobile's short stroke OHV v8's for 1949, Chevy's small block V8 for 1955 (basic design STILL in use today), first fully automatic transmission (Oldsmobile 1940), Chrysler's Hemi for 1950, and on and on.

 

[rickr]

get a vintage car!

Robert you should GO for it! The fun you would have! And you already have vintage everything else,so just take the plunge. I have a degree in automotive service,but I really don't use it working on these old cars. They are simple and fun to repair. You just need the tools,and a service manual. If you can rebuild all those machines in your basement,you could handle a vintage car for sure.

 

[appnut]

Rick, I"m so grateful you posted all those outstanding pics of taht incredible car. Felt like I was right there in it. I become so humbled see all the wonderful things you've worked on and so veratile. Thank you again for sharing with us. Bob

 

[rickr]

Your are very welcome,Bob and there is no reason to feel humbled. I am grateful to have an opportunity to share photos,and view other peoples vintage items and collections. Plus we have the added bonus of sharing opinions, memories and funny stories, restoration hints,leads and ideas from the other members. I feel we all love the varity of antiques and collectables that we get to see on this site.
Who could want for more?
Rick

 

[rickr]

She's a big Cat!!

It is hard to show the huge size of this car.Including width,height and length. It is just entering the garage here.

 

[rickr]

The engine

Is a 331 CID V/8 with a four speed Hydramatic transmition. There is no "park" the quadrant reads: N-DR1-DR2-L-R Reverse is on the bottom. You use Reverse gear as park,or you can set the hand operated parking brake.

Cadillac made tanks for the model years of 1942 to 1945. They used two Cadillac V/8 engines coupled to two Hydramatic transmitions in each tank. One for each "track"

 

[petek]

I guess driving that thing it's like... Get outta my way, I'm a coming thru!!! hahahahaha
Do you find that they look bigger now that everyones getting used to seeing smaller cars.. I do.. Heck even a Ford Falcon looks big these days and they were small cars

 

[rickr]

Heavy metal

The engineers overbuilt things back fifty years ago. I think they still had that "tank building" mentality going on here. (which is just KEWL with me!!)Everything you see is very heavy gauge solid steel. No plastic here! If you hit something with this,you are 2&1/2 feet away from the radiator.

 

[petek]

I'm assuming power steering and brakes were standard?

 

[rickr]

Options

Hi Pete, power steering and brakes were standard on this De'Ville model,as well as power windows and seat. The lesser models I don't know. I would REALLY hate to to think about driveing this without power steering. All that weight on the front wheels??
You are right about the old cars looking larger! The compacts of yesteryear are the "full size" of today. SUV's don't mess with me in this. I am sitting at the same height as most of them,not to mention length,width and mass... LOL!

 

[appnut]

Hydromatic transmissions were my (and still are) all-time favorite trannys.

 

[kenmore1978]

vintage a/c trivia

"But here in the south you better have that A/C! I loved the aircraft like vents in the ceiling of those old units."

Actually, only the Sedan body styles had the A/C vents in the roof with the clear plastic ducts leadiing into them. Rick's Coupe DeVille and the lesser Series 62 Coupe simply had the vents mounted in the package shelf with the louvers pointed forward.

 

[rickr]

Remember the 2 door hardtop moving window seal?

This was the first year of the hardtop (no center post),and General Motors was worried about wind leaks on the two door hardtops. The engineers added a moving chrome trim seal that opened and closed with the door to assure a postive seal.The strip is attached to the roof rail of the body,and flips open and closed with the door.
Closed position here. strip it shown with the two sets of double rivets.

 

[kenmore1978]

Correction

1949 was the first year of the pillarless hardtop coupe.
Those flipping weatherstrips were used until 1958 on Cadillac and other GM 2 door hardtops.

Packard and possibly other makes used them, too

 

[rickr]

door window seal open

top door seal in the open position. The small tab above the vent window contacts the door as it closes,which moves the spring loaded seal to the closed position. Really a very smart(and costly) design!