Special Order: 1941 Cadillac Deluxe Coupe
Cadillac had a banner year in 1941, building nearly 60,000 automobiles for the first time. That included the Series 62 Deluxe Coupe like the seller’s car. Except this one was a special-order Caddy, with no back seat like the Business Coupe sold by more pedestrian makes like Plymouth. Maybe the original owner was a traveling salesperson who wanted to take his work on the road in style. Though cleaned up, this barn find doesn’t run and has some internal rust to be dealt with. Located in Dallas, Texas, this one-off is available here on eBay for the Buy It Now price of $12,995.
Even as a two-door sedan, the Series 62 Deluxe Coupe was quite popular with buyers in 1941, the last full model year before U.S. auto production would cease due to the war effort. The cars were powered by a 346 cubic inch “flathead” V8 engine that produced 150 hp, an output quite tame compared to similar displacements just a few years later. The Hydra-Matic transmission was new in ‘41 and could be had for $110 extra. It employed a system consisting of a fluid coupling, four forward speeds, and reverse controlled by a hydraulic “brain.” 30 percent of all Caddies sold that year had this transmission, including the seller’s car.
As mentioned, this ’41 Deluxe Coupe was a specially ordered car. There are no records to indicate if any others were built with the back seat removed, the front seat modified as to not fold back, and a compartment installed in the back with a locking lid. But that’s how the folks at Cadillac built this one and while the interior still looks okay for the age of the car, it will need attention if you’re planning to restore it.
The seller of this vintage machine is a dealer, who purchased it out of a barn and bathed it. In doing so, an interesting paint color emerged. This persimmon-like hue isn’t one that we can find in the paint codebooks, so perhaps it was custom ordered along with the rest of the car. The last owner purchased this Cadillac in 1967 and it’s been sitting for quite a few years. The keys disappeared long ago, so no attempts to start the car have been made except to turn it by hand (it’s not stuck).
Though it presents well after decades of inactivity, there is some rust in the floors along with the previous patchwork having been done. The trunk has some rust in it along with the body mounts. Some extra parts will accompany the car, like an extra grille. The mileage is reported to be 61,000 and the odometer may have never turned over. A ’41 Cadillac Series 62 can be a $50,000 car according to NADA, but it remains to be seen whether the lack of a back seat would increase or lower the car’s value over time.
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Comments
That is a treasure, would be amazing to see it as new. Simple yet it’s a Caddy!
Go try and find another one of these. Rare and a good looker. Lot of work ahead but should be well worth it.
Jimmy Hoffa is in the box without a key, taking his last ride in style.
Finally!
Someone pictured it as found, then CLEANED it up!
What a relief….
I hope it finds a great home.
what a beauty !!!
It’s an interesting story, but is there documentation to back it up? How do we know it was done at the factory, rather than someone tearing out the back seat, building a lockbox, and installing the non-folding front seat from a sedan?
If you took the time to read the listing on Ebay you woukd have seen the documentation from the Cadillac archives. Simple enough by reading it
My bad. I rarely follow the links, just read the BF post.
@Evan…if you took the time to read the ebay listing you would see the documentation from Cadillac .
Pete, I think Evan got the message.
That’s a V12 engine not a v8.
that v-12 motor has nothing to do with the Cadillac. its a lincoln motor anyway and there are 2 of them, not one in the photo.
I wish it was a straight 12, much more impressive.
That’s a V12 engine, not a V8.
How much for the lampshade? Or does all that junk come with the car?
Might have been optioned out to haul moonshine
Who would suspect a Caddy?
Deak number #1 doesn’t have documentation past the 6th grade. Deak number two thinks he’s a count. Deak number three wants to upgrade his home furnishings. A normal day at http://www.BarnFinds.com
Looks like a custom made, whiskey running, Moonshiners car!
THE engine in the pic is a V 12 but I don’t think it belongs to this car. As for the mileage I can’t see a 41 Cad with a 16100, doing as well as this.
One more thing on this car, the engine shouldn’t be to get running even for a rebuild. The transmission is a whole nother story?
They still make parts to rebuild the transmission. I saw a add the other day. I like it and wished It was mine.
A COPO Cadillac?
Nice old ’41 Cadillac we have here. I would like to have that in my garage just like it is.
Back in the early 90’s a couple years before my father passed on, I asked him one day what his favorite car of all time was as he had so many nice classic cars over the years, he thought about it for a minute and said to me it had to be my ’41 Cadillac 4 dr sedan. I believe it was a series 62 also. So that told me it was something very special to him, and the nice thing is I have a picture of that car with me sitting in front with my baby sister and older brother and sister. I was 5 years old in the picture, the year 1952. His ’41 was a beauty as seen in the picture I have.
I hope this listed Cadillac gets a full on restoration and will turn out to be the new owner’s favorite car.
I think this very car was briefly at my shop in 1980. A Mrs. M wanted to have us restore the car for her husband, a military officer. The car was shipped to me from south eastern Ohio. The couple lived in the northern suburbs of Washington DC, not far from my shop.
They wanted the box removed and the split back folding front seat installed. When I noted the trunk key and the box lock were the same key, I started looking closer at the car. I became convinced the car’s interior was built like you see it. When it came to me it was not painted in this color, it was a blue-grey and the interior dash, window frames etc, were painted light grey, not the white I see here.
The car sat in one of my sheds as I tried to do more research while still looking for a regular coupe bench. Back 42 years ago the Cadillac records were not available like you see in this e-bay listing.
Before we really got started disassembling the car, Mrs. M contacted me and said not to do anything. Seems the husband was being transferred to Texas, and I had to make the car ready to send by a car transport company to Texas. They paid the bill and had it picked up, and this is the first time in 40+ years since I saw it in person. Clearly they had the car repainted, but nothing else appears to have been done.
I can confirm this car had the interior you see today, but in a lot better condition. It looks like the car spent most of the past couple of decades in the barn!
Amazing.
Always possible that the one you had for a little bit was another car, but how many could there have been with these features?
I really think that it would be a hoot to get this cleaned up and driving properly enough to cruise across the country in. I’d be tempted to add vintage air, but not make any other changes not deemed essential. Maybe a well-hidden sound system for satellite radio….
There aren’t many cars older than I am which appeal to me as an adventure on wheels, but this one certainly qualifies. It’s awesome. Love it.