Steers And Rolls: 1959 Cadillac Coupe De Ville
Here’s another in the “Are you serious?” category. It’s everyone’s favorite example of domestic excess, a 1959 Cadillac Coupe De Ville but this is no Marilyn Monroe mobile; it’s, well, you’ll see. Located in Cullman, Alabama, is this wretched excess of a two-door hardtop. It can be had, here on eBay for a BIN price of $7,500. Thanks to Russ D. for this tip!
The seller is advertising this Cadillac as a Coupe De Ville (which I at first mistyped as a Coupe De Vile) but it could be a Sixty-Two Coupe as well. Cadillac aficionados are welcome to comment on that matter. Anyway, this one will be tough to sugarcoat but there is probably an ounce or two of good here somewhere. The last time that I covered a ’59 Cadillac it was a similar story though that subject was a twofer. And we do review some very nice examples of this era Cadillac, I just seem to be drawn to the more down-on-their-luck versions.
Right from the start, this Caddy doesn’t. It doesn’t because it is missing most of its engine. No word as to what happened under the missing hood or where the rest of the 390 CI V8, and its associated parts, ended up but you can take solace in the fact that this car, “steers and rolls”. There could still be a Hydramatic automatic transmission in place but that is not known for certain.
As mentioned above, among the missing, is the hood, no telling where that went but the trunk contains much of the excessive stainless trim that adorned large swaths of this behemoth of a car. Is it all actually there? Hard to say considering the sheer number of pieces worn by a ’59. While there is no worry about losing any of that trim through holes in the trunk floor, while you’re steering and rolling, the same cannot be said about the passenger compartment floor. Three of the four footwells are on a serious attrition program. The massive bumpers are still holding up both ends of this Caddy but they need to be replated. Good to see is that the very ornate grille would appear to be complete, though the center bar is not properly aligned. The seller references rust in the bottom of the passenger-side door, but rust actually abounds everywhere. That said, the frame is claimed to be straight and solid – it needs to be visually inspected. Also, something, or someone, sat on both front fenders and bent them.
As for the interior, I got nothin’. Examine the images and you’ll see that it is mostly a disaster zone. There is little that appears to be reusable except for the seat frames, oh, and the bottom rest for the back seat is missing so you can pretty much scratch that thought. The pine needle collection is good evidence that this Coupe De Ville has spent years in an Alabama pine forest with its windows rolled down, ergo, the missing floors. The interior, unfortunately, is probably a lost cause and will require an entire do-over.
There you have it, this icon of 1950’s American automobile excellence, in the form of GM’s top drawer Cadillac Division, the “Standard of the World”, reduced to this sad a state. But hey, it’s only $7,500… And there is no title because “we in the state of alabama dont have titles so there is no title,,,,,”. That’s not the only thing missing. I don’t think there is much that can be done with this Coupe De Ville short of checking scrap commodity prices but I could be wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time and certainly not the last. Tell me, folks, what do you do with something like this?
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now3 hours$16,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now3 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now3 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now3 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now5 days$10,500
Comments
Certainly agree on the “are you serious” category. It doesn’t even qualify for the “you’ve got to be kidding”award.
dragged out of a auto wreckers for next to nothing and figure some dumb sucker is going to dump 100 grand in this heap to end up with a road barge good luck chuck!
You’re right , it probably was junked 50 years ago.
Yard art,,,
Please put a Junk in front of Yard!!!!
Take it back to the Dump …………IF they’ll even have it! Sheeesh!!!!!!
Neil Young buried nicer examples.
Sorry Rex, it was Bruce Springsteen, greatest rocker of all time, all the way. Let’s start the week off on the right foot, with Bruce Springsteen,,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCRu_0iUKQs
“Bruce Springsteen, greatest rocker of all time”?
hmmmmmmm
Sorry, that honor goes to Elvis Presley, Then Little Richard & Chuck Berry!!!!!!
It was the Ant Farm Artists Collective that did the Cadillac Ranch installation in Amarillo, Texas.
Sorry, I don’t get the Neil Young reference.
Bruce Springsteen memorialized your installation in his song “Cadillac Ranch.” Neil Young was not the songwriter or artist and was incorrectly identified. Paolo, I very much appreciate you work on this project…and sorry to see what the “public” has done to your public work of art. My stepson was there in 2012, drove his motorcycle out west and stopped by. So much destruction.
Southern cars rust from the inside out so this car is worse than it looks. Maybe a parts car.
“Steers and rolls” and if you put holes through the floorboards you have a stylish Flinstonemobile
…and have a gay ‘ol time.
Howard and Rex beat me to it. Like dad would have said, “overpriced at free.”
This could be the most expensive potential couch . Chop off the rear and get some special stuffing…,
I’m guessing one of the extras from ‘Deliverance’
is the owner of this & came up with the price.
I was thinking “the deer hunter” where they bag a deer to put in the 59 caddy trunk…
A great war movie with pitfalls of going to war.,
Like “Apocalypse now”
And Platoon (father then son leads)
Its probably been sitting in the woods with the windows down since that movie came out !
Not only it’s sad condition, but it’s a non a/c car with no power windows, etc. Nothing worse than a hard top car with manual windows.
Part it! And I say that with a cringe, as I love Cadillacs and hate to see them parted out. But this one, is already dead. It just doesn’t know it yet.
IMHO, I believe it’s a Sixty two, not a Coupe de Ville, but, who cares?
I’m of the opinion this unit is “Target Practice” for the boys at the local shooting range.
I recently was contacted by a buddy who was cleaning up 30 acres of ABSOLUTE junk…a “Hoarders Heaven.”
There were at least 50 old cads, and other things. Cushmans, Chevys, trucks, trailers Ford’s. It was a NIGHTMARE!
The son inherited the property after his dad died.
They held an auction, but nobody showed up.
The son thought it was all worth MILLIONS.
He got an ice water wake-up when the crusher arrived by order of the city and HE had to pay!
Hahaha!
Wait a minute… I’d give one Franklin for the Caddy, buy the Elmiata, from the other day, and finish the conversion.
Forget marilyn monroe , this is more marilyn Manson.
I wonder how much more damage this car would reveal if it was media blasted.
Would there be anything left?
As 59 Caddy folks know, the most valuable parts of this car are the horn ring, bumpers, grill, trim pieces- maybe some glass. The rest is shot
The first photo shows a property and home behind the car that looks like someone’s I have purchased from in Cullman, AL. This fella is/was a hoarder in the first degree. His home was filled with jukeboxes and his barn revealed mostly early 60s customized cruisers (57 Ford, shoebox Ford, 63 Galaxie convert all dropped to the ground and period customized). He did deal with me on an MG Midget and showed me around his property where I found a huge vintage enamel Shell sign he asked $75 for. The sign and MG were swiftly strapped to my flatbed. A couple weeks later a buddy of mine lured a rather substantial collection of plastic model cars and motorcycles from him for a good price. So, maybe give the seller a call and offer what you think is fair?
I guess if you had a trunk of money and were full of self loathing this would be a deal.
As Clint Eastwood said.“Scrap the Caddy Clyde”
That unbroken horn ring is worth a few bucks. Beyond that, I hope the buyer has very deep pockets.
“Coupe De Vile” was not a mistype, it was an accurate description
What a different and even better time it was sixty years ago when this kind of car was common on the streets of towns everywhere. This car could be saved with a lot of effort, though buyers are becoming more and more scarce.
How nice the domestic excess was from 1953-1979 and now the very wealthy carry on the tradition with $647 million yachts when, in 1960, a $400,000 boat (with fins) would do.
What do you do with something like this? Fix it. I see no problem that can’t be overcome.
The correct answer is – remove the few remaining parts that are useable and scrap the rest. You could probably buy two nice 59 Caddys and still have money left over for the amount of cash it would take to revive this carcass
The presence of a window crank on the interior passenger door leads me to believe that this is a series sixty-two, rather than a Coupe de Ville, but it’s in such sad shape that it doesn’t make much of a difference.
Too much!!! Would’nt give him 100 for it.
100% totally agree Mitch!!!!! This Rust Bucket Piecer ain’t fit for the Recycle yard!
Be one hellofa rat rod. Ha!
He’s taken “patina” to a whole new level with this one…
Oh the delusional realm of reality most Alabamians live in 🙄!
But it sold…
How much did the seller get?
We’ll never know that…A deal was struck, apparently, and the auction was ended….I am assuming , nothing concrete known …
Probably went to Sweden as they appear to have bought nearly all of the 59 Caddys in the world….. LOL. There is a huge repop market for parts for older American cars of this type over there.
If I lived nearby, I’d flatbed it out of there for 150 bucks
The decimal point should be moved over two spots!! D’oh.
The world has gone bat-$hit crazy. That started a long time ago, but really got worse about 1460 days ago!
Either a large tree was dropped on the front end, or there was an underhood fire that warped the front fenders & probably the hood, hence it’s no longer there.
And yes, it’s a series 62 coupe. The interior of a Coupe DeVille has leather bolsters on the seats. And if I’m not mistaken, the Coupe DeVille came standard with power windows. I’ve restored 2 of them, one to Cad-LaSalle club national 1st place.
Just tonight Velocity aired a Fantomworks episode where they restored a 4-door one of these, not as roached out as this one though. Customer thought he might spend about 75k- Ha, Dan Short appeared to choke on something. New LS1 & tranny, but all else stock except for brakes. 15k on chrome, they never gave the cost, but adding up the parts and hours, must have been north of 200 large. Car came out wicked awesome in that pale metallic Caddy pink.
He really rips them on Fantomworks. If they didn’t have holes in their pockets when they came in, they did when they went out. Worst attitude of anyone on car shows but bet he’s proud of himself.
Yep. I stopped watching it because I could not look at that unlikable POS anymore. If you want to see an interesting new Aussie resto show, take a look at the first few eps of Resto My Ride. Yea, I am an Aussie, but it’s a sweet show.
A dollar a hundred weight.
I’d part it out. Someone who’s restoring one would love to get a good grille, stainless trim, some genuine GM lenses, and the unobtanium genuine horn ring. How’s the glass?
Christopher Dyer,
I’ve restored a couple of ’59 Cadillacs, and repaired many more in my restoration shop. Back in the 1970s the ’59/’60 horn ring was already very hard to find, as they fractured and broke at the corners early in life, plus the GM parts inventory was exhausted very early in the 1960s.
What would it cost to turn into a demolition derby car, probably would easily win with those front and rear bumpers ?
Everyone is overlooking the obvious solution. Do not look at it from the restoration angle. Leave the exterior as it is, (ok, maybe satin clear coat it) drop in a Big Block with a blower, fix the floors & do what you want with the interior. You would have a ‘59 Cadillac rat rod that would get tons of attention everywhere you go. Like it or not, we have all seen people walk by beautiful restorations to go look at the rat rods at cars shows. 😎
I seriously doubt it would pass a roadworthy test (as we call them in Australia). That rot is too extensive for it to be safe, even as a rat rod. I’d be effed if I would get in it with a big donk in it without a real structural restoration.
A turd that is way beyond being able to be polished.
looks good for a body swap job with a newer rolling chassis make for a cool around town restomod cruiser …i always loved the ol caddys