1959-1961 Cadillacs
Simon Ringham owns three stunning 1959, 1960 and 1961 Cadillacs, but behind the shiny chrome, what’s it like living with cars like these every day?
You might recall that we featured Simon Ringham’s customised 1940 Ford in Classic American’s April 2019 issue. When Matt and I visited to photograph his Ford, Simon pointed out the gorgeous 1959 Cadillac he also owned and I vowed we’d return to feature the Caddy. A year later, I saw Simon at a car show in torrential rain (he really does use his cars!) where he mentioned also having a 1960 sedan and that he’d just bought a 1961 convertible, so naturally we headed back to Wales.
While I love finding out wherever possible the past of a feature car, Simon admits he doesn’t have much interest in history. When it comes to buying a classic Cadillac, condition is key.
The cars are part of his business All Stretched Out (01633 282233 or see www.allstretchedout.co.uk) providing wedding cars, limousines and party buses for hire and so long as the vehicles are immaculate and reliable, he doesn’t mind who previously owned them.
“My wife thinks I’m nuts,” laughs Simon as he pulls his 1959 Fleetwood Sixty Special from its garage. “After I saw you at the Yate show, I lost a wiper in the pouring rain on the motorway and went back later on my motorbike to find it. What really impressed me about the Cadillac that day was how there wasn’t a single drop of water inside, and you remember how heavy the rain was. This ’59 was a New York car, there’s a New Jersey decal from 1986 on the screen. I bought it from a dealer; the chap who’d owned it had spent more than $10,000 on the paint and another 10 on chrome. Sadly, when it arrived here the wheel covers and some of the trim were missing. Those tiny FLEETWOOD letters on the front wings cost $160 per side. It also needed a new horn ring and that was nearly $1000. Most of the trim is unique to that year Fleetwood, and
I was missing the chrome around the bootlid too.
There was also a little bit of rot in the base of the front wings.”
All three Cadillacs have a 390cu in V8 with a single carb and four-speed automatic transmission − a gearbox that’s not always reliable. “It only had first and reverse when I got it, which can be a common fault on these Hydra-Matics. I had it rebuilt by a chap in Southend. We pulled it out ourselves and they are heavy! It’s still on cross-plies, while the 1960 has radials and sits a little bit lower, but in terms of handling they’re both atrocious,” laughs Simon. “But they’re 60 years old and you work through the problems because they’re beautiful vehicles. I really love the details; the courtesy lights on the seatbacks and how there’s a cigarette lighter in every door. I love the extra ‘double’ chrome on these Fleetwoods. As for options, I know the ’59 has E-Z Eye blue tint glass, sixway front power seat and the optional fog lights.” Of course, power steering and power brakes came as standard, there’s an Autronic Eye (automatic headlamp dipper) on the ’59 and ’60 and both have a vinyl/brocade interior. The data codes for 1959 are not always easy to research, but one source suggests this car left the factory painted red with a red and white interior and it appears it was built November 24, 1958.
Art for art’s sake
When you consider how many designers would have been involved in every aspect of these cars, you wonder how they kept them busy when the next year’s model just got a facelift. “It’s surprising what minor changes were made between the years and models,” explains Simon, “you get used to having an indicator warning reminder on the 1959 and the ’60, but for 1961 they moved it to the front wings – there’s nothing on the dashboard. The ’61 came with a single exhaust replacing the previous twins. The buttons on the 1960’s door handles don’t push in so far as the ones on the ’59, the radio mountings in the dashboard are different; the 1960 radio doesn’t mount so deeply. The 1959 has one key for all the locks while the ’60 has separate keys. The 1960 has manual quarter lights, but the Fleetwood has powered ones...”
Although such Cadillacs are often heralded as the cultural icon of the Fifties, in all honesty they weren’t always the best built of automobiles. Front-end vibration was common even when new, with one renowned service department internal report entitled Rattles, Shakes, Sonic Booms and Things That Go Bump in The Night. The ’59 was also rather susceptible to rust, partially a result of the rush to build them to meet demand, but also because all that trim trapped moisture, although General Motors were hardly alone with that issue. Incidentally, Cadillac referred to their 1959 cars as ‘substantial, yet ethereal’ and − wait for it – ‘tasteful and restrained’.
When asked about increasing buyer interest in smaller cars considering import sales were up 62% over 1958, Cadillac’s general manager, James M Roche, confidently predicted: “Big cars will stay in the forefront.” How right he was. Although big, they weren’t slow. A new Cadillac 390cu in OHV V8 arrived in 1959 which, despite returning 14mpg at best, could still haul these 2.5-ton machines to 60mph in 11 seconds, then to 120mph and beyond.
Angelic deVille
“It was blue, but I painted it white,” says Simon of his 1960 Sedan deVille. “It’s an all-original interior, except I put new carpet in. I bought the car with 48,448 original miles from Connecticut, spotting it on eBay in 2015 being sold by a lady who was the second owner. Apparently, a guy bought it and didn’t turn up to collect the car so she relisted it. That same guy won it and yet again didn’t ever show up.”
The 1960 had clearly been unused for a while. “It had a piece of ribbon wrapped around the accelerator so you could pull the pedal back up if it stuck... I knew when I bid there were bits missing; it was hard to source a new piece of glass for the quarter light. Again, it’s little things you don’t think about that add up the cost; there’s a little circle of chrome that fits around the base of the aerial on the front passenger side wing – that was $175 but you have to have it to complete the car − it can’t do a wedding with a hole in the wing!
“I had the heater out and rebuilt it and there was also a small area of rust in the boot floor above the exhausts. It’s currently wearing wheel covers from a 1959 because I think the 1960 ones look awfully boring.” This Sedan deVille was built in the first week of April 1960 and, as mentioned, left the factory painted Code 24 Pelham Blue with a blue/black interior.
With increasingly heavy competition in the luxury sector from Lincoln, Cadillac entered the Sixties in the tricky position of trying to tempt new, younger buyers without alienating their existing older clientele. The 1960 was a facelifted ’59 yet looked significantly different. There was always a 2-3-year lead-time, meaning the 1960 models were being finalised around late 1958. General Motors’ vice-president of design, Harley Earl, spent his professional life trying to make cars look longer and lower, and favoured clay models to display his ideas, not the flat drawings and sketches of most of his peers. One Cadillac stylist recalled: “By 1957, we felt fins had gone about as far as they could go so we began to evolve a less ostentatious shape, then the following year Mr Earl retired, Bill Mitchell took over and we threw everything we were doing out the window.” Mitchell preferred crisp chiselled lines and less chrome, so for 1960 the fins were lowered but sharpened, the front and rear styling simplified, the lines cleaner with some of the extraneous chrome left off.
Under-the-surface changes included finned rear brake drums, self-adjusting brakes and a vacuum-operated parking brake which released automatically. Prices were identical to 1959 as, virtually, was the production total of 142,184.
“IT HAD A PIECE OF RIBBON WRAPPED AROUND THE ACCELERATOR SO YOU COULD PULL THE PEDAL BACK UP IF IT STUCK...”
Smaller and better
The 1961 models marked the second year running that Cadillac’s tailfins shrank, although not by much, and there were now fins on the lower rear corners. Taken from Harley Earl’s innovative Cyclone show car and christened ‘skegs’, they were merely decorative and proved expensive to repair once they were inevitably damaged during parking mishaps. Some 1961 buyers bemoaned the fact that it was harder to tell the more expensive models in the range since they no longer got any extra chrome, but that did mean the new straight-line creases styling could be better admired. Windscreen pillars were redesigned to remove the dogleg which could really bash a knee when climbing in or out, and the screen itself was smaller with far less wraparound.
Elegant horizontal tail-lights echoed the headlight design and under the surface was improved steering and suspension. An optional limited slip differential became available and the unreliable air suspension option was quietly discontinued. The 1961 got strengthening bars across the engine bay and three inches of length was trimmed, as was on average 120lb of weight. Yet, total production of 1961 Cads was
slightly down at 138,379 with 15,500 of those being a $5455 Series 62 convertible like Simon’s. The sales dip was largely due to the introduction of Ford’s stunning new Lincoln Continental (featured in last month’s Classic American) and 1962 would see Cadillac hit record production of 160,840.
“This convertible came from Ohio,” says Simon. “The seller had about 70 Cadillacs. I got zero history with the car. It was one of about 10 the guy sold to a dealer and I bought it from him. I wanted this ’61 since it was sold as being completely rust-free. I’m currently rebuilding the power seat and the power top. They’re this fabulous luxury car, yet the trim in the boot is backed with cardboard.”
The body data plate tells us the 1961 was built in the second week of February 1961, is a code 6267 series 62 convertible with a maroon and white leather interior and painted Olympic White with a white top.
“I love this era of Cadillacs since they’re just so over the top; there was nothing else like them before or since. It used to be the 1959s were the only Caddy anyone wanted, but 1960s cars are going up in value now too, although a 1960 will never quite be a ’59. Colour is really important on these cars too. Mine occasionally get used for weddings, but they’re mainly a fun thing for me. I really do enjoy owning these cars and have no plans to sell any; what would I replace them with? I’d maybe swap them for a 1959 Eldorado.
“I wouldn’t change anything about them except wishing they all had air conditioning and the passenger-side door mirrors are useless since there’s a pillar in the way. I like to make everything work correctly on any car I own and I’m not afraid to pull them apart for repairs − I enjoy tinkering. Although, on these usually any piece you remove needs two people to lift it and everything is seriously over-engineered. One thing I’ll always do is to get the clocks working properly − I’ve now become a bit of an expert, sat at home repairing those in the evenings…”