’47 Cadillac in Walnut Creek best one GM never built
EDiTOo’r NOTb >> David Krumboltz’s regular column is on hiatus until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its place, we’re running some of Dave’s favorite past columns. This one originally ran in August 2011.
Are you familiar with the expression, “if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck?” Take a look at the car pictured this week. It looks like a 1947 Cadillac. It sounds like a 1947 Cadillac. So is it really an experimental 1947 Cadillac as the rear license frame says?
Walnut Creek resident Jay Prouty is not only a master craftsman; he is also a master trickster.
“I love hearing people tell me their dad owned one of these or they saw one just like this, only it was red.”
Prouty’s car is literally one of a kind, though, and he built it himself.
“It started because I love the teardrop fenders on the Cadillac. My idea was if Cadillac had built a roadster in 1947 what it might have looked like,” he said.
Prouty thought he knew. He explained that if one is to build a car, you need to start with something that has a windshield, a firewall and two doors. A mechanic he knew gave him an early 1970s MG MGB, so the windshield, doors and firewall are all MGB. Then he bought a 1947 Cadillac
four-door sedan to get the front and rear fenders, hood and grille, which he had to greatly customize. All of this is sitting on a 1970s Chevrolet Camaro running gear.
“The Camaro had sat outside near the ocean and although it had just a few miles on it, it had a rusted-out body. I got it real cheap because of the rust, but I just wanted the running gear with low mileage,” Prouty said.
The car is powered by the Camaro’s 350 V8 engine with automatic transmission and uses the same car’s power steering and brake systems. The Continental Kit idea came from the 1941 Lincoln, which always has been a favorite of Prouty and the taillights are from a 1959 Cadillac. The car is painted
Seafoam Green, a 1949 Ford color. Prouty likes the color because it is nonmetallic and makes the car look older.
“The top cost more than anything else on the car,” he said. “I wanted it green to match the car and the only green convertible top material available was from BMW, so I had to buy their material and have the top made.”
The seats and interior door panels are from the MGB and the upholsterer was able to match the color with the exterior. The project started about 15 years ago, before Prouty retired, and he worked on it nights and weekends. He said it took him four to five years to complete it.
Not counting any value for his labor, he estimates he has about $4,000 invested. It’s very hard to determine the current market value of this car, but Prouty said at a car show in Fresno a few years ago, a man wanted to trade him a Rolls Royce for his car. He does have a $45,000 collision insurance policy on the car, but he wouldn’t sell it for $45,000. In fact, he has no desire to sell it, which is understandable.
“I never pull up to a stop sign next to a guy alongside of me who has the same car,” Prouty said. “The car drives great, and it will do 70 mph all day long. I’ve put it in shows where I’m probably the only full customized car in the show, plus both of my sons want the car when I’m gone.”
So if it is not really a Cadillac, what is it? According to the DMV, it is officially a registered as a 1964 Chevrolet. Prouty drives the car about 2,000 miles a year, mostly in the summertime and to car shows. He recently won an award at the Danville Hot Summer Nights event, but probably the highest compliment came from a former GM design engineer who was familiar with Cadillac designs of that era. The man spent about 20 minutes crawling over and under the car and then said to Prouty, “We never built this car, but we damn sure should have.”