Since photos and descriptions of many members’ cars have appeared in the Times over the years, I thought that as my “swan song” I would exercise my prez-idential privileges to show off my own 6107 2-door club coupe, “The Green Queen”. She’s a “late” car, built Oct. 20, 1949 and sold by Rickenbaugh Motors in Denver. (This Cadillac dealer is still in existence and participated in the Grand National in that city in 2001.) In 1974 The Queen went from the original owner to two antique car dealers in Colorado in quick succession, one of whom replaced the original Madeira Maroon paint with a generic dark green. The second dealer sold it in 1975 to a lady in Laramie, Wyoming who, 2 years later, sold it to a collector in the Chicago area. I bought it from him via an ad in Hemmings in Sept. 1984 for $5,200. (‘49s were cheaper in those good old days.) It had been undercoated when new, so was practically rust-free and, though it ran well, was a bit worn cosmetically and mechanically.
I had the motor rebuilt in 1985 and had it re-painted in 1986 another dark green (close to Dartmouth Green, a ’49 color). The next year I had the original worn-out Series 61 upholstery replaced. In 1988, The Queen appeared in the opening scenes of the film “Driving Miss Daisy”, filmed in our Atlanta neighborhood. It played the role of the car of the character Boolie, Miss Daisy’s son, who was played by Dan Akroyd. In one scene Mr. Akroyd drove the car, with Morgan Freeman, who played the character Hoke, as his passenger. If there was such a thing, it surely would have received an Academy Award as “Best Car”.
Originally equipped with Hydra-matic, shortly after I bought the Queen I had stick shift installed with a correct 3.77 ratio differential for that transmission. As she’ll cruise at interstate speeds like a ’49 should, I drive her quite a bit, including 13 trips to CLC Grand Nationals and 3 National Driving Tours as far away from my Georgia home as Maine and Texas. I took the photo below at the ’08 CLC Grand National in New Jersey, following which my wife Elaine and I drove to Manhattan where we left her in a lock-up garage on 42nd Street and then went out “on the town”.
The Queen is in excellent “driver” condition and totally stock except for a cheap Radio Shack under-dash AM/FM radio which plays through the original rear speaker. The vacuum antenna works (when it is in the mood) via a valve from an early ‘40s Cadillac that I hooked up. To enhance the look of the interior (in my humble opinion), I bought from chapter member Dennis Akerman a NOS “standard” steering wheel which is brown in color and of simple construction, unlike the fancy deluxe ivory-colored or black wheels found on most ‘49s. Dennis also sold me a NOS radio delete plate which hides the dash holes where the original radio mounted. Installing goodies like these, along with routine maintenance and occasional major repairs, is enough to keep me busy in retirement. I do much of the work in my garage-workshop, but occasionally need the help of my friends John Wright, a professional restorer, and Times editor Art Gardner for tasks requiring greater skills than my own

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Lucille came into my life at a good time. I was feeling aimless and a bit down and she gave me a reason to get my thoughts together and gather up my tools. I don’t know why I named her Lucille; it just felt right. Someone I know suggested I call her Greta. He said it felt right; well, maybe for him. Let me tell you a bit about this beauty so you’ll understand how I got hooked.

I’ve admired the designs of Harley Earl since I was a kid. For the last 60 years, however, I didn’t know his name, just his sense of design. I narrowed down that I wanted a Harley Earl designed car and more specifically, a Cadillac. I narrowed down the years to about 1948 or 1949. The design and mechanics of those years to me were special to me. I chose 1949 since that was the year that the new V8 engine replaced the old flathead design. It introduced greater efficiency and horsepower while reducing the weight and size of the engine.

I Googled “1949 Cadillac” and one of the available choices mentioned that it was in Scarsdale, New York, a Westchester County suburb of New York City not far from my home in Patterson, NY. When the picture opened, I saw this beautiful dark green Cadillac parked on the streets of Scarsdale. The shape, design, color of the Series 62, 4 door sedan all but swept me off my feet. Oddly enough, it had a special New York license plate that said ‘HYDRMTIC’. I found that unusual. Why would anyone advertise that their car had an automatic transmission? To each his own. As days passed, I returned to that page repeatedly. I found that the car had been one of those participating in the Scarsdale Concours d’Elégance back in 2005. Well, we all have dreams and this was mine.

As I got more serious about actually buying an old car, I saw an ad in Hemmings Motor News offering a 1949 Caddy in that same nearby Westchester County. Well, that was close enough to be able to check out a car before buying. Previously, I had put in a winning bid on Ebay for a 1949 Caddy in Maine. The reserve was not met and I didn’t get that car, although the seller later contacted me about making a deal. As we exchanged emails, more and more faults of the car came out and I backed away from any deal. Now, looking back at that car, I was lucky not to get it.

I contacted the seller of my Hemmings’ Westchester County car who answered many questions and agreed to send pictures. When I opened the pictures on my computer, I saw that the car’s license plate read, “HYDRMTIC”. Wow! I had stumbled across my dream car. Fortunately, the price was excellent and I just agreed to it. The seller was a financial advisor with an impressive large, old home. He had bought this car 10 years ago at an auction at Lyndhurst Castle in Irvington, NY conducted by Christie’s Auction House. He showed me the published Christie’s booklet showing all the cars entered in this auction, including this beauty. Wow, this car was being sold with other fantastic cars whose values were estimated up to $750,000 by Christie’s. While this car’s value was a mere fraction of the value of the others, I felt it was sitting in good company.

The seller said that his interest in the car had slowly diminished and he wanted something newer. He provided great paperwork with the car, including the actual California license plate on the car when he got it, a copy of the owners’ manual, shop manual, original ‘build sheet’, data sheet, accessories brochure, loads of General Motors paper and some spare parts for the car. Time to clear out the garage!

I wound up completing the purchase and received the Christie’s booklet and the actual auction paddle used by the seller ten years ago. He also supplied ten years of receipts for repairs and purchases for this car. From the information on the paperwork, it was easy to see that he had put about 2,000 miles on the car in ten years (that’s an average of only 4 miles per week!). The car’s finish isn’t perfect and it needs some mechanical attention; however, I’m in love with Lucille and hope to show it off when gathering with my fellow members of the Cadillac-LaSalle and Lambda Car Clubs.

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