Eric Westphal, our member in Germany, recently drove his 6107 to the annual Rheinbach Classics 2011 car show. There, a lovely fraulein who has just been elected “Miss Petticoat” posed in front of the car. (Test your devotion to ’49s. Which did you check out first, Eric’s car or the young lady?)

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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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I retired October 30th after 30 years running a one-man office and just sold my Vashon Island, Washington home. I moved to my retirement home March 11th on the ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River on Washington State’s Long Beach Peninsula. My first visit to the Peninsula was with my late grandmother in her ’49 Cadillac sedan in 1953 to see her ocean house that was just being built. Many nice memories.
I drove my ’49 Coupe De Ville down to the ocean house on a beautiful day and had a beautiful drive. It looks mighty handsome tucked in its new garage. Can’t wait to begin driving my baby around its new home.
Late one morning I took this picture of the CDV at the mouth of the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific Ocean on the Washington side, with Waikiki Beach (yes, that’s the name of the little beach to the left and in front of my car) and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. Across the river on the Oregon side is Warrenton and Fort Stevens and, in the distance, Saddle Mountain. This is about where Lewis and Clark would have first seen the Pacific Ocean before crossing over to the Oregon side for the winter. The morning sun, unfortunately, was intense and almost directly in front of me. It probably would have been better to take the picture later in the day.

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For more than 60 years Motor Trend Magazine has been the “Bible” of auto publications. In 1949 they started their annual practice of doing a multi-page spread on their “Car of the Year”. The first was the 1949 Cadillac, due primarily to its post-war styling and, more importantly, the fact it was powered by a new OHV V-8 engine and an improved Hydra-matic transmisison. The magazine has decided to do a commemorative on the 1949 Cadillac and they have chosen my 49 Coupe as the featured car. Obviously, I’m excited about this and had a full day of shooting at the Muckenthaler Museum in Fullerton, Calif. The cover story was in the January 2010 issue. Below is my own photo, taken unfortunately during a drizzly day in 2009.

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My passion for Cadillacs started in 1979 when as an exchange-student living for a year in Albuquerque, NM I was impressed by these big and excessive cars, so different from the little cars which I was accustomed to see here in Italy. A few years ago I decided to go for one of those big cars which, possibly, could to take me back to my youth. So I bought a ’76 Calais Sedan.

Starting from then my tastes in Cadillacs changed a little. Probably due to the fact I was getting older, I was more attracted by older cars like those of the 50’s. I thought about importing one from the US, like many people in Italy do but, as you may understand, this is not cheap at all. So I was calmly waiting for the right time to start such an operation. But
Some months ago, almost casually, I got onto the website of a sport cars dealer in the north of Italy, because a friend told me he was selling something I could be interested in, and I saw her: a 1949 Series 62 Sedan, VIN 496204825. Not in good condition, because she was abandoned for some years, but almost everything was there. What can I say? I saw the beautiful huge split windshield, the 40’s body lines and I realized that in some ways the 50’s cars were even too modern for me with their excessive Cadillac lines that came in the fifties and sixties. Instead this one was, at least for me, much classier and in some ways “severe”. After talking with the dealer we came to an agreement and the car was delivered to me a few months ago.

I knew she was in need of complete restoration but didn’t expect that even the engine was not in good working order, with seized rings and some valves not closing correctly. In a few days the engine will be taken out of the car and rebuilt. Inside, the car looks original, besides some dash painting which I am not sure is correct, along with lots of things that have to be verified. The car came in Cypress Green Poly, although during her life she had been repainted. There are some parts still in the original color like the firewall and wheels which, compared to the color data sheet, look brighter in color.

At this point you may think “wouldn’t it be cheaper buying a car in better condition from the United States?” Surely, this car will cost me more money in restoration, but what would have been the fate of the old lady if I didn’t rescue her? Are there many people willing to spend a fortune restoring it? I think she would have had a sad end. I hear of many people “fond of old cars” thinking with their wallet instead of the heart. A car can be an economic massacre for you by restoring it, but when you see something which moves your feelings so much, well, any consideration of money will fail. So it was for me.

Anyway, it looks like if this car has a quite interesting history. I obtained its build sheet from GM Heritage and was able to get in touch with a couple of previous owners. When new, the car was shipped to Ecuador. There is some darkness until 1976, when she was imported in Italy. I think that’s all for now. Will keep you updated as restoration will proceed.

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Several ‘49ers who own(ed) a ’49 now own a 1950 Cadillac, including this 6169 4-door belonging to Jim Murdoch of Hanson MA. ’50 Cads have the same steering wheel, shift lever and tail lights as a ’49 and a similar dashboard, but the body and chassis are otherwise a complete re-design. Except for a slightly different carburetor, the ’50 engine, the transmission and differential are identical to the ’49 versions, but few other mechanical parts will interchange. A notable improvement in 1950 was modern tubular shock absorbers that are much easier to work on than the lever-type shock absorbers in use since 1934.

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Pete Hoffman of Danville, New York owns the beautiful 6107 shown below. To jazz it up, he installed dual exhausts and wire wheels (from a ‘50s El Dorado?) As for its color, Pete writes, “It is Dartmouth Green but looks black

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Chris Crowley of Beverly MA owns the convertible pictured above. Chris writes that “we are replacing all of the original hydraulic hoses and lift cylinders. I’m in dire need of a left (driver’s side) window regulator assembly. It was missing when I acquired the car.”

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Series 61

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Series 61

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