1950
Buick "XP 8 Le Sabre" (special order # 9830) another Buick
dream car that inspired many later Cadillac models. It was unveiled at the Paris
Salon in December 1950 [and modified in 1953]. It cost $500,000 to build. SIA16
{***}, MT, 100th Anniversary., p.10. As it was shown mainly in 1951, photos
appear in that dream car section.
Coachcraft (USA) special station wagon (drawings by Strother
McMinn) featuring 1/4-windows behind rear doors, electric tail-gate glass and
free-standing rear fenders. Photos SSA93, p.12
Coachcraft (USA) bullet-proof, armor-plated "60
Special" sedan for gangland boss, Mickey Cohen, featuring 1˝" thick glass all
round. Because of a quirk in California law, preventing a private party owning an armored
vehicle, the car had to be sold out of state. SS member Hollis Weihe heard of the
car having been later offered for sale in Tennessee. Photos SSA93, p.12. I got this from an enthusiast in New Zealand: There are other
interesting Cadillac's in the Southwood museum [NZ] including a '52 (I think)
that was ordered for the gangster Mickey Spillane [I think the writer meant Mickey
Cohen], but he never used it because the cops would not allow it on the road. It has
bullet scratches in the glass which I believe were caused by the police test guns at it to
test the strength of the glass, after they confiscated it. "Tony", a
visitor to the Cadillac Database Guest Book in April, 2003, says the car is currently on
show in the Len
Southward Museum, at Paraparaumu, NZ along with Marlene Dietrich's 1935 V16 town
car. Tony said that Cohen is reported to have "done some work" for both Al
Capone and "Lucky" Luciano.
 
Cunningham, Briggs (USA) The well-known racing specialist entered
two Cadillac-powered cars in the 1950 edition of the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race in
1950. One of them was a stock Series 61 coupe. The other was this special
barquette, nicknamed Le Monstre (the monster).
 
 
  
Derham (USA) formal sedan on Fleetwood 75 chassis, McC
p.288 (a similar car was built by Derham in 1951)
Fleetwood (USA) (???) Cadillac "Debutante" with leopard
skin interior (SSA 1982, inside cover). Although I firmly believe that animal skins
should remain on the backs of their legitimate owners, I cannot omit a reference here to
the description of the Debutante convertible dreamed up by Cadillac's own advertising copy
writers: Since its premier showing in January Cadillac's "Debutante" has been
attracting nation-wide attention. Thousands have been awed by the striking originality and
beauty of the motor car masterpiece - the most luxurious automobile ever built by the
Cadillac Division [!!!].
 
At the New York show, in January, the ladies (below)
could not keep their hands of the leopard skin
upholstery; this required the permanent presence of an usher to keep the fur
brushed smoothly
For many years designers have dreamed of creating a most unusually
appointed Cadillac, employing rare furs for interior body covering. This dream has become
a reality with the long lurking desire culminating in a leopard skin trimmed convertible.
The selection of leopard skin for this car was most fitting in
keeping with the character and tradition of Cadillac automobiles. Throughout the centuries
a particular distinction has been attached to the use of these skins as raiment or in
adorning living quarters.
Among many tribes the leopard is regarded with such awe that even the
mention of the name is tabu and the skins may be worn only by the supreme chief - as the
"Ingwe" or leopard has had a quasi-sacred character since its earliest
appearance in antiquity.
As perfect leopard skins are scarce, the greatest obstacle, as
pointed out by Don E. Ahrens, Cadillac General Sales Manager, was that of obtaining enough
for this undertaking.
Many months before the car was built a Detroit furrier was
commissioned to find the perfect specimens. This quest was fulfilled when he brought the
187 finest skins in the country to his establishment. After a careful examination it was
determined that fourteen approached the high quality of this car as closely as could be
obtained. Fur experts then studied the skins for many days to arrive at an exact match and
perfect laying of each piece.
The leopard skins covering the upper portion of the front and rear
seat backs, the upper side panels, and the complete floor in the front and rear
compartments give a sophisticated interpretation of primitive splendor.
These skins are those of the Somaliland leopard - the largest, most
ferocious, and yet the most beautiful species - found only on the East Coast of Africa.
For an unusual touch, two pieces of leopard tail were used to make
the robe cord - and it is easily understandable that a leopard claw should be added to the
ignition key ring - a whim of the designer's mood.
Only the stoic can study this creation without coming under the spell
of its primitive beauty.
So perfectly have these skins been prepared that it requires little
imagination to vision a leopard gliding cat-like through his native haunts - the smooth
flowing, muscular ripple belying the tremendous power of the predatory beast.
The quiet repose of the leopard skins on the car flatter masculine
ego and the thought of being surrounded by the gorgeous luxury of the rosette studded
skins titillates feminine imagination.
In brilliant contrast to the rosette studded leopard skins - lower
seat backs, cushions, and the covering of the lower sides and door panels is a shimmering,
opalescent, gray nylon satin.
The armrests are covered with iridiscent gray leather. The note of
luxury set by the lavish use of rare furs is further highlighted by the richness of the
interior appointments. Every interior, unpainted metal surface is gold plated. No detail
has been overlooked, even the ignition key and key chain are in gold finish.
Typically Cadillac in that no detail has been overlooked, the
debutante's every desire is lavishly provided for in this aptly named car. A cigarette
case and memo list are concealed in the left front door panel. While, tucked away in the
opposite door is a lipstick and a miniature perfume atomizer [all previewing the
future Eldorado Brougham's complement of vanity items ?!?!].
In Tawny Yellow Buff the exterior of the "Debutante"
complements the Rufous Buff color in the leopard skins. In this exterior finish, the pearl
luster has been achieved by overlaying the base paint with a sprayed layer of miniature,
moon shaped fish scales - these are exceedingly costly, obtained only through a special
process that requires dissolving the larger portion of a fish scale leaving only the tiny
pearl essence.
 
Another press cutting of the time [ZTV collection] described this
car summarily as "The most luxurious car ever built by Cadillac, the new
Debutante convertible has leopard skin upholstery on the upper portion of the front and
rear seat backs, the upper side panels and the complete floor in the front and rear
compartments; lower seat backs, cushions and the coverings of the lower sides and door
panels are in a shimmering, opalescent gray nylon satin. Armrests are covered with
irridiscent gray leather and all interior unpainted metal surfaces are gold-plated. A
leopard claw is added to the ignition ring." The article is accompanied by some photos.
The car is featured also in Life magazine for February 13, 1950
where it is headlined as the $35,000 Cadillac [Transportation, p.62].
Fleetwood (USA) [???] During the Grand National meet in
Denver, CO, August 2001, photos of this interesting and rare Series 60 Special
with partition and division glass were shown to me by Ron Van Gelderen, past president
(twice) of the Cadillac-LaSalle Club; it was built apparently for a GM official named
Bradley. The car is bottle green and the interior has some olive green accents. It already
incorporates some 1951 trim as well as a Derham-styled back light and thickly padded roof.
The poor photos below are video stills of Ron's photos that I took on a tour bus
with him!
[ photos to come ]
Ford built the body of this Fordillac,
powered by the 1950 Cadillac engine. American rally driver, Tom Cole, introduced
Briggs Cunningham to Bill Frick and Phil Walters in 1949; the letter pair built for
Cunningham a 140 mph Fordillac, with a Cadillac engine, brakes and a Borg-Warner Lincoln
transmission. Cunningham subsequently bought over Frick-Tappett Motors after the 1950 Le
Mans race in which two stock Cadillacs and a Cadillac-engined barquette nicknamed "Le
Monstre" [the "Monster"] did rather well. This car's engine kept running
throughout the Le Mans race in 1950 to keep charged the radio batteries operated by the
race team in the Cadillac pit.
[ Photo : by Smith Hempstone Oliver ]
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) King Ibn Seoud of Saudi Arabia
ordered 20 new Cadillacs with custom-built bodies at a total cost of $250,000 (around
$12,000 each); they were desert-proof and "peek"-proof, destined to carry his
many wives between the twin capitals of Riyadh and Mecca. Each car had 6 doors and could
accommodate 6 wives plus chauffeur and attendant; the cars were fitted with electric fans
and special reflective window glass allowing wives to see out but no-one to see in.
 
The person who appears to be standing behind the open
rear door (RH photo) has no legs!
In fact, she is the mirror reflection of the person in the light coat
standing between the two doors
[Unknown, USA] Welfare Cadillac, the name given
to a black, customized 4-door sedan on show at a museum in Kansas, identified principally
by its "moon" wheel discs and front fender mounted horn trumpets.
[Unknown, USA] Armored limousine for Argentine dictator, Juan
Perón. This was excerpted from an undated Detroit newspaper believed from the 1950-1951
period [ZTV collection]: One of the auto world's best kept secrets crawled into
the open Tuesday but there were still missing links in the story of an accessory-laden
Cadillac limousine ordered by Argentine dictator Juan Perón. The car is said to have a
refrigerator, air-conditioning, radio-TV, bullet-proof glass and a bar. The vehicle cost
approximately $11,000 completely equipped.
[Unknown, USA] Camper conversion on Cadillac chassis
[Unknown, USA] Pick-up conversion on Cadillac chassis
 
[ Photos: Internet, 2004 ]
[Unknown, USA] Hot rod style conversion of basic 1950 Cadillac
[1950-51-52: unable to identify - can't see grille] (2) special
station wagons with wood paneling, one with razor-edged rear roof line, the other with
roof rack, six windows and small rear window ŕ la Derham.
1951
Buick "XP300" (special order # 9864), Alfred P. Sloan
Museum, Flint, MI.
Allard (UK) Built a few J2, J2X and C2 racing barquettes powered
by Cadillac engines. Photo McC p.292.
Coachcraft (USA) custom station wagon on Series 62 chassis
commissioned by Merril M. Madsen of Minneapolis, MN and designed by Philip Wright. The car
carried an ornate hood emblem representing two intertwined "M"s, the owner's
initials.
Dean (USA) conversion on standard 1950
Cadillac
[ Photo: Internet 9/2001 ]
Derham (USA) conversion on standard Series 75 limousine, SSA
1992, pp.18-21. Its history is said to include Jackie Kennedy and some Hollywood names.
This car was offered for sale for $35000 in September 1996 [SS, 9/1996, p.19].
 
Derham (USA) conversion on standard Series 75
limousine, for the Firestone tire company estate. This car was offered for sale on
the Internet. Collector-enthusiast, Hank Howard told me in May, 2005: I
acquired in the past year the 1951 Series 75 Derham custom bodied limousine you have
photos of in your 'Dream Cars for 1951' section. I can confirm that the car was
built for Harvey Firestone and his family. It spent almost it's first 50 years on their
estate in Newport, Rhode Island.
 
  
[ Photos: Internet 3/2002 ]
Fleetwood (USA) Specially trimmed Coupe de Ville
for GM President, C.E. Wilson .It has gold plating in the interior and 1952 and
later features such as trunk a/c, Autronic eye; it has also a 1952 rear bumper.
There are two SO [special order] tags on the firewall.and the build sheet supplied by
Cadillac's Historical Services mentions special "Jones Dabney" black
paint as well as a tan fabric top to simulate a convertible. The present owner
[6/2000] is trying to restore the car and wonders if anyone is still around that might
remember the car and in particular the upholstery material (it no longer has the original
fabric). The door panels have a special wood finish and the handles and power window
switches are again gold plated.
Upper front door panel in gold-toned marquetry
(currently undergoing restoration)
[ Photo: courtesy current owner ]
Fleetwood ??? (USA) Specially trimmed 1951 series 62
convertible, style #6267XS [I have not seen this style number before, for any 1951
Cadillac listings]. The "X" indicates it was fitted with power windows and the
"S" that it was probably a "special order". The car currently
[4/2001] is located in India, where it previously belonged to a Maharajah. The
present owner Aniruddh Kasliwal (CLC member #16670) said this: "The new
Cadillac Database is wonderful and very informative. My Cadillac is also an ex - maharajah
car from the state of Gwalior, in central India. You could put that up also [done,
Ani]. I am sending you a photograph of the car [below]. The engine no is 9N
100409 [I do not believe that the initial two digits "9N" appear on
"regular" Cadillac engine numbers for 1951, but the #100409 does fall within the
range of 1951 engine numbers; these ran from 000001 through 110,340] and the
chassis number is 51 62 103486 [suggesting it was the 103,486th 1951 Cadillac out of
the 110,340 units built that year].
Ani's car has the gilded "V" and crest of
1952 "Golden Anniversary"
Cadillac models, as also the 1952 "winged emblem" below the headlights
Franay (France): custom station wagon. I have a design photo.
Was it ever built???
GM/Cadillac (USA) Strictly-speaking this is a Buick, not a
Cadillac. It is included here because it is the mother of all Cadillac dream cars
and show cars shown at the Motorama. Many production Cadillac models of 1953-1958 borrowed
from the styling of this machine. Named after the airforce's F-86 La Sabre
fighter jet, you may read all about this dream car, GM's 1950-51 "Le Sabre",
in SIA #158, cover and pp.20-27, 66-67
 
Special Le Sabre photo albums were prepared for GM's CEO, Harlow Curtice; I
got to view and photograph the main album (left)
when I visited the Design Center in Warren, MI, in 1994 (the top photo is from that
album); the other album (right) is a pictorial
record of Le Sabre's promotional tour overseas in 1950 (France and Belgium were
on the itinerary)
  
Left: "Le Sabre" at the Paris Salon in the
Fall of 1950. Right: model shows ingenious,
built-in hydraulic jacks (at each wheel) to facilitate wheel changing in case of a
flat tire
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Left: cruising in Paris' Bois de Boulogne
Right: in Fontainebleau, France, Ike Eisenhower inspects Le Sabre on a
visit to SHAPE in 1950
[ SHAPE = Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe ]
  
 
These 2 rows: instrument panel and instruments
 
  
  
King Leopold and future King Baudouin of Belgium
admired the car in Brussels
Back from their European tour, Mr. & Mrs. Earl
continue
driving Le Sabre when they take up residence in trendy Grosse Pointe, MI
(in the backround, left, you can just make out the nose of Earl's 1938 Y-Job)
 
Was I able to fool you? In fact, the car above
(left) is not Le Sabre; it is a
French-built miniature version thereof, (on the Salmson chassis, I
believe).
It sure fooled me, first time I saw it! The car on the right is the real thing
Le Sabre at a carf show in 2003
[ Photo: © 2003, Ralph Kesting of Classics.com ]
GM Canada (Canada) A mildly customized Series 62 convertible was
provided by the Canadian firm for the Canadian Royal Tour of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and
Prince Philip. Modifications included masts mounted at the front to fly the royal
standards. Photo, McC p.292
[Unknown, USA] Among the designers of this low-riding 1951 custom
convertible were Jesse James, Darrel Starbird and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top fame
[ Photo: Barrett-Jackson auction catalog for Jan.,
2008 ]
[Unknown, USA] customized limousine with TV installed at a cost
of $1000 [excerpt from Chicago newspaper, March 29, 1951 - ZTV collection]
[ no photo available ]
[Unknown, USA] custom station wagon on Cadillac chassis; the
illustration below is from Mechanix Illustrated for December, 1951.
Shades of things to come from Hess &
Eisenhardt...
[Unknown, USA] this ad was sent to me by as vendor: customized
...1951 Delivery * RARE * UPDATED .... have many pics, Camaro sub-framed, 4 wheel
disc brakes, 33x19.5x15 M/T on Centerlines, 9 inch ford read end on ladderbar set-up, tilt
- power steering, 3 inch Dual exhaust, 350 Race motor, w/ turbo 400 trans, RUNNING &
street legal and yes it was a hearse ( no motor ,, trans, or electronics.. $4500.oo ) or (
$9200.oo Running ) lots of pics DrRace55@yahoo.com Houston, Texas
[Unknown, USA] Here are two examples of 1951-52 Cadillacs
equipped with after market Continental kits.
Van der Stricht, Patrick (Belgium)
Patrick is a devoted Cadillac enthusiast. This is his artist's proposal for a
1938-39-40-41-48-49-51-53-54-55-56-57-58 custom Eldorado coupe (...and I may even have
missed a couple of years in my speedy examination of this delightful drawing!
Drawing courtesy of Patrick Van der Stricht
1951-1952
[unknown, presumably USA] Two-door, two-seater convertible
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