1960
A&A Auto (USA): mildly customized coupe named Goldilocks
[Barris, George?] (USA), custom "half-tip" conversion
on 1960 Eldorado Biarritz. According to Tony Wood, a
Barris associate, this car was actually built by Dale Gould at his shop in Hollywood, Ca.
The leading on the roof was performed at the Barris shop, in 1968. Tony kindly supplied
five of the photos of the car (below). It has the roof off a '65 Chevy Inpala and may be
displayed with or without the removable roof portion. This car was featured in the
book, Famous Customs and Show Rods by Barris & Scagnetti.
The '60 Biarritz "before"
 
Left: Dale Gould and and George Barris leading
the Impala roof onto the car
Right: the modified front grille
 
Photos [above three rows]: Barris archives, courtesy
Tony Wood
This photo: from the book by Barris and Scagnetti
Barris, George (USA) special Series 75 limousine for
Elvis Presley (special issue CCON, p.24-25); Done in a gold and white motif with portholes in the sail panels a la '57
T-Bird, all the metal on this car is 24kt gold-plated. The top panel is gold frieze
imported from France and tufted with pearl buttons. Aboard, there is a display of some of
the King's gold records. The semi-circular rear seat is upholstered in
pleated white naugahyde [with that kind of money, I would have ordered leather!].
All the windows are screened with gold lame drapes and the floor covering is white mouton
throughout. Facing the rear seat in the rear compartment is a center lounge seat;
incorporated in the division are a gold vanity case with gold electric razor, hair
clipper, shoe buffer and other grooming items. A refreshment bar is prominent; it
will freeze ice cubes in 2 minutes. A gold-plated swivel TV set completes the rear
accoutrements. Passenger and driver both may control electronically a 10-record
automatic record changer, intercom and air-conditioner. The driver has a gold-flake
telephone at hand to receive and relay calls. The body has 40 coats of pure
diamond dust pearl which consists of crushed diamonds and pure fish scales from the Orient
rubbed to a mirror-like luster. Oh yeah!?!? Sounds fishy to
me. Watching TV on the evening of Jan. 24, 2007, I glimpsed another custom 1960 Series
75 limousine just like this one (with quarter roof portholes) but, for the life of
me, I just can't remember the name of the program ! Is it possible Barris converted
TWO of them ?
 
Barris (USA) Custom low rider conversion. According to Tony Wood
who was a Barris associate, this conversion was one in 1998-99 for body-builder, Chris
Sabatino.
 
[De Rosa, Frank] custom Land Shark or Sharkmobile
owned [1980s] by Bob Bowen, a Lodi (CA) local. Stretched to 20'7", hand-made
gull-wing doors, padded vinyl top, special wire wheel hubcaps, headlights, De Soto grille
and steering wheel. I'm not particularly attracted to this kind of street machine,
but now and again you find a head-turner like this one. I couldn't resist including it.
This wild thing was offered for sale by auction at the annual Barrett-Jackson event in
Scottsdale, AZ, in January 2001. The catalog for that venue described it thus: Frank
Derosa's famous "Sharkmobile". Car is all metal and lead, with no plastic
used. It includes customized widening and lengthening, is lowered with an upside down '53
DeSoto grille, Mercedes headlights, '56 Packard tail-lights, '63 Thunderbird interior
including the wrap-around rear seats, "gills" (louvers) on the sides, a Packard
hood ornament, custom exhaust and Lake pipes, T-Top, unbelievable paint scheme and
Cadillac stock running gear. Late Extra
[12/2004]: the car was offered for sale at auction en eBay. Her are
excerpts from the vendor's description [complete with all spelling mistakes] : This
started life as a 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Convertable. The Shark Mobile has been in many
Magazines and a Museum in Alaska over time and is in great condition. This car probalbly
weighs 8000 lbs as it is almost totally lead and steal. This was built by the world
renowned Frank De Rosa in Pittsburg California and was probably one of his best
achievements. Originally to be called the Vendetta it was to be De Rosa's answer to
Barris' Batmobile. Four years in the making the shark rattled the custom car world.
Painted in irredescent blue with metalflake and deeper blue flames that are more aquadic
and wavelike then fire like. the sharks ominous presence is accentuated by monserous fins,
fenders and skirts that extend six feet behind the rear wheels. As an amalgamation of
Lincoln fender components Packard taillights desoto grille and riviera top complete with t
tops. De Rosa is a member if the Oakland Roadsters Hall of Fame and was Builder of the
Year ... Drivetrain is stock 1960 Cadillac.
Fisher (USA) special 4-door phaeton, lots of photos seen GM
Styling Library, 9/94; excerpts of text says ...arrangements having been made with Mr.
A. Limberg, with Mr. A. McVey and Mr. Charles White of Fisher Body to expedite a body
through the Fisher body Fleetwood plant with the [following] specifications: ...The
complete body in white is a 6239 body style with the front end assembly being replaced
with a 6267 front end assembly. The following items were deleted: roof panels, all
roof bows, No. 3 rear quarter pillar above the belt, rear cushion and seat back including
all interior trim; the following were installed: all power units in doors, trimmed front
seat with 6-way seat adjuster, 6239 wiring harness, front door convertible assemblies for
6267 being furnished. Other items to be furnished: all exterior hardware items, moldings,
door handles, bumpers, locks, lamps, etc.; see also SS 5/94, cover + pp.4-5. In
addition, this prototype had an ingenious top mechanism allowing room for 3 rear seat
passengers; the system was subsequently adapted to the front-wheel drive Eldorado
convertible. Story [as told by enthusiast, Jim Crabtree]: Lincoln had announced that
in 1961 they would re-introduce the 4-door convertible. Nobody could guess how well it
might sell. If the car-buying public desperately wanted a convertible sedan again, then
Cadillac wanted to have "something" ready for them. In fact the Lincoln
convertible never was a big seller, so Cadillac never had to follow through with this
project.
 
Fisher/Fleetwood (USA) This
designer is at the blackboard in the Styling Studio, putting the final touches to a coupe
proposal for ...some time in the future! Take away the tail-fins and those sharp
body creases seem to take you straight to the 1967 front-wheel-drive Eldorado...
Fleetwood (USA) (???) Cadillac Cyclone [in
fact modified version of 1959 model, XP 74] (special order #90450), currently at
GM headquarters, Warren MI ?
Fleetwood (USA), Sixty-Special prototype with rear
grille à la '59 Eldorado and Series 60S, but with only two rows
of small "bullets" [photos]
Fleetwood (USA), Eldorado 4-door prototype (not built
for production, but only as a styling exercise - what a pity!)
 
Fuente, Larry (USA) The Mad Cadillac, a monstrous, mad,
pearl-studded Californian creation.
 
Ghia (Italy) Custom convertible sedan on the
Cadillac Series 75 chassis, for Josip Broz, aka Marshall Tito, former Premier of
the former Yugoslavia.
 
 
[These photos: courtesy Frans Vrijaldenhoven,
The Netherlands]
 
[ These photos © 2004 and courtesy of Anthony
Hazelaar, The Netherlands ]
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) A conversion on the Series
75 chassis, for the Du Pont family [chemicals] featuring an ugly, razor-edged rear
roof section. Photo, McC p.339
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA): 5-door pillarless Wagon de Ville
hardtop station wagon featuring simulated wood panels on the exterior and full power
equipment including air-conditioning and electric tailgate. A particularly elegant car
built after the 1959 Stengel model with the body set inboard of the fins. Photos SSA,
1980, inside rear cover, and McC p.339
 
Pinin Farina (Italy) Cadillac Starlight
coupe, said to have been built on 1959 Eldorado Brougham chassis but probably
a non-runner, like the Jacqueline of 1961 [see below].
  
  
B&W photos from Pininfarina archives,
courtesy Sig. Fredy Valentini. Color photo from Paris Salon.
Lower drawings show different stages of operation of roof panels. Left to
right:
(1) all panels are concealed in special compartment under the rear package shelf,
(2) package shelf opens up and first panel begins to slide out,
(3) panel slides forward on side rails, (4) all three sun-screen panels in
place.
 
These color photos are from period advertisements for
the Pininfarina coach works
[Unknown, USA] Series 62 convertible with special rumble seat
conversion [photo]
[Unknown, USA] Psychedelic, open-top Cadillac parade
car on Series 75 chassis
CLC President, Glen Brown, makes an encounter of a
strange kind
[ Photo: courtesy Self Starter ]
[Unknown, USA???] Series 75 limousine
with custom padded top
 
 
[ Photos (cropped and edited): Automusée du Forez de St. Germain
Laval, France ]
[Unknown, USA???] "Low-Rider" 1960 coupe from
Germany
 
This conversion was done in Germany
[Unknown, USA???] Two-door coupe with continental kit; I
have included this photo if only to show how an otherwise pretty sixties Cadillac
can be made to look positively ugly by the addition of a continental kit. In
my opinion, the 1958 models were the last that could [only just] "bear" a
Continental kit without looking awful!
 
 
[ Same car ? Different lighting conditions ? ]
[Unknown, USA???] A rear ensemble with a definite 1959 influence !
[Unknown, USA] Another two-door coupe with
continental kit; this one was offered for sale on e-Bay, in 2001, and dubbed the
"Elvis Presley" pink Cadillac.
 
[Unknown, USA???] Custom low-rider job on '60 Cadillac
base.
 
[Unknown, USA???] Another custom Coupe de Ville low-rider.
[ Photo: Barrett-Jackson auction catalog for
Jan., 2008 ]
Unknown, USA???] Low rider on 1960 Cadillac base.
Enthusiast, Murray Pfaff, sent this picture of a custom 1960 convertible; he says it is
equipped with a 390ci engine, 2 four-barrel carbs, and a TH400 transmission. It is being
rigged to shoot flames out through the exhaust ports.
[ Photo: courtesy Murray Pfaff ]
[Unknown, USA???]
 
 
This mildly customized Coupe de Ville was
found on Internet, 10/2004
[Unknown, USA???] Pop Camper, seen in book Weird
Cars, by John A. Gunnel
[ no image ]
[Unknown, USA???] Looks like an amateur conversion
from 4-door sedan to 4-door convertible.
  
[Unknown, USA???] Looks like another amateur
conversion from 2-door coupe to a convertible with removable tonneau cover.
  
[Unknown, USA???] "Wild" custom job based
on a 1960 Cadillac! Here's a You Tube
video of this and one other Cadillac!
  
[ Photos: Internet, 2008 ]
[Unknown, USA???] Here's the ideal trailer for
towing behind a 1960 pink Cadillac !
 
 
[Unknown, USA] "Hybrid" 1960 Cadillac
convertible mounted on 1959 Cadillac convertible chassis. Here's
a scam that fortunately failed to work in 2005-06. It is the imaginative creation of, in
my opinion, an unscrupulous used-car vendor in Florida. He restored a '59 Series 62
convertible that had got a '60 body put on it during the first 45 years of its life. He
used a simplified Series 62 upholstery design but did it in leather in lieu of
vinyl. Despit an alleged restoration cost of over $110,000 (!) he "cut corners"
by doing away with the recessed buttons on the seat backs and the distinctive, embossed
Cadillac "V" and crest between the rear seat backs (costly and difficult to make
up from scratch). He restored the B&W TV that a previous customizer had
installed in the dash. He then got a couple of witnesses to testify they had
actually seen this very car at the GM Motorama in 1959 (which took place in 1958!). Then
he attempted on a number of occasions and at different venues in 2005 and 2006 to sell it
(for a VAST sum of money), first as "the" 1959 GM Motorama showcar, then as a
unique GM experiment in design from Harley Earl's skunk works and, finally, as the first
car with in-dash TV. Fortunately, nobody fell for his outrageous claims although bidding
during one "private auction" in August 2005 allegedly reached $167,000
...which did not meet the vendor's reserve. In January 2006 it was on the catalog of the
Barrett Jackson group at Scottsdale, AZ. I watched 30 hours of the show, hoping to
hear some more outlandish claims about it ...but it went across the block DURING A
COMMERCIAL BREAK !!! I learned, later, it had been bid to around $85K - a far throw
from the MILLION dollars the vendor wanted from a friend of mine in Australia ! It did not
meet the vendor's expectations; however, as this was a no reserve auction, it had to go to
the highest bidder. It seems the auctioneers accepted a final high bid from the vendor
himself. Of course, he had to pay BJ's commission ...making it an "expensive
day at the races". Late extra
(summer, 2006): it appears the car found a new home
in Colorado (according to the new license tags). And the car also has been modified from
the "original" 1959 Motorama show car that it never was! Inter alia : the
steering wheel has been changed from a 1960 to a 1959 model, the Fiberglas top boot has
been replaced with a (cheaper), soft vinyl cover, the mats are different (now they show a
"V" and crest), the Fleetwood wheel covers have been replaced by modern,
"Cadillac" wire wheels, seat belts have been added and some detailing of the
engine bay has been done to align it on 1959 specifications. I suspect we shall be
hearing more about THIS car and the inventive vendor who first put it on the market in
2005 !
 
Note how Eldorado-type stainless steel molding along
the body sill stops abruptly, level
with the wheel skirt and does not extend up to to the trailing edge of the rear fender;
Eldorado turbine vane wheel discs are another gimmick to accentuate the car's custom
nature
  
Seat pattrn is similar to the 1960 Series 62
design but does away with the seat back buttons
as well as the elaborate, embossed Cadillac "V" and crest between the rear
seat backs
[ Photos: Internet, 2005 ]
[Unknown, USA] Here's a professional car (funeral coach?)
converted to a kind of "hot rod". I'm not keen to add too many of these
"rods" to the "Dream Cars" section of the Database, even if I have to
admit they are just as unique, i9n their own way, as any pre-WW2 coachbuilt model.
[1960 camper ]
Many years ago I used to travel through the Atlanta area and there was a
business there that specialized in converting Cadillacs to campers. They had a lot of
hearses on the lot waiting to be converted and several completed units to choose from. It
looked as if they had a lively business. I do not recall the name of the place or the
exact location. I think it was on the north side.
Jim Garner
1960's
Seen in GM Styling archives, 9/94, lots of color renderings of special
bodies, e.g. photos Nos. C5532/29/26, and station wagon photos Nos. (C4050/51/52/53).
1961
Chapron, Henri (Paris, France) stretched convertible sedan on Series
75 chassis, for H.H. King Mohamed V of Morocco
Fisher/Fleetwood (???) (USA) Mildly customized Series 62 De Ville
convertible (changed to Coupe de BurgerVille for sales promotion of BurgerVille
restaurants (a Northwest chain). Photos and cutting by Al Drake in Old Cars Weekly,
22.8.1991.
Fleetwood ??? (USA) "Bubble top" Series 75
limousine, similar to the 1959 Canadian Royal Tour car described above.
Photo from GM Styling archives, 9/94
Fleetwood ??? (USA) styling models, built 1958, ELD, p.68
George, Eric (USA) Eric is a keen Cadillac enthusiast and a
regular visitor to the Database. He has submitted these neo-classical town car and town
brougham designs, based on the Fleetwood Series 75 chassis for 1961. I find
then particularly appealing. My favorite of favorites, of course, is still the 1930
Fleetwood town brougham, style #4264-B with French cane (small image below, right).
Eric dreamed up this formal limo/town car; note the
60 Special hash marks on the rear fender
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) custom, armor-plated Series 75
limousine for H.E. Abdel Karim Kassem, then Premier of Iraq; features include a specially
modified windshield to accommodate the thick, bullet-proof glass. Photo McC p.343.
Lindburg Cadillac, St. Louis (USA) converted some "Series
62" 4-window sedans into formal sedans by adding metal to the roof and replacing the
huge expanse of "greenhouse" glass with a much smaller window for the
"Series 75" sedans and limousines. The latter were purchased from the
factory....that was curious why the St. Louis dealer needed so many "75" rear
window parts [see more, by CLC member Terry Wenger, in the Self Starter, May 2006, pp.
5-6].
Pininfarina (Italy) Cadillac Jacqueline
coupe honoring America's first lady, Jacqueline Bouvier- Kennedy; this car is
said to have been built on a 1959 or 1960 Eldorado Brougham chassis but I
discovered by looking under car at the Geneva Motor Show in 1991 that this
"automobile" was not at all "mobile"; it had neither engine nor
transmission; it was merely a body, a PF styling exercise, mounted on a welded tubular
frame. Was this the case for all PF models allegedly built on Cadillac chassis
(???). Well, I know of two survivors : one built on a 1957 Cadillac chassis and drive
train (offered for sale in Hemmings' classifieds in December, 1970) and Jacqueline
that now is mounted on the chassis of pre-owned 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz with a
regular 1959 Cadillac engine (not the Eldorado "Q" type); it was last heard of
in Hollywood, CA (December, 2996), where it is offered for sale for $400,000 by the 2nd or
3rd owner. As I suffered an "epistolary aggression", in December 2001, by
a Frenchman claiming to be closely associated with Jacqueline who assertted that
I know nothing about the car's history, I decided to create a new
page, just for her. Check it out!
In the gardens of the Palazzo Stupenigi in Turin,
Italy
 
The Pininfarina stand at the Paris Salon,
October 1961
[Unknown, Switzerland] a mildly converted 1961
Series 62 convertible with customized "Western" interior seen around the
specialty car shows in the early Eighties [photo - AR, 3.5.1984]
[Unknown, USA] custom-built high-top Cadillac limousine, fully
bullet-resistant, including 1¼" thick one-way mirror glass [see-out only]. Interior
is trimmed in gold brocaded damask. The windshield treatment is different from the H&E
car described above. This car was offered for sale in the early seventies for $9700 by Hufstader
Cadillac Inc., 5900 Baum Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA [ad photo]. It was described as "ex-sheikh". Another source has this info: The
Cadillac 'Shaikh' [or more commonly "sheikh"] was a $40,000
custom-built vehicle for His Highness Shaikh Abdullah Moobarak [read 'Mubarak']
Al-Sabah, the late ruler of the oil-rich kingdom [actually an emirate] of Kuwait
[he was the 11th amir or emir (head of state) and ruled the ruled the kingdom (emirate)
from 1950-1965]. The car was armor-plated, The intended owner never used the car as he
died before it was completed.
 
[Unknown, USA] mildly customized series 60 Special
sedan with leather covered roof (seen in Collectible Automobile, 6/1996)
[Unknown, USA] custom-built, Series 60 Special
with Derham-styled rear window.
 
  
[Unknown, USA] custom-built, sliding-top Cadillac
coupe, photographed at a car meet in the early eighties [photo].
[Unknown, USA] custom Series 75 limousine seen at
Scottsdale, AZ, January 1999
 
[Photos: © 1999, Yann Saunders]
[Unknown, USA] custom 4x4 conversion; 350ci Can
Am motor punched out to 383 ci, Rancho suspension, simulated python-skin
interior, built on 1-ton Chevy Blazer chassis. This car was sold at
auction for $4,100 by the Kruse organization [lot #4043] at Kalispell, MT, in July
2000.
[no photo available]
[Unknown, USA] custom pickup photographed at car
meet
[Unknown, USA] Here's another one that looks to have
been converted from a professional car; you can tell from the tail-lights; these were used
only on professional cars owing to the width of the rear door.
 
[Unknown] The owner of this finless 1961 Fletwood Sixty
Special heard that modifications like this were carried out by Italy's Pininfarina
and refers to the car's resemblance with Jacqueline,
the well-known PF styling exercise. In my opinion, however, this is an amateur conversion;
it does show what pretty lines can be achieved on these bulky Cadillacs simply be removing
the fins. The owner subsequently learned more about the car; it was brought to the
UK from Germany were it had been used between 1965 and '66 after having been purchased in
Italy. So it is very probable that the Italians were responsible for removing the fins.
 
 
 
From England come these photos of a finless 1961
Cadillac Series Sixty Special sedan
[ Photo: courtesy "Cliff" ]
Souped-up engine? No, the speedo is in kph instead of
mph
[Unknown] This "camper" is assumed to have been built
on the commercial chassis for 1961.
[Unknown] Here's another "camper" that was mounted on a
1960 Cadillac chassis
  
 
[ Photos: CLC member forum ]
1961-63 XP727, Concept Eldorado, CA 12/91, p.9.; ELD,
p.76-79
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