My last new old car for a looooong time, I swear!!

[XP715]

Ever get one of those opportunities you never thought you would? I was given one over the weekend. I'm a manager at a local auto parts store and a guy named Cadillac Bill comes in often to buy stuff from me and we usually talk $h! and laugh and stuff for a while. He's called Cadillac Bill because he's been buying and selling Cadillacs for a living for nearly thirty years. Periodically he tells me about his finds and things he thinks I might be interested in. Remember my white 1971 Coupe DeVille I bought at the beginning of the summer? Turns out I unknowingly bought that car out from under a friend of his who was very interested in it for a good deal less than what he would have paid. He asks what I'd want for it and I told him I really couldn't come up with a figure, so he invites me to his house on Tuesday night to come look at something he thinks I'd be interested in for a trade. So I drive up there, he shows me, I was impressed, but I didn't have quite what he wanted in order to make it a straight trade. I mention I have another car, a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme sedan, and he says he's not interested in it. He says If I don't let him know by the following day that it's going in the Auto Trader on Thursday. I tell him that's okay, but if he doesn't end up selling the car to let me know and maybe I'd have what he wants for it by then. The next morning the phone rings at around 9:00 AM; it's Cadillac Bill calling me back to see what I wanted to do, I assume. I pick up the phone and he says to me "Well, I talked to a buddy last night and he thinks your Oldsmobile would be the perfect car to give to his girlfriend to learn how to drive on." So with that in mind, I roped Sixty8 into taking the Oldsmobile up for me and SpeedingPenguin into chasing us the two hours make the trade happen. So, with my deepest apologies to Knightfan for trading away his potential winter beater and the Rear-Drive Mafia because I'm not currently truly "one of you," I ended up with a rock-solid, all-original 1967 Cadillac Eldorado in Copper Firemist with a white vinyl top, white leather interior, black carpets, and black dash:

Not too shabby, eh? The car has 116,000 miles. At 80,000, however, it received new transmission, axles, timing chain, air shocks, rear sway bar with polyurethane bushings on all new mounts and links, and a bunch of other stuff. How is a car that is notorious for rot and lived its entire life in New England so incredibly solid, you ask? In 1967 this car was bought brand new from Peter Fuller Cadillac in Boston by an old gentleman down in Rhode Island. It was his daily car until he passed away in early 1972; I have the original owner's manual with it's 1971 Rhode Island inspection sticker tucked inside. The car then sat in his garage unused until 1988 when a gentleman in Wilmington, Massachusetts bought it and used it as a toy in the summer occasionally (he had about a dozen other cars) and once again, kept it inside, last driving it in 2003 but still starting it up and taking laps around the neighborhood periodically. Cadillac Bill bought the car last week, along with three other of this generation of Eldorado (a chocolate brown with tan & tan 1967, and two 1968's: red with a white top and black interior, and a triple navy blue) from this gentleman and nearly immediately gave it to me on Wednesday night, making me only the third owner of the car in nearly forty years. The car's interior is in equally as good a shape as the body and only needs a good cleaning to be very presentable. All the brightwork just needs a gentle cleaning and polishing The undercarriage of the car is absolutely and completely spotless and it runs and drives as well as my '96 Riviera does; I've been using it as my daily driver on the state's seven day law (gotta transfer my antique plates next week) and have been getting stares and questions and compliments everywhere I go. It will be restored to completely original, save for one modification that has already been made: those are 1968-1970 parking lamps in the corner of the front fenders. 1967 Eldorados have just a filler piece there, which I think makes the car look unfinished. So there you have it, the last new old car I'll be getting for quite a while; this one's a keeper!

[Cory Wolfe]

Awesome. Great buy.

[PurdueGuy]

wow - that looks great.

[Intrepidation]

Me likey

[Nick]

Freakin' sweet car. I love it! So bad ass.

[zhawk]

Nice, very nice.

[Drew Dowdell]

I think everyone here forgives you.

[!!!TED!!!]

P I M P

[ocnblu]

Oh man.

[american_revolution_2005]

I am jealous now. Two very beautiful cars. Good choice on the Eldorado. You tempt me to find one now.

[Camino LS6]

Last one for a long time?

Yeah sure, I belive you...

"I can stop any day"

" I can quit whenever I want"

"I don't have to buy these cars , I just want to"

Heard it all before.

Cool find , Man.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

Hey, don't worry about RDM, man. Any Eldo is a bad ass Eldo in my book, front-drive or not.

[XP715]

Last one for a long time?

Yeah sure, I belive you...

"I can stop any day"

" I can quit whenever I want"

"I don't have to buy these cars , I just want to"

Heard it all before. 

209536[/snapback]

Hahahah, yeah, I know we've all said it a thousand times before, but I really do mean it this time, at least in the context of the fact that I don't need many other vehicles from this era. However, if I was to happen upon a nice pre-1940 anything that isn't a Ford, I would definitely have to make an exception

[DetroitNut90]

Gorgeous car, XP! I love '67 Eldo's...congrats!

[Sixty8panther]

By far the coolest most desirable post-WWII era FWD cars

ever made. The awsome styling, those super cool mini 1/4

windows that retract into the C-pillar to make it a hardtop

and the fact that the motor is longitudinally mounted make

this a very rare exception to the rule.

This car is very worthy of sharing lawn space at a car show

with anything post-war. it will be cool seeing this next to the

Super 88 or eventually a 1959 Electra.

On paper it looks a little sketchy... trading TWO RWD cars

and a small chunk of cash for a FWD car but in the end it

was a great deal. plus it was kind of fun riding in the white

leather passanger seat of that Razorback across half the

state & listening to LedZep II on the factory AM/FM while

the 429 pulled us down Rt.2 effortlessly.

Congrats. This has been quite a week for T1GH+ WH!P$.

Now go track me down a 1987 Mercury Topaz windshield

you crazy f*ck, I'd like to see the glue drying on it by

tuesday night so the rest of the week we can concentrate

on making it race ready.

[loki]

beautiful boat! lol

[Sixty8panther]

I need to get some of my photos of "Big Orange" up here...

[Sixty8panther]

The 24th of October 2006 was an official T!GH+ W#1P$ holiday!!!

1971 -to- 1981 A decade of progress & innovation at General Motors.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[knightfan26917]

So, with my deepest apologies to Knightfan for trading away his potential winter beater

No worries ... as long as you like the Caddy .

*sighs*

Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker

MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/

Models.HO = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/trainroom.html

"Hood slidin' like Bo Duke"...Dierks Bently...'What Was I Thinking?'

[Sixty8panther]

I think an official T!GH+ W#1P$ roadtrip to ILL, or at least

half way or so will happen someday in the not so distant

future, perhaps Deeee-troit.

[XP715]

And we'll be traveling in style and comfort in a certain Lincoln limousine!

Hopefully with a little less dust on it!

[NOS2006]

Very nice ride. That thing is sexy as ever.

[knightfan26917]

And we'll be traveling in style and comfort in a certain Lincoln limousine!

...

Hopefully with a little less dust on it!

...and perhaps a female for me ... I mean, my goodness, it is a stretch limousine after all....

*chuckles*

Seriously, sure would be nice if you made the trip out here ... or we could meet along the way, depending on when you'd be coming.....

Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker

MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/

Models.HO = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/trainroom.html

"Relight the flame when it's cold"...Godsmack...'Serenity'

[Sixty8panther]

I'd love to do that next summer!

[knightfan26917]

Sounds like a plan to me .

[Sixty8panther]

Hopefully we'll drive out there in a 1933 Chevrolet master Sedan.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[knightfan26917]

Ah...well, that'd be cool, too...

[XP715]

f@#k it; how about a bunch of us get some sort of Cannonball Run thing going on and all take something weird!

[knightfan26917]

*raises eyebrow*

Yeah, that'd work, too .