“No smoking is allowed in my old cars.” When this firm statement is made regarding a classic American piston icon, we can rest assured that it’s an exceptional automobile. How special? It’s a Cadillac. It’s original. It’s a ’59. And it’s been in the same family since new. The 1959 Cadillac received a radical design upgrade from the previous year, ornated with a pair of monumental fins on the rear fenders, double bullet lights at the back, and a new and more powerful 390 cubic-inch (6.4-liter) V8.
The division’s sales brochures boldly claimed that their automobiles were a new realm of motoring majesty. That was a good sales point for one man who decided the new Sedan de Ville would be his new car. He bought the six-window luxury car, and for the next five years, he drove it daily. In 1964, the rocket-homage-paying Cadillac was retired into a one-decade-long storage. In 1975, the car was passed down to the original buyer’s daughter. The lady didn’t put the luxurious machine to work, but she did drive it occasionally until 1985.
Almost thirty years old by now, the Cadillac was resent into retirement until 2011, when a much-deserved refurbishment was performed, more as a precautionary measure than a necessity. Mechanically, the car is original; the engine, transmission, and rear end match their cast numbers, and it runs and drives well. Just over 19,000 four-door, six-window de Villes were assembled for the 1959 model year, and they came with many standard features to satisfy pretentious buyers’ requirements. The big news was the engine, the 325 hp, 430 lb-ft (330 PS, 583 Nm) V8, mated to a four-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission (standard offering).
Power brakes on all four 15-inch wheels, power steering, back-up lamps, windshield wipers, two-speed wipers, wheel discs, outside rearview mirror, vanity mirror, power windows, and two-way power seats – all these came as standard. Of course, the package also came at a price: $5,498 in Ike Eisenhower’s money is the rough equivalent of $57,400 today. But that was the base price for the low-trim de Ville. For extra cash, the buyer could access creature comfort options, like air conditioning, six-way power seats, a radio (with a power antenna), or power door locks.
All these are installed – and functional – on this Gotham Gold example featured in this story, which has just over 1,000 miles since the drivetrain was overhauled (g askets and seals have all been replaced). The total mileage reads 76,430 miles (123,000 km), allegedly original, as per the car’s owner. Coincidentally, Gotham Gold was the color of the six-window Cadillac de Ville in the sales brochure from 1959.
The Sedan de Ville came in two body styles – a newly-introduced straight and flat roofline with a flat rear window (that still wrapped around the back of the cabin). The more conservative alternative was the classic rounded descending top that continued the design language of the past models. The car featured here – located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma – is the curvy model with a small rear window just in front of the C pillar (this feature is what gave the car its “Six-Window” name). The 64-year-old Cadillac still wears most of its original paint (apart from the roof, which received a fresh coat an unspecified number of years back).
As one might expect, this Sedan de Ville was cared for, but it didn’t live in an ivory tower either. Scratches and dents, albeit barely observable, are a sign of usage – and the undercarriage wears the patina of over six decades. In 1959, one of Cadillac’s mottos was “The new standard of the World in (…)” – fill in the blanks with a superlative of your choice (or peek at the gallery and see the brochure of the time for GM’s choice of adjectives).
The massive automobile sure made an impression with its sheer size alone. At 225.0 in (5,715 mm) in length – of which 130 inches (3,3 meters) between the wheel hubs – and 80.2 inches wide (2,037 mm), the 1959 Cadillac Sedan de Ville was quite an appearance. Despite its height of 56.2 inches (1,427 mm), the oversized motorcar appeared sleek and slender – a notable visual effect of the tailfins, which made the car look agile and quick.
But, with a curb weight of 5000 lbs (almost 2.3 tons), the venerable Caddy was anything but speedy (not that it mattered any to the buyers). The 3.21:1 rear made highway cruising a breeze – watch the needle climb to 75 mph (120 kph) in the video. Nnotably, this higher ratio was installed on A/C-equipped models – which car reportedly has and blows cold; the standard gearing was 2.94.
This is precisely what the selling owner of this particular ’59 de Ville claims – that the car can take on a 700+ mile trip (over 1.126 kilometers) without breaking a sweat (or anything else). The price is a “let me think about this for a minute” $60,500, but the reserve hasn’t been met at the time of this writing. Notably, the original buyer from 1959 is selling the car, and his daughter – and current owner – is assisting with the online listing on craigslist.