Description
1958 Cadillacs are special as this was the largest car the company ever built, they had the most chrome, and it was the last car designed under Harvey Earl's control before his retirement. Harvey was famous for his flamboyant 1950s styling with long expanses of sheet metal, pastel colors, acres of chrome, tail fins, and jet inspired automotive styling. The Fleetwood Sixty Special was revamped for 1958 and had beautiful pillar-less side windows, quad headlamps, sparkling "stud" design front grill, and full lower chrome trim with rear side fender skirts that practically hid the rear wheels. The 365ci V8 was increased to 310 hp vs 300 hp of the 1957 models. The car was massive at over 225 inches long and weighed in at 4930 lbs, it was wide, long, and low. The car also had a hefty price tag at just under $6000, speedy for the day as a normal 1958 Chevy Bel Air was only $2500, the caddy was the perfect 1950s status symbol to take to the golf course or private country club.
This particular 1958 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special was recently acquired from the estate of the late evangelist minister Ken Guab of Yakima, WA. Ken was a well known preacher all over the world and car collector to his family and friends. This car is largely original aside from a color change respray most likely sometime in the 1980s from Desert Bronze to Red. The paint job is showing its age but still looks ok from 20 feet :). The body is in great shape and is practically rust free thanks to its life in Eastern WA. The roof is finished in textured white and the chrome trim is complete but also shows age, patina, and some dings and scrapes in places. This particular car was factory optioned with rare air suspension, the compressor and recovery tank are still present but the shocks have been converted to standard type. The car has had some recent service here in our shop including; new electric fuel pump, oil change, transmission fluid flush, new battery, new stainless wiper blades, new hood insulation, and a fuel system cleaning. The motor starts right up and idles well, the transmission shifts smoothly, it drives well down the road. The fuel tank looks fairly new as do the shocks, some suspension bushings, and exhaust system. The windows all go up and down, the gauges function, lamps, and signals operate, the horn works, heater fan works, even the original radio functions! The clock, wing windows, and wipers are currently non functioning. The fresh looking, Coker Classic whitewall tires have great tread remaining and do not show dry rot cracks, it is not known how old they are. The Mohave Beige leather /cloth interior is original, the front seat has lots of wear and will need recovering, the rear seat has a seam that has come undone on the bottom bench. Door panels, dash, headliner, and interior chrome are all in very nice condition and better than most survivor cars of this period. The trunk will need a re-triming as the burlap type covering has aged and is deteriorated. Once could repair the seats and enjoy the car as-is in its driver condition or the car could be taken to the next level as it is a great candidate for further restoration.