>>16755
Old elephants limp off to the hills to die; old Americans go out to the highway and drive themselves to death with huge cars.
- Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

1971 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

You haven't driven a casket, til you've driven something like this-

Cadillac 1942 Limousine

Cadillac 1941 Series 62 convertible sedan:
http://www.operatorchan.org/v/res/12443.html#16025

>>16756
>>16757
>>16758

Looks like someone's been to Bat country.

In the last Colbert Report, musician Neil Young said he had a 1959 Lincoln that ran on biodiesel and electricity. Had to look that one up.
LincVolt is a 1959 Lincoln Continental, owned by musician Neil Young, that was converted into a more fuel-efficient, hybrid demonstrator vehicle.

According to the LincVolt website, the goal of the LincVolt project is "to inspire a generation by creating a clean automobile propulsion technology that serves the needs of the 21st Century and delivers performance that is a reflection of the driver's spirit. By creating this new power technology, Lincvolt hopes to reduce the demand for petro-fuels enough to eliminate the need for war over energy supplies, thereby enhancing the security of the USA and other nations throughout the world."

LincVolt participated in the Xprize Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. The LincVolt team had to withdraw from the X Prize competition as they were making a car whereas the purpose of the competition was to produce a commercial business plan.

A documentary film was being produced by Larry Johnson before his death on January 21, 2010.

On the morning of November 9, 2010, a fire started in LincVolt's charging system while it was recharging at a warehouse belonging to Young. The car was damaged, but is in the process of being restored. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LincVolt

And here's a 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Town Car, no modification.

The Plymouth Fury was produced from 1956-78, originally only available as a Hardtop Coupe, but in 1959, a 4 or 2 door Hardtop, Sedan and Station Wagon were available. Also in 1959, the top of the line Sport Fury (only available in 2 door Hardtop and Convertible) was introduced to replace the Belvedere at the top of the Plymouths. Engines; 303, 318, 350 and 361 V8s.

- 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury 2 door Hardtop.

1959 Plymouth Fury (2013 RACV Motorclassica)

I was watching Fritz the Cat, a 1972 X-rated cartoon written and directed by Ralph Bakshi and based off a comic book character by Robert Crumb and when Fritz was debauching himself mightily in a Harlem pot orgy, he went nuts and ran off to preach insurrection and revolution to the neighborhood on top of a parked car. The first reaction from the crowd was "Get the fuck off my car!" Sensible, but then the crowd attacked some cops and immediately this turned into a full-blown riot with police riot squads smashing into the neighborhood and Lockheed F-104 Starfighters dropping napalm into the boulevards of Harlem before the crowds could disperse (look, the late '60s & early '70s were chaotic times in the big cities).

Fritz the Cat 5/8: https://youtu.be/QCwY2UstWNI car @ 9:02
Fritz the Cat 6/8: https://youtu.be/RyI1cXHXnlE car @ 1:14

The car Fritz was standing on looked like a 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The curved-upward side bumpers attached to the front torpedoes, the little rear fins, the half intake behind the doors, the vented ridge over the rear wheels attached to the rear fenders. Looks like '56 Caddy.

>Why do older American luxury cars always remind me of open-casket funerals?
'cause old American cars are metal as fuck.

I can't wait for the day that I can drive a five or six thousand pound, twenty-plus foot long rolling yacht that has wings on the back, couch seats, more displacement than all the other cars on the road put together, and no seatbelts.

Just... I can't imagine anything more perfect to actually use to get from point A to point B.

>>19020
> I can't imagine anything more perfect to actually use to get from point A to point B.

Even more accurately yet, a drive with no real destination. It's not even driving a car at that point, it's simply living the dream.

>>19020
These jerk boomer car collectors have screwed everyone from enjoying old cars by driving their prices up through the roof.
My first car in 1985 was a 1953 Cadillac Fleetwood 4-door road behemoth. Bought it for $500. Registration was around $25, no smog. No seat belts, no padded dash, no collapsible steering wheel, just a massive machine. 5000 pounds of Detroit steel. Steel torpedoes on the all-metal bumpers designed to kill whatever you hit. And they worked! I hit a large deer on a dark country highway while doing 65 mph. It fragmented into bits of venison, like some Palestinian suicide-deer. Didn't even slow the car down. No damage except for all the blood and hair on the grill and hood I had to wash off later.

- Cadillac 1953 Sixty Special Fleetwood
- This looks a lot like mine, same blue color, but I did not have spotlights on the sides.
http://www.operatorchan.org/v/res/1.html#12404

Steel dashboard with chrome fittings. Bite that dash and you're losing teeth. Couch seats are comfortable to sleep on.

A friend had an even better car to sleep in: a 1949 Nash Ambassador. Front seat cranked down flush with the rear seat, turning the interior into a queen-sized bed. You could have an orgy in one of those things! Just don't stain the mohair upholstery.

1949 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special.

It was all about fitting the function into the style.

http://www.nash.unas.cz/

>>19026
Yeah, the 1950 Nash Statesman and Ambassador were gigantic inside.

Go out and play in the lake, kid.

1937 Cadillac V-16 Custom Imperial Cabriolet
In 1937, Cadillac’s Series 37-90 topped the brand’s range, offering luxury, styling, sophistication and effortless power delivered courtesy of a 452-cu.in. V-16 engine. Only 50 Series 37-90 models were built, and of these, only two were Custom Imperial Cabriolets. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/10/16/mgm-studios-owned-1937-cadillac-v-16-custom-imperial-cabriolet-to-highlight-auctions-america-bid-anywhere-sale/

Casket interior!

Cadillac made certain that no detail was overlooked on its V-16 models, and even the engine bay was ornamental by design. A false firewall hid wiring and plumbing, and ignition wiring brought into the compartment was tucked behind painted covers. The black enamel valve covers, with their brushed aluminum accent, were works of art, and fittingly, this Cadillac carried a sterling silver “Goddess” hood ornament.

Cadillac V-16 Roadster 1930.

Cadillac Series 452 V16 Sport Phaeton 1930.

Cadillac Series 452A V16 Fleetwood 2-door convertible 1931.

Cadillac Series 90 Town Car V16 1940.

1930 Cadillac V-16 Convertible Berline
In 1930, Cadillac stunned the fine-car market with the introduction of its breathtaking new sixteen-cylinder models. The cars instantly catapulted Cadillac, which until then had been a mid-priced car, to the head of the luxury class.

- QUICK SPECS -
MAKE Cadillac
MODEL V-16
YEAR 1930
ENGINE 7.4L V16
HP 175

Designed by Owen Nacker, Cadillac’s V-16 was an engineering tour de force, incorporating several unique features. Its 45-degree cylinder bank angle and overhead-valve design kept the engine narrow, while the external manifolding provided good access. Cadillac’s V-16 was the first engine compartment to be styled, with all the wiring hidden and plenty of gleaming, polished aluminium, shining porcelain and a pair of beautiful valve covers with brushed aluminium ridged surfaces.

This car was auctioned off by RM Auctions in May of 2011 at the Spazio Villa Erba, Cernobbio, Como.

175 hp, 452 cu. in. overhead valve V-16 engine with three-speed synchromesh transmission, solid front axle and torque tube rear axle, four-wheel semi-elliptic leaf springs and four-wheel power assisted brakes. Wheelbase: 3,750 mm (148"). http://www.boldride.com/ride/1930/cadillac-v-16-convertible-berline/image/3

Cadillac Series 60 Special 1939.

Concept Car
In 1938, came Harley Earl’s Y-Job. Earl headed what was then called General Motors Styling. Earl by this time had solidified his position in the corporation and especially with Buick’s general manager, Harlow Curtice. Curtice encouraged Earl to build the Y-Job, partly as a vision of Buick’s future and partly to become Earl’s private everyday driver, which the Y-Job remained well into the late 1940s. http://theoldmotor.com/?p=152362

Unlike its predecessors, the Y-Job didn’t attract much public attention. Its styling, though, had a serious effect on production Buicks. Buick incorporated many of the Y-Job’s cues over the years, but I think its most influential attribute was its lowness. Earl used the Y-Job to express his ever-evolving longer/lower/wider design philosophy.

Cadillac V-16 Series 90 Fleetwood Town Car 1938.

All these old Cadillac V-16 cars, but here's something similar and newer.
Cadillac Sixteen Concept car with a V16 engine displacing 13.6 liters (830 cu. in) to generate 1000 horsepower.
The Cadillac Sixteen is a concept car first developed and presented by Cadillac in 2003.

The vehicle is equipped with a Cadillac proprietary-developed 32-valve V16 engine displacing 13.6 liters (~830 cu. in), which was exclusive to the Sixteen model only and based on the Cadillac Northstar engine architecture. It is mated to a four-speed, electronically controlled, automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. The engine features fuel-saving Active Fuel Management "Displacement on Demand" technology,[2] much improved from its ancestor, debuting in 2004 on some 2005 GM models. On the Sixteen, it would seamlessly shut down twelve cylinders in light driving, eight during strenuous driving, and only awaken the entire engine under full acceleration.[3] With this type of system, the engine was capable of 16.65 mpg under normal conditions. The engine was said to produce a minimum of 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) and at least an equal amount of torque at 1,000 lb·ft (1,400 N·m).[2] using no form of forced induction. The car itself weighs about 2,270 kilograms (5,000 lb). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Sixteen

The car referenced the Cadillac V-16 of the 1930s. The actual design of the car was a combination of Cadillac's current "Art and Science" design theme and 1967 Cadillac Eldorado cues. Additional original design elements were provided by an in-house design competition led by GM Vice President Bob Lutz. The Sixteen has the Cadillac logo carved out of solid crystal on the steering wheel and a Bulgari clock on the dashboard.

Although the Sixteen fell short (narrowly, by some accounts)[citation needed] of production approval, its legacy is alive in Cadillac's future product planning. The subsequent generation of Cadillac products, particularly the revised CTS, have incorporated elements of the Sixteen's design. A scaled-down version of the car, referred to as the ULS (Ultra Luxury Sedan) or XLS, with a standard V8 and an optional V12 (the latter was to be called the Cadillac Twelve), has been rumored for production since 2005, but was shelved in favor of the Cadillac XTS.

Ever since the Sixteen was first unveiled there have been resurfacing rumors, speculation and high hopes of automotive journalists and aficionados about a possible very limited production of an exclusive Cadillac halo model such as the Sixteen as the "ultimate flagship" of the brand to sit even atop of the upcoming flagship, as previewed by the Ciel concept of late 2011.

  Cadillac Sixteen (Top Gear Review) https://youtu.be/rYsrXGbBMGA
Uploaded on Sep 22, 2008

>>16755
Too drunbk to remember if I posted here, so fuck you..

Yes, old American car are like driving your living room. Literally.

I once restored a 37 Caddy. 348 V8. You could drive the pig in third. As in "drop the clutch at idle, in third" it'd pull. Do that with a modern car.

That aside, the shitbox was like driving a casket. Tiny windows, gushy seats and a mostly "detached" sense of operation.


I see why people wanted that mill though, and why it saw use in armor.

1937 Cadillac V16 Fleetwood Limousine
Any V16 will have a ridiculous front end. And the Cadillac Sixteens defined the genre for its entirety. The gorgeous and clearly ultra-plush proportions of the Cadillac V16 are best on the LWB 7-seater limo. The shorter cars are gorgeous and huge too, but just not as lovely and cartoon-y (in a good way).

The provenance of this particular car as a Special Body Order is a good clue to its famous owner: Joseph Kennedy, father of President John F. Kennedy and Hollywood tycoon. So not just a glitzy limo with scale to make you pale… but this very car was a Kennedy compound all-star. http://www.car-revs-daily.com/2015/09/09/1937-cadillac-v16-fleetwood-limousine/

1937 Cadillac V-16 Seven-Passenger Limousine by Fleetwood

Body Style 5875. 185 bhp, 452 cu. in. OHV V-16 engine, three-speed manual synchromesh transmission, leaf-spring front axle, torque tube rear axle, and four-wheel power-assisted drum brakes. Wheelbase: 154 in.

One of the last of the first-generation Cadillac V-16s built

Exported in period to the United Kingdom; believed to have been used by Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

Chassis number 5130347 was the third-from-last of the first generation Cadillac V-16s built and one of only 49 cars assembled in the original V-16’s last year of production. Of these, 24 were produced as the seven-passenger limousine by Fleetwood. Its fascinating original build sheet is a multi-page document, a copy of which accompanies the car, and it notes that the Cadillac was a “Special Body Order”; unfortunately, the specifics of this are long since lost.

The Cadillac has long been attributed to Joseph Kennedy Sr., the father of President John F. Kennedy, during his service as the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s from January of 1938 until October of 1940. Recent investigation of the car’s build sheets by Cadillac historians Chris Cummings and Alan Merkel indicates that the car was diverted to New York in the third week of August 1937, as the second page is the newer form used on build sheets for 1938 and later Cadillacs. According to Cummings, the actual shipping ledger shows a date for this car of December 31, 1937, by which time the new forms would have been available. This was late in the same month in which Kennedy was named as Ambassador, and the bargain price involved in purchasing last year’s model would have appealed to his famous New England frugality. Thus, the car fits cleanly into the Kennedy legend.

A Dutch Cadillac Series 60 V-8 1936

1937 Cadillac used as a wedding car.

1937 Packard Limousine.

1937 Cadillac Series 60

The Cadillac Series 60 was produced from 1936 through 1940 when it was replaced by the Series 61. The Cadillac Series 60 was their mid-price offering. In 1937 the longer wheelbase Series 75 V8 was also available, the V12 Series 85 and the V16 Series 90 A few Cadillacs were assembled in Australia in the 30s 1937; 20 60 Series Sedans and 16 75 Series Sedans 1938; 4 60 Series Sedans and 4 75 Series Sedans Engine; 346 cu in V8

1937 Cadillac Series 70 convertible

>>20512
Those ZZ-Top cars of the 1930s were the basis of the Hot Rod movement of the 1950s and beyond.
A friend had an early 1930s car that was modified and lowered to the point where the frame was the only original part of the car. And it was the part that mattered for registration. No roof or even a convertible top and the ribbed leather interior felt like sitting in a padded bathtub.

- 1937 Cadillac V16 series 90 2-door convertible (not a 1934 455D as on sign).

Cord 812 SC Phaeton 1937

1937 Cord Phaeton Super Charged 812

1957 Cadillac Eldorado Seville

1953 Cadillac Sixty-Two Eldorado Special 2-door Sport Convertible Coupe.

And here's the interior of the 1953 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible Supercharged Special.
Some models of the 1953 Cadillac had padded dashboards (mine did not) in stead of the all steel and chrome dashes.

The supercharged engine had snazzy flexible chrome pipes.

Compare with the standard engine of a 1954 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible.

1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible.

For an interesting interior and dashboard filled with face-breaking gauges, here's the 1953 Cadillac Le Mans Concept Car.

1960 Chevrolet Impala Hardtop Coupe

>>16755
Roomy, lots of padding, thick steel, ostentatious styling.