1947 Cadillac All Original Series 62 Sedan

Description

Up for sale is “Bob”, an all-original 1947 Series 62 sedan that I bought in 2010. I’m the 6th owner and have a history of his ownership. There are not many of these cars around, especially manual three speed on the column models. He has almost 96,000 miles on the clock though I have no way of knowing if that’s accurate. The speedometer is also 10 mph fast.

He was delivered new to a Mr. Boland on October 31, 1947 from Capital Cadillac near Washington DC. Price was $2,201.29. Engine serial number is 8449979. Mr. Boland died in a plane crash in 1948. The car was titled to Mrs. Boland in 1949 and ended up in storage for many years in a Washington DC garage until 1975 when purchased by the second owner, who kept him for 33 years.

Bob is a solid all original car. As far as I can tell, he has not had any bodywork performed and has never been painted with the exception of a substantial amount of touch up paint done in 1975 when he was pulled from storage. There isn’t any rust of consequence anywhere and the frame is not banged up like some older cars.

There has been a great deal of maintenance and upgrade work done to Bob over the past few years as I have detailed below. He’s still a 6 Volt system though I changed over to a Pertonix electronic ignition and matching coil.

I like original cars and Bob has never let me down. He never fails to start, even in very cold weather or after having sat for weeks and weeks. Bob has been in a heated garage since I’ve owned him.

Bob is almost 70 years old, so you can expect all things that go with a 70-year-old car. The steering is loose and he pulls to the left a bit. Most of his issues are fixable. I just don’t have the time I’d like to spend on him. But even in his current form, I would drive him anywhere. Just need to have plenty of oil on hand!

Right now I have an XM Radio installed and its great fun to cruise around listening to old time radio. I’ll leave the XM Unit in the car. I had the radio converted to AM/FM. There are issues with the antenna so it’s not very easy to get stations. But I have an aux input that can be used for an iPod, or in my case, and XM Unit. And I added a Power Port for a nav unit or whatever. The converted radio supplies 12 volt power even though he’s still a 6 Volt system. And there is a rear speaker. There was one in the car when I bought him. Looks like an original grill as well.

I’ve put approximately 5,000 + miles on him with most in the last two years. I drive him as daily as I can to the store, Starbucks or just cruising around. The longest trip has been about 100 miles one way. Mileage wise, I see between 11 and 12 mpg.

I hate to sell him. But, I have a race car to support and its time to pass him on to another care-taker, and I hope one that wants to keep him as original as possible!

Bob is also for sale locally, so this auction is subject to prior sale. Shipping is up to you. Bob is located in Frederick, Maryland.

As you would expect Bob is sold ‘as-is’, ‘where-is’. Included in the sale are new brake shoes; some new front bearings; a service manual with supplement and some miscellaneous small items.

Here is the maintenance list since 2009

2009

• ·Water pump rebuilt
• ·Rubber fuel line replaced – fuel pump to steel inlet line to carb
• ·New steel fuel line from fuel pump
• ·New spark plug wires
• ·New battery box
• ·Crankcase cleaned – new gasket added
• ·New rubber brake hoses
• ·New front & rear wheel cylinders
• ·New generator belt
• ·New muffler and exhaust components
• ·New front headlights
• ·New rear brake shoes
• ·Transmission rebuilt

2010

• ·Pertonix ignition added
• ·New Pertonix coil
• ·New Plugs, cap and rotor
• ·New Regulator
• ·New Fresh air ducting
• ·K & N Air Filter conversion

2011

• ·New speedometer cable & gear
• ·New Fan bearing & belt
• ·New Glove Box
• ·New Speedometer gear
• ·New Radiator cap
• ·New Radiator Hoses
• ·New Thermostat
• ·Radiator rebuilt with new core & new hoses ($1,000)
• ·New Battery & cables
• ·Starter rebuilt
• ·New radial tires
• ·Radio conversion to AM/FM stereo with iPod/XMRadio connection
• ·Speedometer & Clock rebuilt

2012

• ·New rear leaf springs and bushings
• ·Rebuilt Generator with NOS armature
• ·New rear pinion seal
• ·New left side fender skirt and new fender skirt seals
• ·Added a 12V power port

2015

• New Plug Wires
• ·New Bright 6 Volt headlights
• ·Replaced temp gauge sending unit
• ·New gas gauge sending unit
• ·New fuel filter in front of gas tank
• ·Gas tank removed, inspected and ground wire added
• ·New Battery
• ·New Plug Wires

Know issues:

You cannot find an original 70-year-old car without issues. He is far from perfect. There are dings and paint chips, etc. The windshield has a ding that’s been there for years. The interior does not leak though. Actually, the interior is not too bad. The rear seat is very good. The headliner is beautiful. The steering wheel is very, very nice. The interior chrome is very nice as well. I use a blanket on the front seat for extra cushion. The door panels have wear. But, all in all, the interior is amazing for being so old. And the smell is awesome. But you have to like old cars to appreciate that. Sometimes, I pour myself a scotch and just sit in him. And there is nothing better than that long hood. The view from the driver’s seat is the best!

I get all manner of thumbs up when I drive ‘Bob’ around. And that’s because he is a cool machine!

This is a perfect car to keep original, maintain and drive. I usually drive him until the temp gets above 85 degrees outside. Bob is also a perfect restoration candidate.

So that's it. I think I've related all I know. Please ask me any questions you may have.