This sure looked familiar.
I was browsing the Cohort tonight, searching for inspiration, thinking I’d seen just about all of the roughly 1,900(!) photos there. For a moment, I believed I had found more pictures of the Curbside Classic logo car.
Of course it wasn’t, but I researched which model this might be and it seems be a 1950 Series 62 coupe. The biggest differences between the logomobile and this car to my eye were the length of the rear fender skirt and the wheelbase, though there are bound to be more. Certainly Paul and others have far more knowledge than me on cars of this era, so if a correction needs to be made, make it!
The shot above makes a really nice computer desktop background, and I like it more every time I look at it. (I tested ‘er out just to make sure!)
(Thanks to Flat-Black 66 for the beautiful photos!)
Update: Commenters seem to agree it’s a 1953, so I’ve updated the post.
The vertical chrome on the leading edge of the fender skirt reminds me of the Citroen DS Chapron coupe!
It just hit me for the first time – Did Cadillac really change the roofline of the Coupe DeVille after just one year? The 49 had a completely different rear roof area. I had thought I remembered that the 49 and 50 were twins, but this is evidently not true.
Great car and really attractive photos. Truly the Cadillac of hardtops!
It’s hard to see from the profile shot, but if it has a one-piece backlight, I think it would be a ’53; earlier cars still had divided rear windows.
The greenhouse between ’49 and ’50 did change significantly. The windshield went to one piece and the rear pillar is a completely different shape, but the rear glass was still divided into three pieces.
I believe the beautiful Cadillac is a 1953 model…
Back when a Cadillac was a by God Cadillac.
Yes indeedy.
Aw heck with the Cadillac, what I really like is the ’61 bubble top behind it in the brush. A Pontiac…….maybe a Star Chief?
Oh boy!
That was my father’s first car. Ever.
In 1956, four years after immigrating to the US from Germany, my dad had saved enough money for the (used) four door version of this car. Pretty impressive for a DP.
Turns out it was a POS. Many electrical problems and mechanical ones, too.
He never bought another GM product again. Ever.
Dad had a ’53 sedan, but with fog lights below the bumper vice the parking lights shown here. Interestingly, it had Dynaflow trans because of the Hydramatic plant fire that year!
This car is gorgeous. People from my generation (born after 1985) were never too familiar with these cars, and many cars of this era seems to blend together. At least they do for me.
But this Cadillac… with its flowing lines, bulges, and creases… it is unmistakable. This is from a time when Cadillac didn’t have to compete with the Europeans and it made products that were distinctly, remarkably American.
This car oozes style and class, and it is as American as fireworks on the 4th of July. I love it.
Beautiful car. The easiest way to tell a ’53 from a ’50-’52 is the ‘dagmar’ bumper bullets on the front. They are much more pronounced than on the earlier versions. 1953 was the last year for this body, it was redesigned for ’54.
In the mid-1960’s I had a 1953 Cadillac for about a month. It was a black 62 sedan with brown interior, and quite a decent automobile, everything considered. The radio didn’t work, and I heard from other people that this was common on these cars. It wouldn’t start when the engine was warm, and I tended to get funny looks from gas-station guys when I left it running while gassing it up. For commuting to and from work it was fine. I never did find out what the problem was, because I found another car to trade it on. I’d gotten it in trade for something else…easy come, easy go. It’s the only Caddy I’ve ever owned.
Yeah, that last shot is beautiful now that I take a second look at it. Great photography.