It was just over a year ago, in August of 2012. My brother and I were heading north on I-5 back toward Seattle when we encountered some heavy traffic.
It always seems to happen when we’re coming back from a long road trip. We’re tired, we want to get to our respective homes, and we’re trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic. And no matter which one of us is driving, he always picks the wrong lane.
We’d run out of things to say to each other, and I was staring out the window, wishing for a Moller Skycar or some similar Popular Mechanics dream vehicle, when I saw something that at first seemed like a mirage to this weary car-spotter: A pink 1958 Cadillac, complete with a Continental Kit! I grabbed my camera and recorded the moment.
After a while, our lane started moving again, and I was able to take a closer look and snap another photo. Since it didn’t occur to me that I could roll down the window to get a better shot, we also see the reflection of my shoe. While taking this photo, I noticed the Canadian license plate on the trailer.
Canada is of course a quaint and rustic place where (as all Americans know) the most popular car is the bare-bones plain-Jane Chevrolet Biscayne, which is still manufactured in Canada, and available only with a straight six and three-on-the-tree. The thrifty and laconic Canadians are proud indeed of their Biscaynes, which they fondly refer to as “Kanukistani Kadillacs.” The Canadian Biscayne, which is more or less a US-spec 1963 Chevrolet updated with seat belts and plaid flannel upholstery, comes in a variety of colors: Beige, Off-White, Light Tan and Old Dirty CRT Computer Monitor.
So it was peculiar indeed to see a real USA-type Caddy on a trailer with a British Columbian plate!
A close-up cropped from that same photograph shows why I wondered momentarily if this “Cadilla” was just some sort of cheap imitation knock-off. But then I saw the holes where the final “C” used to reside, and I knew it was a real Cadillac.
Traffic in our lane slowed down again, and the Caddy started to pull away. It sure was pretty! I wasn’t sure if it was a Coupe Deville or a Series 62 or some other model, and I wanted to take a longer look at it.
It just wasn’t meant to be, and the Canadian caddied the Caddy away toward the Frozen North. While taking this one last shot of that beautiful pink car, I noticed something that just didn’t make any sense.
Another close-up, this one cropped from the last photograph, illustrates my concern: It’s an old Washington State license plate. It was all starting to come together for me. This car wasn’t just coming back home from a car show; it was being kidnapped! They’re taking our Cadillacs. And it has to stop. It must stop! If they like Cadillacs so much, they can make their own, perhaps at the Oshawa, Ontario snowplow and tractor plant where Lada Rivas are also built under license.
As a life-long resident of Washington State, I know that a plate that begins with an “R” means that the car was originally from Benton County, in south central Washington. Once upon a time, this fine automobile cruised around the Tri-Cities of Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. Now, over a year after its abduction, it undoubtedly sits rusting in a ramshackle garage 11 and 1/2 months out of the year (on account of the ever-present snow) while its new owner watches reruns of The Red Green Show on a black-and-white TV and listens to Rush.
A sad fate indeed.
Now Mike, let’s ease up on the Canuckistanis. They should not be denied the simplest way to upgrade to a comfortable home living room – just buy one of these and roll it up next to the house. Move the TV out with an extension cord and they can eat their cold pork and beans from the can in so much more comfort than previously. With a trickle charger on the battery, the A.M. radio reception is so much better than one of those little plastic boxes in the house, and a guy can change the station by stepping on that little pedal on the floor. This makes it so much easier to switch between political and sports talk.
Seriously, I can never hear of an old Cadillac being sent out of the country without hearing the words of my Car-Mentor Howard ringing in my ears. Back in the 80s when the Japanese were crazy about 59 Cadillacs and were having quite a few of them exported over there, Howard would chuckle and say “that’s right, you take all you want. Just send us some more of those Honda Accords. We are getting the better end of this one.”
Lately, so it seems, the big thing in vintage iron is for Scandinavians to have these exported to them. They do go to good homes. I stumbled across a dealer in Northern California who specializes in finding, selling and delivering clean old cars to Europe . . .
I think I’m with Car-Mentor Howard on that one. To me, the 1959 Cadillac is beyond ugly; it’s a pop culture icon and not much more. But the 1958 shown here is a different story. It’s not exactly the most tasteful design, but I like the roofline, for one thing. It reminds me of my uncle’s old 1958 Impala, and you see an echo of that roofline in the 1975 Camaro, another car that I’ve always liked. If you ask me, they can keep the Continental Kit and give back the Cadillac!
I concur with your comments referring to 58 Caddy styling being much nicer than the 59. I like the whole line of GM’s 1958 product styling. I also share your opinion on Continental Kits. Other than a few exceptions I think they severely detract from a cars appearance and look like ill conceived afterthoughts. I know they are popular and well liked by many but know they can easily removed returning the car to stock appearance if preferred.
And funny enough, I see you guys were in a Protege, right? Is it the better (IMO) P5? 😉
As to that Caddy, it’s a beaut, and yes, being from Seattle myself, I recognize those Canadian plates on that trailer.
BTW, what you see in terms of the plates on that Caddy, they are not original. Even if never replaced in decades, the plates would be the second set the car has had since it looks like it was a WASH ’63 plate, though hard to tell in the photo as in ’63, ALL plates had to be replaced with these new ones as the state went from white on green background to green on white backgrounds.
Also, the 3 letter county code was only used from 1958-1980 before the system was discarded due to several counties, namely, King, Pierce, and Spokane Counties were running out of their allotment by the mid to late 70’s. Also, if you don’t plan on driving more than a certain amount of miles, you can register cars like this Cadillac as a vintage vehicle, thus get some restrictions, for the privilege of having a current vintage vehicle plate, or using a vintage plate, and that’s the ONLY time you can use the older plates though, for a reduced license tab fee.
In any event, a nice find, that’s for sure.
Now as to your referencing the traffic on I5, know it well. 🙂
You’ve got some car-spotting skills there! You identified a car just from seeing a bit of the dashboard. We were in my brother’s old 2002 Protege that day, but it was just a regular old 4-door sedan, and not the hot rod model you’re thinking of. He’s since replaced it with a new red Chevy Volt.
And, yeah, it was a Wash 63 plate, but I’m betting it was the actual plate that was issued to that car in 1963. That Caddy had the look of a car that had been ‘well stored’ for a long period of time. I wish that shot of the plate was clear enough to show the year tab, which would give an indication of how long the car was in storage.
Hey, wait a sec… isn’t your avatar a P5? That would explain it…
Mike,
Kerrect on the Avatar. I bought it last year when my 1992 Ford Ranger began its slow death spiral when the idle air controller went south, along with massive oil leaks, bad radiator etc, etc, etc. It was the piggy, but reliable 4.0L V6, with just shy of 237K on it.
Found the Mazda a week later by happenstance at S. Tacoma Honda where it was for sale in their used lot. I did a post on it here, updating the status of the truck in Feb of ’12, as I had done a my CC on the truck in Oct of ’11.
Love the Mazda, it’s a great car.
As to the plates on the Cadillac, even if it’s been on the car since ’63, and not driven in many moons, who knows where it was bought if it had moved at some point between 1958-1963 before finally stored. Obviously, it was stored long before the requirement to replace license plates every 7 years like we have to do now.
Pretty much all of these plates have been wiped off the streets of this state in recent years as the state has cracked down on such old plates on cars needing to be replaced with new ones.
The only exception would be if a vintage car (25 YO, or older), and can’t be driven as a daily driver due to limited miles that can be accrued and then you can use vintage plates on your vintage car, but that’s it though.
Still in all, a fun find on our highways.
Speaking of Canada and P5s I remember seeing an insane number of them on the streets of Ottawa on a visit in 2003 or ’04. Then I saw a dealer ad on the back of the paper and they were almost the same price as in the US, this at a time when the Canadian dollar was worth 80 cents US – no wonder they were popular up there. Besides their intrinsic qualities, they were (relative to the rest of the Canadian market) a screaming deal!
If that Caddy had YOM plates, they’d be the cool white on green Washington Plates. Much like non-Californians get confused and think most ‘black plates’ are original, but were, like this set on the Washington-soon-to-be-B.C. Caddy, ’63 issues. Just for giggles, here’s Jayne Mansfield with the ’57 Lincoln used in the “Girl Can’t Help It” and the California black on yellows (1956-62).
Yeah, they’re “Wash 63” plates, but I’m still betting that these plates were on the car since 1963. I’m sticking to my guns on this one!
And thanks very much for the photo of Jayne. Photographs of Jayne Mansfield (and cheesecake photos in general) are always welcome.
I’m sure some fan of Chip Foose, Fast n’ Loud, The Count, etc., has ruined this car by now. I still like these.
Here in Toronto we get the Buffalo stations in color. It’s a little fuzzy at times, but a bit of tinfoil on the rabbit ears usually does the trick. But we still have better beer. And show the Biscayne some love. There’s plenty of room in the trunk for the sandbags to help give it some traction in the snow. Put on a good set of snowies, let the clutch out slow, and it’ll plow through anything..
I was thinking if I was in the Dominion, I’d want the Pontiac Strato Chief.
I may be a little late to the party here, having just returned from a vacation. It took a while to round up the huskies, warm up the igloo and kill a moose for dinner.
What you witnessed was part of a little known cultural exchange program. Certain models of your cars, rarely seen here, are brought up north and we send you our unique cars back. A ’58 Caddy is worth 2 Beaumonts and a Frontenac. An American Pontiac from 1959 to to 1969 is worth 1 Meteor and an Acadian. A Canadian owner of an early Astre or Bobcat, both of which were sold here for a couple of years before the US got them, can expect at least a Chevy Luv pickup in return.
And as for Mercury pickups? We can pretty much name our price. Anyway, I gotta go watch a hockey game and drink some beer. (Really).
Ah, yes…the Mercury pickup. And the Beaumont. We were the proud owners of a ’67 Beaumont 2-door sedan with the 230/Powerglide drivetrain…bought used in late 1967 from a Chrysler dealer, as I recall. Though my dad always referred to it as a Chevelle, it was a Pontiac, dammit, with the much cooler Pontiac dash. It always fired up on the coldest mornings…as long as you remembered to plug in the block heater. Lighting a small fire under the oil pan helped as well.
Love the ’60’s Beaumonts. Inside . . . a Pontiac Tempest/LeMans, American style. Outside . . . creative trim work on the Chevy Chevelle. The designers in GM’s Warren, Michigan tech center must’ve had lots of fun designing the little unique badges and trim pieces for the Canadian cars.
I was first exposed to the unique Canadian cars in my youth as lots of folks came down from B.C. and Alberta to vacation in California. As an 8 year old, I was stumped to see what I thought was a ‘four door’ Grand Prix, which was the Grande Parisienne.
These are some very, very funny comments. I’m busting a frickin’ gut here!
Biscayne? Gee, no Canadian thought of that as a Cadillac. Now my father’s old ride, a ’65 Impala, with a 230 six and the “luxurious” 2-speed auto, that was a Canadian Caddy!
Seriously though, my father did own a long string of fullsize straight six cars (including that Impala), before he got his first V8 in 1972.
I always thought a Pontiac Parisienne was the “Canadian Cadillac.”
That car would look ten times prettier without that silly continental kit.
Not only does the continental kit look bad but the exhaust pipes are under the whole thing rather than using the outlets in the bumper.
I have never owned one, but I understand that a lot of owners of cars with bumper exhaust outlets have rerouted the tailpipes because the exhaust gasses would play havoc on the chrome plating.
Good point. I remember back when these were almost new and the chrome around the exhaust would be blackened/discolored.
JP – that’s right. The average Joe who didn’t wash, wax and baby the exterior of the cars would see black soot and corrosion eat the outlet pieces. This was common even in California (condensation from the exhaust combined with all of the chemical reactions from the exhaust soot).
When the pipes are routed though those outlet, cold morning takeoffs did have that “jet” or “rocket” effect, which is what the designers had in mind in the first place.
Best examples would be ’57-’58 Cadillac and ’57-’58 DeSotos . . .