Everyone seemed to like the photo that was recently posted of the 1958 Cadillac Sixty Special at the Edsel Ford mansion in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. I selected that photo because the featured car is in some ways similar to a Cadillac that I purchased on eBay in 2018, and Paul suggested that I do a post on my recent acquisition.
Look–there’s another one! Ebay and Craigslist allow you to scan this entire country of ours for hidden automotive treasures–from dilapidated barns in New England to used car lots in Los Angeles–and everything in between! And you’ll be amazed by what’s out there!
If you saw my last two CC posts, you know that I do a lot of “fantasy shopping” on eBay and Craigslist–that is, searching for car models of interest and imagining how I would fix them up and get them looking and driving great. Like Paul, I’m big on originality and patina. I want to make a car look and run as well as possible, but without “over-restoring” or spending a whole lot of money. I especially like one-family owned, unmolested, what I call “honest” cars from the mid-’50s to the early ’60s. What I (and writer John Jerome) call the “Golden Era”.
The car in the warehouse before I bought it.
Well, two years ago the fantasy became reality and I bought a car–for real! This 1958 Cadillac 62 sedan was listed on eBay for a couple of months. It kept getting re-listed and the price kept dropping–from $24,000 to $16,500 to $12,900. Also, it was located in Bloomfield, New Jersey, which is only 25 miles from where I live. So I had to go take a look . . .
Looks good here, but photography hides a lot of flaws.
It was in better condition and drove nicer than the black ’58 Cadillac I’ve had since 1995. And my Caddy had 133,000 miles while this two-toned gray one had only 79,000! I purchased the car, and sold my black one for $10,000. So the upgrade only cost me three grand.
Having the correct tires makes a big difference!
Now I don’t know where this car has been for the last six decades, but whoever has been taking care of it did a very good job! This Caddy also has a lot of original characteristics that have been lost on most cars of this vintage:
Seat upholstery and steering wheel–almost flawless!
One of the best dashboards of the ’50s! This shot is from the black Cadillac, but the dash in the new car looks virtually identical. The radio and the clock are working!
It also has the correct dual exhaust system with two mufflers and two resonators (most people don’t bother replacing resonators). And there’s this:
“Owner’s Identification Card.”
Yes, under the hood of every new ’58 Cadillac was a place to insert this special card: the name of the dealer and the original owner were typed out on a manual typewriter–and the card’s still there!
So of course I had to Google the address:
315 Parklawn Drive, Rocky River, Ohio. Source: Zillow
But who was (or is) Mrs. Helen R. Fisher? From what I’ve been able to find out, she was from the family that owned Fisher Foods, a large grocery chain in Ohio. That’s all I know at this point.
These chips look a little darker than the actual colors in real life.
Or do I know more? A vintage car from this period can tell us something about the original owner who purchased it from the dealer. These were the days when buyers custom-ordered their cars, choosing from a variety of models, colors, and options. So something of the buyer’s needs, wants, and personality shines through.
Shown in front of Alnwick Hall, Convent Station, New Jersey.
Cheviot Gray over Prestwick Gray . . . that’s an interesting choice. A solid gray– that might be too severe. But the light, silvery Cheviot over Prestwick? Hmmm . . . Artistic, but still very conservative. Mrs. Fisher also selected power windows, power seats, and the Autronic Eye.
How I picture Mrs. Fisher.
I want to finish by talking about the driving experience, because I think that many readers who have not driven a car like this are curious about what it’s like. Well, it’s very smooth, quiet, and has decent power. It has bias ply tires, so I have to do a little more steering correction on the interstate than I’d like, but on the “blue highways” and local roads it does just fine. The 4-speed Hydra-Matic shifts almost imperceptibly. This is a car that wants to cruuuuuise. A 129.5″ wheelbase and 4800 lbs. of weight give you real stability. Cornering is good, but you don’t dart around in it; you feel the ideal speed it wants to go and enjoy the ride. On smooth or almost-smooth roads, it glides.
You can also feel the “Cadillac quality” in the way the doors close with a solid click, and the fine workmanship of the dashboard and interior fittings. Visibility through the wrap-around windshield is outstanding. That “Body by Fisher” advertising slogan promoted by GM I think really had some meaning.
Even has the pale gold genuine Cadillac accessory rear license plate frame.
So, Mrs. Helen R. Fisher, wherever you are, I want to assure you that the Cadillac you knew so well is still snugly garaged and cruising the highways and byways, in of all places, New Jersey!
Gorgeous tank! Enjoy it! Did Mrs. Fisher order air conditioning?
Nope.
I’m sure she didn’t foresee global warming, and you don’t want to go to the trouble of retrofitting a/c. How fitting that Mrs. Fisher had a car with body by Fisher!
I remember the Fisher Body print ads with the car truncated at the firewall and flying through space, but they were all the same ad, no particular background, only difference was the make of car. This is the first one I’ve seen where the lopped-off body is inserted into a particular scene.
IMO Dakota Red would have been a bit garish.
She would have been in luck because those who foresaw it and continue to foresee it now were and are wrong and it hasn’t happened.
The two tone grey is stunningly beautiful; maybe my favourite two tone combination I’ve ever seen.
Only thing missing is the “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” sitting behind the wheel. A true corporate man.
Conservative color choice on a very flashy automobile. Beautiful ride, enjoy it! What was the take rate on air conditioning? Not hard to believe Mrs. Fisher didn’t specify it. Make mine Tahitian Coral or Regent Green Iridescent with an Alpine White top
What a stunningly beautiful car – I’m glad you took the time to write it up here.
Finding out an older car’s original owner is a wonderful nugget of information. I figured I’d do some digging to see what I could uncover about Helen Fisher – you might already know this information, but here’s what I found out:
Looks like her full name was Helen Swan Rollins Fisher, and she was born in 1895 (in western New York) – making her 63 when she purchased this Cadillac. She was born into a fairly well-off family, attended a private New England girls’ school, and in married J. Britton Fisher. He was the son of Manning F. Fisher, a co-founder of Fisher Foods. Britton Fisher, along with his two brothers, worked in the family business for his entire career. He and Helen appear to have had one child, a son named J. Britton Fisher, Jr.
In the 1940 Census (the most recent US Census that’s publicly available) Helen is listed as living in the Parklawn Dr. house with her husband, son (then 22) and a Filipino houseman. It appears that Helen Fisher passed away in 1967.
If you already knew this, I apologize for the redundancy, but if it’s new material for you, I hope it adds some more pieces to the puzzle. I tried, without success, to find a picture of Helen.
Again, thanks for this writeup and the pictures. That’s an incredible buy for the money.
I always take what I read on online sources like these with a grain of salt, given how vastly wrong some of the info regarding myself is. Search online and you’ll discover I’ve lived much of my adult life in Kensington MD, except I never actually lived in Kensington, I just had a PO box there. No record of a home I did live in because it was in my girlfriend’s name and I didn’t inform the post office. And so forth. This year’s census caught me in what turned out to be a very brief living situation, so I expect this may get even worse.
Very true, and in fact, during my admittedly quick research, I found a few instances on genealogical websites (which should always be double-checked) where it appeared that this particular Helen Fisher was mistaken for another Helen Fisher who also hailed from New York.
That said, I’m fairly certain that the above info. is correct, in pertaining to the Helen Fisher who owned Poindexter’s car. Here’s how I got to it:
a) Census Records: We already know her name and address via the Owner Identification Card, so this was a simple step, and almost undoubtedly uncovered the correct Helen Fisher for those reasons.
b) From there, I searched various archive sources with a combination of Helen’s name and her husband’s name – and was able to come up with a marriage listing from a publication put out by Helen’s former school. That provided her maiden name, which was very useful for further searches. Again, a source linking her specifically to Britton Fisher quite likely provides information on the correct person.
c) I found the 1999 obituary of Helen’s son, which verified the family connections.
d) Other info. from business sources about Fisher Foods and the company’s executives.
Anyway, I am rather certain that the information I wrote above is about the correct person, and I deliberately did not include information about which I wasn’t confident. Hopefully the information above will provide a good starting point in case Poindexter wishes to research he car’s former owner a bit more.
Eric 703: The fact that you were able to find all that hidden information in so short a time is astounding! I really appreciate it. Another reason why CC is so fantastic!
Are you working for the FBI?
I can neither confirm nor deny that.🙂
Actually, I just love research, so when I saw this mystery, I just had to dig into it a bit. Glad it’s helpful!
It really is a bit delightful to be able to say of the original-condition car you’re driving that the first owner was born two centuries ago.
More seriously, that 1895 date gives real pause to ponder. I don’t much stop to think about who was buying what back in the day, tending to think of such a ’58 car being bought by, say, a 20 year-old (or even more irrationally, someone BORN in ’58!) No! This Caddy was expensive, and the befinned and chromed thing was ofcourse bought by someone mature.
And perhaps just a striking to contemplate, a lady who was a (well-off) late teen when the very flamboyant Edwardian age peaked before WW1. To her, it’s entirely possible that the fairly extravagant style of this car in ’58 looked quite unostentatious – especially when toned down for her maturity by these classy mature colors.
Great work, Eric. And a very nice car indeed, Mr P.
Justy, that’s a good point about the owner’s birthdate being around the turn of the 20th century, as it’s quite likely that the average age of a Cadillac buyer at the time was around 55-60. And viewing this Cadillac’s styling in context with that age group, the styling makes a good bit of sense.
And any red-blooded 20 something American male in 1958 wanted a ’32 Ford or a ’55 Chevy, even if he was born into money and could have this car as a college graduation present.
Beautiful car!. The ’58 GM cars have their detractors, but I rather like both the Buick and Cadillac for that year, and the Cadillac is the best of them in my mind.
It seems you purchased this at a very good price. The cost of any significant restoration for a car like this would get expensive fast, and this is fantastic as is.
I’m drooling over this one and the one that you sold. I had no idea they were that reasonable. That’s, like, Chevy Spark money. In the collectible car world, that’s pocket change for an absolutely stunning car!
Wonderful car. You should be very proud of it and of your ability to find and preserve it.
Questions: did you consider getting radial tires? If not, why not?
I have something from the opposite end of the GM spectrum – a Corvair. Changing from bias to radial substantially improved my driving enjoyment of that car. I know a Cadillac is not anything like my car and for your use tire type may make no difference.
The car had these tires on when I got it. They’re in great condition, and tires like these cost about $1100 for a set of four. And they’re correct–a lot of late ’50s car owners use a whitewall that is too wide. This is the original 2 1/4″ width.
Radial tires don’t work well for cars not designed for them. The problem is the front suspension geometry. Bias tires are relatively inflexible. As you drive the contact patch on the front ties tends to drift rearward, mimicking a greater caster angle. Radial tries are more flexible and have less drift, so the front suspension is engineered with more caster angle.
This means radial tires on an old car tends to wander more as you drive. Sometimes its possible to increase the caster angle to reduce this tendency, but alignment technicians rarely agree to do so for liability reasons. Even if they do, its trial and error which can be costly.
Radial tires don’t work well for cars not designed for them.
While it’s true that some older cars might experience certain changes in handling from radials under some limited circumstances, the overall balance is very much in favor of them. You do realize that no American cars were designed for radials until well into the ’70s? And many European cars still had bias ply tires until the early ’70s.
Very, few European cars were specifically designed for radials in the ’50s and ’60s and into the ’70s, the exception being Citroen, and then Peugeot and Renault. Yet owners of other brands very commonly switched to radials, with excellent results.
Sears started selling the Michelin X radial in the US for American cars in the early ’60s, and tests of it in magazines were very favorable. Anyone in the ’60s who was in the know in the US switched their cars to radials. Magazines like Road and Track were chock-full of ads for radial tires and there were numerous comparisons of the various brands.
I switched my two early ’60s Beetles to radials, and the difference was almost shocking. And the same for my ’66 F100, which had bias ply tires when I bought it in 1987. A set of Michelins did wonders, making the steering lighter, more accurate, the ride was better, and the handling much better.
I’m hardly the only one driving a vintage car with radials. Undoubtedly the great majority have radials.
Perhaps the only reason not for this ’58 Cadillac is that the correct white wall width might not be available. Or if someone is a stickler for authenticity.
I totally agree with you, Paul. I’ve owned five different American cars from 1958-62 with radials installed, and radials really improve the ride and handling. When I bought my ’59 Chevy two years ago, it had old Sears bias ply blackwalls, and it was hard to keep the car in a straight line, and steering response was really poor. New radials and gas-charged shocks transformed that Chevy into an excellent riding/handling car (for its time) that now lives up to the advertising “Jet Smooth.” As I said, the Caddy does fairly well with the bias-ply, so I’m not changing them.
My father–who was an early adopter of radials in the 70s–reports the same thing with our previous cars: ’64 MG 1100, ’70 Opel GT, ’62 Comet. And the radials never harmed anything!
Radials on a 50s-60s car may give you a somewhat harder feel on rough surfaces, but I generally think they’re worth it. They will also lower the car a tasteful 1/2″, making the bodies look even lower and sleeker!
I find it amazing that this car survived, having started out in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
The middle of the rust belt.
As a 3 yr. old in 1958, I have no recollection of these cars new. I only remember these and other luxury cars at the end of their lives, as rusted, banged up, bellowing beasts with mismatched tires and no wheelcovers. Before the terms “beater” and later “hooptie” were invented. But as your car proves, some did escape this fate.
By the early ’70’s these cars were rediscovered, thanks to the renewed interest in the 1950’s due to nostalgia and TV shows like “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley”. The fact that most of the late ’70’s cars looked like boxes didn’t hurt either.
Anyway, congratulations on owning this remarkable car. The amount of detail in these cars is something that could be studied for hours!
We called them “old clunkers” when I was a kid, late 60’s, 70’s.
Gorgeous looking car. At those prices why isn’t everybody driving one?
Yep, at 13 grand that is a no-brainer. It’s hard to beat a fifties Cadillac.
Cause in my experience with classic cars, that’s only the cost of entry. If you want it reliable and sorted, double or triple that…
Of course it pays to buy the nicest example and I’m sure this one isn’t wanting for all too much but still.
Sorry, that was for Rob.
Splendid car. What a great time capsule. Good to know it’s in such loving hands.
That color combination is gorgeous. It adds such a distinguished air to the vehicle – perhaps even more than a traditional black color – and I assume it’s a lot easier to keep clean that black as well! Mrs. Fischer had a good eye.
The two-tone scheme somewhat resembles that of the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham with its stainless steel roof.
Although I hate the achromatic “color” palette on today’s cars, trucks n suvs, it certainly enhances the look of this ’58 Cadillac. A beautiful old boat, worthy of the S.S. United States in her prime which was when this Cadillac was built!
Very nice indeed…..:) DFO
If the car had lived in Arizona, it would have had a/c, but the sun would have done a number on the paint and the rubber parts.
Speaking of being with the FBI:
Great car, thanks for sharing it.
Would Mrs. Fisher have waited for a ’59 if she’d foreseen what it would look like? We’ll never know.
Given her age, she may not have liked GM’s low 1959 models.
GM’s 1959 models were very low – making entry and exit more challenging – and the seats were practically on the floor.
Very cool, thanks for the writeup. Beautiful machine, glad it found a home with someone who appreciates it. As an aside, I may need to reconsider the notion that cars only recently became overstyled; as much as I love it, there are a lot of warring lines on this car’s body.
Beautiful car – very evocative of its time. The two-tone grey tips the scale from flashy to almost elegant. GM was playing a risky game in the late ’50’s, but it seems they knew how to market to a wide range of customers. At least until 1959. 🙂
I’m thinking Mrs Fisher’s house is not the one that’s currently on the site, but the dealership site was clearly just the right size for some new medium-density housing in what looks like a relatively walkable neighbourhood.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/11915+Detroit+Ave,+Lakewood,+OH+44107,+USA/@41.4841593,-81.7725255,62a,35y,143.32h,45.03t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8830f1f376989731:0x75bcad2e5b386ec8!8m2!3d41.4837895!4d-81.7723308
Prestwick and Cheviot , both dour grey places in the UK.
You Sir, are a lucky man. And I suspect the car is going to do better than OK too.
Those colours make this one of the finest Cadillacs (not just 1958 Cadillacs) I’ve ever seen.
I am jealous! Unless there is a lot of hidden rust or other flaws, seems like a great value on a gorgeous, charismatic sedan. Enjoy!
As a high school kid in the early 80’s I picked up what turned out to be a seriously cancer ridden Olympic white/Buckskin 58 sedan. Neat car, the power vent windows were something new to me. The radio was great too, sounded awesome compared to todays AM units. It ran on a good solid 7. The project quickly got over my kid budget and ended up being sold to “No phone Charles”. Dude still owes me $50. 58 was an odd year for GM bit I still like them over the 59s. I’ve done some work on a friends very original 58 four holer Buick and it really brings back memories. Especially the starter sound wooka wooka wooka weeee. You got a smokin deal on a nice car. Still have the Treadlevac?
What a beautiful Cadillac Poindexter. It certainly is well preserved and it sounds like you are enjoying it quite thoroughly. Although many 1958 American cars aren’t at the top of my favourite list, I always liked the 58 Cadillac. In fact I was quite taken by this one I wrote up a few years ago:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/dealer-classic-1958-cadillac-coupe-deville-forget-the-cts-ill-take-the-deville-a-history-of-the-1957-58-cadillacs/
Although I have to say that your car as a grey 4-door is considerably more elegant than that Coupe Deville I spotted. I wish you many years of enjoyment as her caretaker.
Wow, what a beautiful Cadillac. The wide variety of colors then could give a car many personalities and this one is an example. One of the most flamboyant designs of the era is pure elegance in that 2 tone gray. Before looking at your pictures I would have thought black would be ultimate elegance on one of these, but I like the gray so much more.
A beautiful, beautiful car. These solid, well-preserved originals are my favorites.
Nice find, a true time capsule. Enjoy it, and thanks for sharing. Love that dashboard!
Beautiful car. It’s great to see a four-door, and in a color other than “resale red.”
Mrs. Fisher may have liked those fins…a relative of mine, who is now 92 years old, drove a mint 1959 Coupe De Ville in the late 1960s. She still recalls it fondly. She claimed that the fins made parking easier, as she could always tell where the car ended!
What a special car; so glad you were able to get it at such a bargain price!
That’s a stunner! And the price is more than right. Thanks for sharing.
I sent the link to my cousin in Essex Fells, NJ. He was duly impressed and will be on the lookout for the car.
At the time, writing “Mrs. Helen” instead of “Mrs. J. Britton Fisher” would indicate she was divorced, not married or widowed. But perhaps GM didn’t follow normal social rules for legal reasons.
Except for a brief period in the late 30’s, my grandfather had the biggest, blackest Buick from a 1917 until a 1956 bought months before his death. Later, Grandma sold some land–to a Buick dealer–and bought a ’64 black Cadillac. Well into her 80’s, she spoke of the humiliation of riding in a ’37 Plymouth after a ’30 Buick. My dad loathed the PT Cruiser and HHR, despite that being the style of his childhood.
The medium gray color de-emphasizes the excessive chrome. I wonder if that’s why she chose it.
It’s a shame Harley Earl went out with a blaze of inglory. Unadorned ’58’s would not have been at all ugly to modern eyes.
A hypothetical: If, in 1958, I’d wanted to order a Cadillac in a tacky color combination–say, Versailles Green Iridescent over Tahitian Coral Iridescent–would the dealer and factory have played along?
Actually, I’d probably have gone for one-color Argyle Blue Iridescent or Calcutta Cream.
Horrors, no!! You had to follow strict limitations, as shown on this chart:
https://www.eldorado-seville.com/my58eldo/1958colors/
It’s interesting there are so many different blues and nothing close to a primary red. Now you’re lucky to have one blue choice, and forget about green or yellow.
Staxman, There actually exists a GM CMD document from the era that was a directive on just that. Essentially what it said is: “Yes, we’ll probably play along with your crazy special order, but, let’s talk first; Cadillac has A LOT invested in its identity. Who is this Presley fella, anyway?” Lol
They would have liked Screamin’ Jay Hawkins even less than Elvis.
I studied that IP for a long time. The steering wheel and shift lever are, to my eyes, fine art. And while I’ve never been a fan of 1950s styling, that gray sedan is just superb.
What a beast. Want one. Last year in Las Vegas, on holiday with my son, I spied and photographed a 60s Caddie doing a u-turn in the street. I snapped away with my camera whilst my son watched, slacked jawed as the driver ‘helm the steering wheel’ about four revolutions in his u-turn. “Wow” said my son. “They all drove like that” my reply!
Must see if I can find the photograph.
Strangely enough, as a child growing up in the 1960s, I have no recollections of ever seeing any 1957 or ’58 Cadillacs. They were either the 1951 through ’56 models, or the ’59 and newer models. I do recall seeing a couple of the bathtub Packards from ’48 through ’50, but I never saw any Lincolns or Imperials or any foreign luxury cars. Lincolns did become popular in the 1970s.
Here’s the CC Effect in action yet again!
Between the original appearance of this article and the reposting today, I came across a very nice 2-door Sixty Two at the independent repair shop very close to where I live. This one isn’t quite as elegant with its all-white paint. but the interior appears to be identical to poindexter’s car (lacking power windows though).
Beautiful car! Being a fan of ’63 thru ’70 Cadillacs, I never saw the real beauty in these that is so obvious now. Enjoy!!
By the way, what does COAL stand for?
Cars Of A Lifetime
I have read that the most expensive old cars are the cars that 50-60 year old men wanted when they were a teenager. That’s why Tri-Five Chevy’s skyrocketed in price and then fell as people moved on to 60’s cars. Do people here think this is true?
The gray color really sets off the lines of the car, especially the roof. I believe most people kept cars for a shorter time in the 50’s thru 70’s. It seems like people kept cars for 3-5 years. Abd cars were scrapped and crushed much sooner. I had an uncle who went through cars very quickly. He had a lot of kids and not much money. We didn’t see them often. He had a series of anonymous 50’s cars. I could name every car designed and built after WWII. I wasn’t great on the holdover cars. I always wondered what my uncle would show up with next. One year he showed up in one of these 58 Cadillacs. I was mesmerized. It had to be 10-12 years old at the time.