Shown during the 1949 Motorama, the first Cadillac “Coupe De Ville" was built on a Cadillac Sixty Special chassis and featured a non-working air-scoop, chrome trim around front wheel openings, and a one-piece windshield and rear glass. It was equipped with a telephone in the glove compartment, a vanity case and a secretarial pad in the rear armrest, power windows and highly decorative chrome interior trim. Ultimately, it was an effort to show to the world Cadillac’s elegance and panache of a full-size 2-door sedan.
A few generations of the Coupe De Ville passed, but the third generation – and in the 1966 model year in particular – included a somewhat coarser mesh for the radiator grille insert, which was now divided by a thick, bright metal horizontal center bar housing rectangular parking lamps at the outer ends. Separate rectangular side-marker lamps replaced the integral grille extension designs. There was generally less chrome on all Cadillac models this year. De Ville scripts were still above the rear tip of the horizontal body rub moldings. Cadillac crests and V-shaped moldings, front and rear, were identifiers. Engineering improvements made to the perimeter frame increased ride and handling ease. Newly designed piston and oil rings, as well as a new engine-mounting system and patented quiet exhaust, were used.
With its “Box A” title confirming only 54,735 actual miles from new, the 1966 Cadillac Coupe De Ville offered here has completely original paint and its original interior; even the engine bay is tidy and in its original condition. An air-ride lowering kit system was professionally installed with no modifications to the frame, so it could go back to its factory height with ease, if desired. Powered by a 429ci 7.0-liter V8, the car runs smoothly mechanically, as it recently received a valve job with new head gasket. Riding on beautiful new whitewall tires with original Cadillac hubcaps, the air conditioning has been converted and blows ice-cold for cruising comfort.
