Vehicle Description
1953 Cadillac Fleetwood Sedan
The Fleetwood Body Company of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, was founded
by Harry Urich in the nineteenth century. It began as a small
community of craftsmen founded by Henry Fleetwood, Esq. of
Penwortham, near Lancaster, England (the Fleetwood family
flourished in England in the 17th and 18th centuries). The rich
traditions of 300 years of coach-building that the Fleetwood Body
Company applied to its work on cars secured for it a high
reputation in automobile circles worldwide by the 1920s. Coachwork
was built by Fleetwood for a variety of luxury makes through 1924.
GM having bought both companies named the Cadillac Fleetwood in
honor of this early coach building company from Pennsylvania, and
the town bearing its name...Fleetwood.
For consignment a real stunner Series 60 Special Fleetwood
Cadillac. This long steel slabbed body and all its accoutrements
weighs nearly 5,000 pounds! As 1 example of only 20,000 built in
1953 will having you take on the persona of an instant celebrity.
Only 26,835 original miles on this terrific example.
Exterior
Meticulously cared for since day 1 we see laser straight panels
bathed in stunning Dark Forest Green. This paint is sanded to a
mirror finish and shows very little faults, and the ones it has,
you need to look very hard to find them. Simply a ton of chrome,
all excellent from the massive front bumper complete with its
protruding "Dagmars", toothy grille, and fantastic turn signals
which have bezels that wrap around to the front quarter. A
beautiful trim spear runs from just above these massive bezels to
the end of the front door panels. A vertical panel picks up midway
into the rear doors and begins the slight flare of the rounded
finned rear quarter panel. Wide rocker covers in polished chrome
run the length of this car. The rear has a wide bumper which
stretches from quarter to quarter, and sports dual "Dagmars" as
well. Inset into the bumpers are dual exhaust tips around which
chrome remains just perfect. Wide polished trim surrounds the
windows of the passenger compartment, and this car is bottomed off
with Cadillac badged Sombrero chromed wheel covers, wrapped in wide
wide whites. Plenty of Cadillac badging in your grandmother's
handwriting is attached to this car, letting everyone know you've
arrived.
Interior
Simply amazing with its amalgamation of textures and curves we see
plenty of metallic brown paint, bordered by metal applique in birds
eye maple, vinyl, chrome, and wool broadcloth and these are just
the door panels! Tan tuck and roll inserts with stitched Cadillac
crests and the V pattern are bordered by smooth brown vinyl
bolsters, and miles of wide piping borders. This pattern carries to
the rear bench which has a large fold down armrest. Feasting an
abundance of leg room, it is all covered with stain free tan carpet
with brown edging. The dash, in anything but simple for, features
more birds eye maple applique, lots of chrome and all original
instruments levers and knobs. The beautiful dash is fronted by an
equally beautiful original steering wheel. The headliner is
pristine and is also light tan broadcloth. Noted on the dash is a
matching dash top painted headlight sentinel which will
automatically dim the high beams when an oncoming car is detected.
The trunk has also been fully restored to over the top finery just
to house a spare.
Drivetrain
A flip of the massive hood and we see what the engine looked like
in the showroom; it is that good! 331 Cubic Inches of V8 is backed
by a 4-speed automatic Hydramatic transmission. A 3.07 axle is on
the back. Just a wonderful presentation of originality under the
hood.
Undercarriage
The condition underneath can be described as well taken care of,
with minimal surface rust, sound X frame, and plenty of
undercoating. Independent suspension and coil springs makes up the
front suspension, and leaf springs are mounted to the rear of this
car.
Drive-Ability
Words like glitz, glamour innovation and prosperity come to mind
when entering a car of this magnitude. Extreme comfort abounds and
a turn of the key allows the V8 to come to life and begin our test
drive. What a smooth ride she produces, with plenty of power and a
near perfect cruiser with nary a squeak or rattle. Noted is a rear
air conditioning system, just like the factory would have installed
it, and it blows icy cold. Power windows and power steering make it
a very easy car to drive despite its massive size.
One cannot begin to imagine what it would cost to duplicate a
restoration as such, with diligent attention to the smallest of
details, mile deep paint, near perfect interior, and showroom
engine bay. One just not see cars like this restored to this level.
You have definitely arrived when you pull up in this fine
automobile.
VIN Decode
536092087
53-1953
60-60 Series
92087-Sequential Unit Number
Trim Tag
STYLE # 53 6019-1953 Fleetwood Sedan
BODY # FW17952-Fleetwood Body #
TRIM #88-Light Tan Vinyl & Crest Pattern Cloth, Dark Tan Plain
Broadcloth
PAINT # 3-Forest Green Metallic
ACC E-Ez Eye Glass H-Heater
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 450 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.