Vehicle Description
1948 Cadillac Convertible
For 1948 the big news for Cadillac was the appearance of the
Cadillac fin which housed the rear taillight and made the car look
lower. Fins would characterize Cadillacs for the next 30 years and
would be adopted as a styling cue across manufacturers through the
end of the 1950s and beyond. GM abbreviated production for this
year to about eight months and production was modest. The lower
line Series 61 only sold 8,600 units, in four-door sedan and
two-door fastback sedanette body styles. The big seller in the
Series 62 line was the four-door sedan, which accounted for 24,000
of the model's 34,000 sales. In the Series 62, a club coupe cost
$2,900 and a convertible ran $3,400. Only 5,450 1948 Cadillac
Series 62 2dr convertibles were produced making them extremely rare
and collectible today.
For consignment, a 1948 Cadillac 2 door Series 62 convertible. This
car is the beneficiary of a frame off restoration and while doing
so turned it into a way cool skate in the form of a street rod. It
has straight rust free steel, a new convertible top, some
frenching, shaving, all new polished chrome, tinted glass, and a
fully finished leather interior. This car is a great looker, and
retains much of its original charm on the design front, despite
some of the modifications.
Exterior
One of this cars greatest features has to be those rounded over
fins for the rear quarters where the tail lights are housed. The
large wide body bumper below which just gleams, and the way the
fins dip down and move forward to form the remainder of the rear
quarters with their semi circular bump out just aft of the doors is
pure heaven. Fender skirts add to the look, and a trim spear gives
the beautiful fender some depth. We see Light Iris Pearl which is
tastefully metallic on all the big smooth surfaces and this has
been professionally applied. Between these rear fenders is a NYC 2
bedroom sized trunk lid which is beautifully bulbous and has a nice
Cadillac crest and badge in its center. The doors have perfectly
minded gaps and the handles have been shaved. The front of the car
has a custom painted grille with some darker Iris Pearl, chromed
vertical ribs and another large perfectly polished bumper below.
Just above, the headlights have been frenched and more trim spears
wrap from the front corner through the door panels. Just above in
the front quarter is a Cadillac badge in grandmother's handwriting.
Between these front quarters is a bulbous hood, not to be outdone
by the trunk lid! A wonderful hood ornament and more miles of steel
in the Light Iris Pearl runs back to the chrome framed split front
glass. On top is a new power convertible top in charcoal colored
canvas. The electrics for this top have all been reconstructed.
This top has a charcoal tonneau covering and looks fab in the down
position. The car floats on 15-inch chromed laden and finned wheels
wrapped by classic looking wide whites from the 23rod wheel of
2016.
Interior
A swing of the wide doors and we see iris steel uppers and some
very light gray lowers which are adorned in vertical tuck and roll
leather. A purple armrest is in and on the upper corner is an
actuator and a lineup of power window toggles. We slip inside and
rest our bottoms on wide low back buckets also in gray leather
courtesy a 98 Pontiac Grand Prix. These sport more tuck and roll
and show with some slight cracking on the seats. A wide armrest for
each front chair is between these buckets. In the back, a bench
version of the gray leather stretches from side to side. This has
slight folds in their upper centers but are still nicely preserved.
In front a Lecarra billet center purple plastic bog steering wheel
fronts a custom dash. It features a full metal jacket semi circular
arched center and rounded over edges as to runs from door to door.
In the instrument cluster, which has been covered with some nifty
swirl machined pattern stainless, sit white face Stewart Warner
gauges with vintage looking pointers. In the center is a
rectangular swirl pattern stainless panel which houses the Vintage
AC vents, ignition, a few pulls, a toggle, and a Kenwood AM/FM/CD
stereo. We can see some speakers within the toe kicks. The dash top
is embellished with some lighter iris flourish pinstriping. Shifter
knob is a billet style and protrudes from an adjustable steering
column. Perfect gray carpeting covers the floors and there are many
mats covering the carpeting. This car features power steering,
power Locks, a power top, and AC and heat. "Lo-Car" pedals float
above the carpeting and have a neato look.
Drivetrain
Under the smooth all painted hood and engine bay sits the mill
which at first glance is a simple covering custom fabricated panel
complete with another bird sculpted hood ornament atop. The
radiator surround has the same clean surrounding also in purple and
features an electric fan. Under the engine covering is a Camaro SS
5.7L LT-1 EFI V8 and it has a 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission
on back. A 10 bolt rear axle turns the rear tires and a dual
Flowmaster exhaust is on for the exhale.
Undercarriage
New floor pans and a new fuel tank are mounted within a rust free
and all sound X frame, It has a nice coating of rustproofing
throughout. 4 wheel power 4 disc braking is on and the suspension
has a Fatman independent coil sprung suspension which has lowering
springs. Leaf springs are on the back. All clean with no road dirt
and nearly pristine for this undercarriage.
Drive-Ability
The car fired right up with a mighty roar and off like a prom dress
I went to the test track. The panic stopping is bias free,
acceleration almost limitless, and all functions were in working
order. Driving this car gives you an air of sophistication with an
underlying streak of bad ass. The power top is a real plus.
A very nice total custom build taking a luxury car and turning it
into a cool rod is not an easy task, and this job has been done to
the nines. Just an awesome looker and cooker.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 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.
