1937 Cad 2-dr sedan

[Mr Peanut]

Very cool!  It's hard to believe I wasn't even 2 years old when that article was printed!  I would love to get a copy of the whole Self Starter as part of the folder of information I am gathering.  Maybe I could talk Barry into scanning it and emailing it to me?

The Reverend John Quinn was Pastor at St. Gabriel's Church in Windsor, CT from 1921 until his death in 1956.  Windsor is about 8 miles from Hartford, CT where Elizabeth Keenan (the original purchaser according to the GM documentation) lived.  It is easy to see how the car could have passed from Mrs. Keenan's possession into Rev. Quinn's.
The Caddy then appears to have passed into an unknown person hands in the early 1960's until David Kasny owned it and put this article together in 1972.  David sold it to Anthony Brock (owner of the A.F. Brock Corp in Cincinnati, OH) - the year of sale is currently unknown.  It was then sold to Andrew Masimilla in 1975 who I purchased the car from.  To the best of my knowledge that makes me the 7th owner.  I plan on continue researching this and contact past owners or their family to get stories/photos.

This has been an awesome experience and I can't wait to see what turns up next.  Who knows - maybe this will be a future "follow up" story in the Self Starter!  Thanks for all of your information......Chuck

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

Hi, I think the cover may be missing, but I'll be glad to scan the issue for you. My e-mail is fltd6019@embarqmail.com. That is a "Q". Send me a blank e-mail and I'll attach the scan for you. Barry

[Steve Passmore]

I suppose its entirely possible that the original purchaser Mrs Elizabeth Keenan bought the car as a gift for  Reverend John Quinn. How else can you have her as the buyer but the car modified to suit him from new?

[Mr Peanut]

I have sent an e-mail to the church looking for information.  Hopefully there is somebody there who can provide some.  I inquired about the Rev Quinn and Mrs. Keenan in case she attended there and anything they can tell me about the car.........Chuck

[Mr Peanut]

Update:  I have not heard back from the church yet.  Maybe sometime this week (he said with his fingers crossed for good luck).


I had a fairly long conversation with the widow of the owner of the car in the mid-1970's.  Tony Brock passed afay 2 years ago at the age of 88.  Bess couldn't provide a lot of info as Tony always had cars.  They sold it when they moved to California from Ohio and he had a warehouse with 20 or so cars in it.  An interesting side story here is that Bess had several children during her first marriage to John Mensinger.  One of her sons is currently the drummer for KISS (Eric Singer).  Singer is his stage name, taking after his father who played big band music all of his life and went by Johnny Singer.  In the early 30's he played in a band that hired Perry Como as their singer.  They became great friends and Eric grew up with the names and stories of his dad's friends - Bob Hope, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, and Arnold Palmer to name a few.  He even played Big Band music for President's Carter and Reagan.  Carter requested him multiple times and even became friends with an Arch Duke and stayed at his castle when he traveled to Europe.  I was able to verify her story through different internet sources.  Eric would have been around 19/20 years old around this time and he may (or may not) know something about the car.  I'll wait a week or so for Bess to think about the car and the questions I had for her.  Maybe she will think of some answers or possibly ask Eric.

I also spoke with David Kasny.  He can't remember exactly when he purchased it, but it was around 1970.  He sold it in the fall of 1977, but not to Tony Brock.  He traded it for a LaSalle convertible in Pennsylvania (at least that is what he remembers).  That leaves a gap of unknown ownership before Tony bought it.  David did paint the car as he was getting it together for his wedding in 1972, but it was a close match to the color it was when he bought it.  He also re-did the interior (and it is still in it today).  He gave me the name of the person he bought it from and he is still active in the old car industry and still in Hartford, CT.  I have sent him an e-mail and hope to hear from him soon (he said again with his fingers still crossed).  David and I will be exchanging a lot more information in the near future.

Once I hear back this should get me into the early 1960's as far as speaking with past owners.  I believe after that I will have to be speaking with other family members.  Owners prior to this will probably have been born in the late 1800's or early 1900's.  I'll keep everybody updated on what I find........Chuck

[Mr Peanut]

Update time!

I have spoken to the church and they basically were a dead end.  They could only give limited info about Rev. Quinn and nothing about the Caddy.  I don't think any of the current staff knew him.  I'm sure older members of the congregation might know something, but I'll never be able to find that out unless anybody on here goes to St. Gabriel's Church in Windsor, CT.

The gentleman who sold the car to David Kasny around 1970 was Jerry Lettieri from the Hartford/Windsor area.  I was able to speak to him and he is still active in the old car hobby.  He has owned and sold a lot of cars since then and remembered very little about the Cadillac.  He remembered that his father had painted it, but doesn't remember what color it was before.  That still leaves the possibility that it was Frontemac Brown Iridescent when it left the factory.  2 subsequent owners repainted and  "matched" the color that Jerry's father painted it.  He didn't remember where he bought it or any specifics to help me.  Jerry's father has been dead for many years, so there is no way to get any information from him.

My next line of attack is through the Connecticut DMV.  I have left a message at the Copy Records Department.  I have the names of 3 owners (if Rev. Quinn owned it)and their addresses as of 1940.  I did discover that the original owner (Elizabeth Keenan) was not in Hartford, but in New Haven which is about 40 miles away from Tabor Cadillac, where the car was originally delivered.  That makes sense since I'm sure Cadillac Dealers were only located in larger towns/cities in 1937.

I have ordered a complete brake kit (shoes, hardware, wheel cylinder rebuild, etc) and a water pump rebuild kit.  I have already replaced the rubber lines.  The water pump is leaking and I greased it, but it didn't help.  I didn't want to put too much grease in it and blow out the seals, so it is time for the rebuild.  I have enjoyed taking her on short trips, but I want to make sure she stops well.  A surefire Prius killer is a 2 ton Cadillac without brakes!!  I received my Self Starter this month, but am still waiting on the membership directory.  Hopefully that comes soon so I can find out who has the 6011 in North Carolina that was mentioned earlier in this topic.  Hopefully they have more information on the 6011 model than I have found.....Chuck