Ultra Rare 1974 Fleetwood Brougham Talisman w/leather

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Just stumbled across this in Hemmings:

Never saw a Talisman with leather before but I understand a few were built.

Very unique. 

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/cadillac/fleetwood/1816918.html#PhotoSwipe1457653578683

[Rich S]

What a beautiful car! Eric, a few years ago, there was an ad on e-bay with another '74 Fleetwood Talisman with Leather interior in a similar color combination. It was offered from San Clemente, California, and the seller claimed the Talisman with Leather could only be ordered in that color and in model year '74. If I recall, it featured a dark gold firemist standard color offered in '74--possibly the same as this one offered for sale.

[jwjohnson86]

Looks amazing!  Quite a survivor.  Is the price reasonable?  No photos of the underbody to evaluate any rust or corrosion.  Interior is like a rolling leather sofa.

[D.Smith]

It was only available in 74.  It was offered in dark blue or Medium Saddle.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Does anybody know how much Talisman w/leather cost? 

[Dan LeBlanc]

I read somewhere +/- $2400 where the standard Talisman was +/- $1800

[Dan LeBlanc]

Here you go, Eric.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Acc to the inflation calculator, $2,361 in 1974 is $11,346 today.

A lot of money for a interior upgrade alone.

Dan...with a black exterior, it would be a perfect companion to your '61!

*Just noticed - looks like even the door panels are genuine leather too.

[Jon S]

Did you notice that both rear body filler panels are totally missing - most shots start at missing piece forward.

[chrisntam]

............ooooooohhhhhh dat leather look comfy....................

I bet it smelled good back in the day.

[David Greenburg]

If I had the space, I'd buy it, take the doors off and put it in my living room.  But it won't fit in my house, or in my garage.

[Scot Minesinger]

Thanks for finding this!  Always wondered if the upholstery pattern was different for leather, as it sometimes was for Cadillacs of the 1970's.  If ever encounter a Talisman that needs re-upholstered it can be redone in leather if desired.  Just changed my 1970 SDV from cloth to leather including the changing to the wood inserts on doors and dash.  The original seats are saved in case anyone wanted to return it to original.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Upper door panels would need to be redone in leather to be correct.

[Maynard Krebs]

/quote]


BLACK???  YUCK!  Gets hot as hades and shows all the dust!

[Scot Minesinger]

Black exterior is not bad at all.  My 1995 Fleetwood daily driver that traveled over 254k miles was black exterior with black leather interior.  Granted, there was a California duster in my trunk that was used every other day. 

For a hobby car mainly driven in summer, a black interior is to be avoided, but they can be OK with a good a/c system.  Black interior on a convertible is a deal killer for me though, as I am a top down guy.

Eric, your right upper door panels would need to be done too if changing to leather, but that would be the easiest part of the job.

[chrisntam]

$12k seems to be more than a fair price, wonder why it hasn't sold?

Ya know, 12 thousand just doesn't buy what it used to.   

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Because it isn't black. 

[Dan LeBlanc]

Black exterior with this interior, I agree, would compliment my ebony/fawn 61 Fleetwood very well.  With a/c, having it operational would be a must for me as I like everything to work on my cars, so the black would be a bonus, not a detraction for me.  My '04 deVille, '09 Navigator, (both with black interiors) and my '61 Fleetwood are all black, and, while they demand a little more attention to keep them looking spiffy, it's worth it to me as I love black.

That said, in one of the Facebook Cadillac groups I follow, it has been mentioned that the car has been sold and was on its way to its new owner over the weekend.  Hopefully the poster in the FB group will chime in shortly.

[chrisntam]

Funny thing about black.

There is only one black (excepting gloss/matte/flat) and there are infinite shades of all the other colors.

Discovered that while working at the auto parts store that sold paint back in the day.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

There was a time when I thought the same thing but I've since found that's not invariably true.

One thing that's for certain is that this car would be worth a lot more in black on black; triple black bringing the most - or 2x black w/red leather. (Either of those would have needed to be SO of course).