'69 convertible

[savemy67]

Hello all,

Not my car, but it showed up on craigslist this afternoon.  It is in my neighborhood, and I am going to look at it tomorrow evening.

https://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/d/catonsville-1969-cadillac-deville/7130087670.html

The seller told me he bought it a few months ago from the Richmond, VA area.  Again, not my car - but maybe it will be.  Comments welcome. 

Christopher Winter

[35-709]

Shiny paint!  Definitely not the original style interior and it surely appears to be vinyl.  Carpet does not appear to be original (or pretend to be).  If the car is mechanically sound and without rust issues, and you are not fussy about interior originality, it might be a great driver.  Best of luck.

[Cadman-iac]

It's a beautiful car, at least in pictures. Having had one,  I can tell you that the drivers door pull strap has been wrapped with another piece of something,  and the color on the door panels looks a little off, like they have been dyed, but not sure. And the drivers seat back and the arm rest upholstery looks like it has been replaced. The armrest doesn't look to have the correct pattern from what I can remember.
That's all I noticed in the short glance I took. If it was closer, I'd definitely take a look and maybe even buy it.
Very nice to look at though.  Pleasing to the eyes. Thanks for sharing.

Rick

[chrisntam]

It's odd to me why someone would re-do the interior that way on a somewhat valuable Cadillac.  Why not do the seat covers at least in the original pattern?

[Cadman-iac]

It's odd to me why someone would re-do the interior that way on a somewhat valuable Cadillac.  Why not do the seat covers at least in the original pattern?

I think it's that someone was trying to dress it up to unload it. When I bought my 69 vert back in 86, I didn't know squat about them, and the dealer had redone the interior with a cloth fabric. It looked good to me at the time,  but it didn't last very long.

[wrench]

There seems to be a lot of overspray under the hood.

A look under the car could tell a lot about the body.

Since it’s a respray, there could be a lot of body work under that shiny paint job.

I am usually not picky about details if I am looking for a driver quality car, but $16k is more than a driver. I would look very close at all of the details including a test drive.

If you are serious about the car, for that kind of money, I would have it checked out by a mechanic on a lift and maybe have it appraised.

The seller should not express any reservation about doing that.

[Alan Harris CLC#1513]

$16K is real money for one of these. I think you could do a lot better.

[D.Smith]

A fun driver, that's about it.   

Resale red and a really poorly done interior redo. 

If it runs good, everything works and has a good top, I could see it bringing under ten still.     

As said, there are a lot of better cars out there for a little more than he's asking.

[Cadillac Fleetwood]

The correct 1969 interior has some workmanship involved, particularly with the backrests in side view, and the horizontal pillow bolsters across the top. Many "skilled" trim shops can't get it right even when they try to, hence the complete deviation seen in this car.  RSR/CSR in my opinion, was a poor color choice, and that pair of "jackass appendage" exhaust pipes certainly detracts.

Charles Fares

[Cadman-iac]

After you said something about the tailpipes I took another look at it,  and I agree,  those look stupid on there.
Also,  in the engine picture,  it looks like there's no belts on the A/C compressor.

Rick

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Probably was working when last used    Oh, and only wants a recharge.

Bruce.

[Cadman-iac]

Probably was working when last used    Oh, and only wants a recharge.

Bruce.

Yeah,  he probably took the belts off so he could clean them up and hasn't gotten a chance to reinstall them,  right?😉

Rick

[wrench]

Any update on the car? Did you check it out?

[savemy67]

Hello Jim (and all),

Yes, I did look at the car.  Within a few minutes, I knew that it was not worth the asking price.  The seller was a nice gent, but I think he has $$$ in his eyes.  I told him I was a CLC member, and pointed out several aspects of the condition of the car that were less than appealing to me.

When the magnet did not stick to the lower front fender I had to gently inform the seller that I suspected that the car had rust repair sometime in the past.  He asked me for my "professional" opinion as to the value of the car.  I told him, without being too harsh, that I thought it was worth a lot closer to $10K than the $16K in the ad.

The convertible top was in good shape.  The interior had been poorly redone, as some of you have commented.  The aftermarket wire wheels were rusty.  Some underdash wiring assemblies were disconnected.  The original Quadrajet (which the seller kept and had rebuilt) had been swapped out for an Edelbrock.  The headlights were not oriented correctly in their bezels.  The dash was cracked.  The odometer showed about 17,000 miles, so certainly at least there must be 117,000 miles on the car.

According to the data plate, the car was originally cordovan with a flax interior.  I don't recall what a flax interior looks like color-wise, but the poor redo on the upholstery (the headrests are gone), and its color just did not seem to go with the respray red body color.  The engine did start, but I did not drive the car.

I like the looks of the '69 convertible.  This one was so close to my house (less than two miles) that I could not pass up taking a look.  I wished the seller good luck.

Christopher Winter

[wrench]

Thanks for the update.

[chrisntam]

Having met you at the Louisville GN, I’m sure the seller was more than happy to hear your truthful opinion.

[James Landi]

Christopher,
You may hear from the seller... when I drive away from a "situation" like that one, I always think, " would I want this car a any price?"   I purchased a 72 Eldorado some years ago, that had a well installed / quality vinyl interior and "show chrome" that had started to peel in some places-- got a great deal on it. I convinced myself (initially) that he interior was far more durable and practical when compared to decades old leather and potentially failing stitching.   The car had around 75k miles and ran very well, but that interior just did not float my boat, yet everyone else commented positively on how beautiful the interior looked.   So much of this  purchasing is subjective and requires a good deal of self analysis, don't you think?   Happy day,  James   

[D.Smith]

 
According to the data plate, the car was originally cordovan with a flax interior.  I don't recall what a flax interior looks like color-wise,

Christopher Winter

Cordovan is dark brown.    Flax is a light beige.   See below