Among Celebrity Cars, a Custom Cadillac Stands out

[Bruce Nunnally]

[NYT article]

LAS VEGAS – At the second annual Barrett-Jackson collector car auction here in the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, you could bid on Jay Leno’s motorcycle, on a racecar that played a role in the Elvis Presley movie “Viva La Vegas,” on cars owned by the actors Bruce Willis and Don Johnson, on replicas of the Batmobile and Barney Fife’s Mayberry sheriff’s car or on a Lee Iacocca 45th anniversary edition Ford Mustang.

Or, like me, you could have been drawn not by celebrity but by the stunning proportion and coach-built detail of a 1947 Cadillac that quite literally was brought back from the dead.

[JimD]

It speaks to the engineering and management talent of GM/Cadillac that such a vehicle could be produced within a few short years of converting from building war machinery to building what you see in the picture.

From bombers and tanks to classic Cadillac woodies!

[JohnnyG]

Looks pretty close to a TANK to me! But MAN is that a beautiful car!

[Cadillac Jim]

I once knew a college student who drove a 1948 Cadillac hearse as his personal car because the price was right and he needed a daily driver. It was a flathead V8 with three on the tree. Power and handling were great, other than a tendency to hang out the rear end if he got too horsey on the turns but the gas mileage wasn't too good in town because he had a lead foot. This was about 1970. I think he sold it after a year or two when it needed tires.