This ’59 Fleetwood in the Early 1960’s!!

This is a fabulous one-owner top-of-the-line Fleetwood that has accumulated 22,600 miles since new!   We have invested about 300 hours of hired shop time making this one of the very best original un-restored ’59’s in the World!!  The interior is truly as close to new as we’ve ever seen, the exterior is fabulous!  The car drives beautifully, as you would expect for a car with 22,600 miles.  This is a concours quality, all original, un-restored motorcar!

About this Fleetwood

This fine and elegant motorcar is very well optioned (as one would expect for a Fleetwood), including full power for the windows, air conditioning, etc..  It drives beautifully and we fully prepared the car for concours competition (as a Preservation Car, not restored) and touring.   This Motorcar comes with a full Certification and Warranty.  A full 50-point inspection was performed by an independent ASE Mechanic.  Review the certification and warranty details at: https://classiccars.com/certification/inspection-reports/cert-00070.pdf

This car retains its beautiful original acrylic lacquer Dover White paint (Paint Code 12) and gorgeous original grey wool broadcloth interior (Trim Code 71).  The original chrome and stainless is absolutely beautiful- nothing has been ever replated.  The paint and brightwork are nearly as-new and overall this is just drop dead gorgeous!  The original factory inspection and quality control markings are all over this fabulous motorcar.

This car has the Option Code of EHKMY, which include:

In addition to the options above this Fleetwood (Model 6029) included the following: Power Vent Windows (Code N, $73), Power Windows (Code X, $73), Whitewall Tires (Code W, $65), and Radio (Code R, $247).  As equipped, this Fleetwood retailed for about $7,800!!

This Cadillac has never had any rust or rot.  We have a photographic history of the undercarriage as we received it.  We have now completely cleaned and removed all surface dirt, grease and light surface rust and faithfully repainted the underside of the car exactly as it left the factory.  This is a labor of love for us, but it makes the car a spectacular showpiece and preserves it well for the next half-century.

We have performed mechanical improvements as necessary, including: five new tires, new exhaust system, new front wheel bearings and seals,new rear main seal, many new gaskets, new shocks, fully serviced the transmission, full tune-up, new fan belts, etc.  We also dropped the oil pan and cleaned the normal accumulated lead from the pan.  This car is a true time capsule and we wanted to make sure that it drive as well as it looks!   Many of the original components have been saved as historical references for future owners.

With the gorgeous wool broadcloth interior we cleaned every square inch with Woollite, not once but three times (headliner, seats, carpet, etc.).  It looks as new as any ’59 in the world that we know about!  We also spent a total of 15 hours cleaning the door jambs of all the accumulated oil that was used to lube the door hinges with over the past 50 years!  They look as new except for the original maintenance tags from the 1960’s and 1970’s that are faithfully preserved.

The History of this Fleetwood

This 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood was bought new by Jonathan Finger of St. Louis, Missouri on November 6, 1959 for the huge sum of $5,995 (retail was about $7,800).  Interestingly, the VIN for this elegant motorcar is 59M129999.  The Fleetwood Body Number is 12041, which makes it a later body for 1959.

Mr. Finger paid the car off over the subsequent five years.  The car was used sparingly.  It was mainly used for trips to Memphis from St Louis to visit family.  But by 1973, Mr. Finger was getting older and on a trip to Memphis had great difficulty staying awake.  This scared him and thus led him to place the car into long-term storage.  It travelled about 1,250 miles over the subsequent 27 years.

Maintenance records show that by 1962 the car had amassed 7,407 miles, by 1967 it had 15,627 miles and in 1972 it had 21,157 miles.  After 1973 it was no longer on the roads being used.  It now has accumulated 22,400 total miles since new.   This motorcar has the preferable standard suspension configuration.

Mr. Finger was a wonderful and kind man.  He was hard working man working for Associated Dredge for 30 years.  He was also an entrepreneur and had other activities including real estate and was an active in community associations such as “Victims in Crime” where he was the President of his block unit.  The car was ultimately inherited by his adopted son, London Brown, a 20 year veteran Detective of the St. Louis Police Department.

In the world of automotive design, few people will disagree that Cadillacs from the 1959 model year were the epitome of flair, chrome, fins, and a style that has never been duplicated in a production model. When you drove one of these top-line cars from General Motors, there was no mistaking it for a lesser car.

Offered in just one body style, a six-window four-door pillarless hardtop, the body’s smooth lines were decorated with an abundance of chrome trim, faux air scoops, and plenty of gadgets and toys to keep even the most advanced engineering students of the day in awe of the technology being put on wheels.

The Fleetwood was also known as the Sixty Special and there were a mere 12,250 produced in 1959.  This fabulous motorcar weights about 4,900 pounds (2,220 kg) on a wheelbase of 130.0 in. (3,302mm).   It’s iconic overhead valve 390 cu in (6.4 liter) V-8 produced about 325 HP and 480 ft lbs of torque with the three-speed hydromatic transmission.

This is a very rare and elegant motorcar.  Rarer still is it to find one in spectacular original condition, as a one owner car with only 22,400 miles since new.  This is an important car to add to any serious collection and will prove to be a tremendous investment and enjoyable classic!  More details, photos and video will be forthcoming as we complete the re-commissioning.

A relatively recent comparable sale is a 30,000+ mile multi-owner grey colored Fleetwood sold at the 2007 London RM Auction for $97,644 (the exchange rate in 2007 made this comp more expensive in dollars).  We believe it is unlikely that the RM sale car was in better condition than ours and it regrettably had the air suspension option.  You can see particulars of this RM sale car at: http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=LF07&CarID=r123&Currency=US

For more details call Harry at 602.245.7200 or email us at harry@classicpromenade.com.