1951 Cadillac Fleetwood An Interview with an aging Film Star

I visited Crest Cadillac to look at a 1951 Cadillac Fleetwood today.  Like visiting an aging Film Star, this Cadillac frankly still has it going on.

1951 Cadillac Fleetwood

The power plant is the famous Cadillac 331 cubic inch OHV V8. This engine first arrived in 1949 and was a breakthrough engine for its time. In 1951 trim it produced160 hp gross, and perhaps 133 hp net.  The Fleetwood could go over 100 mph new.

Cadillac Identification Plate

This example appears to be a Series 60 Special Fleetwood.   The body tag matches and it has the 8 vertical chrome louvers ahead of the rear wheels that mark the Sixty Special Fleetwood.  Compared to the Series 61, the Series 60 Special Fleetwood had a 4″ longer wheelbase, at 130 inches, and looked longer and lower.  The body of this Cadillac was made by Fleetwood the coach builder.

It is hard to describe in pictures, but the body of this Cadillac is truly enchanting.  It suggests luxury, opulence, the urgency of the jet age and restrained power all at once.

1951 Cadillac Fleetwood Interior

Air conditioning was still an add-on at this point of automobile development, not yet integrated into the dash.  That’s a “Fleetwood” script emblem on the dash above the AM radio.  That emblem served as a constant reminder to the lucky Owner that he or she was piloting one of the finest automobiles available.

1951 Cadillac Fleetwood front grill

1951 Cadillac Fleetwood Tailfin

It is frustrating to capture styling details alone and not have a way to suggest the majesty and art of the sum of the parts.  This Cadillac has very consistent themes, and I felt a great community with those owners in 1951 when they set eyes on this car on Cadillac showrooms and got out their checkbooks.

This Cadillac is for sale. For information about this car please contact Crest Cadillac of Plano, Texas.  They are located at 2701 North Central Expressway, Plano, Texas.  You can contact them by phone Toll-free at 1-866-697-9144 or locally at (972)578-7511, or on Twitter or Facebook

Please let them know you saw the Fleetwood here on CaddyInfo, so they call me to visit other models!

3 thoughts on “1951 Cadillac Fleetwood An Interview with an aging Film Star

  1. Lovely car The 1951 Cadillac Fleetwood, I owned one in 1977 when most of my mates were driving around in little fords and Austins. ( nothing wrong with those cars ). My car had belonged to the Ethiopian Embassy and had been exchanged by the embassy for another car at a Car Showrooms in Woodford Essex, £ 250. I often took my Cadillac to Southend on Sea and would drive up and down the sea front showing off with my mate and a couple of girls, I remember the day I went along to pick the car up, I was So excited. it was gleaming black and drenched in chromium, sitting on the garage forecourt, I had to fill in the paperwork but just wanted to drive it, It used to glide along silently, even over cobbled roads of the late 60s it rode totally smooth, I would often go up to bed and look at it from the bedroom window. ( I was in my teens then ) I’d often get dressed in the early hours and take it for a spin around the East End of London in the dead of night. it was always stopped by the Metropolitan Police that time of a morning but I didn’t care as it was fully briefed up insured taxed etc, Those were the days I often wonder if it still exists as it was in mint condition when I sold it in 1979, can’t remember the reg number now it was so many years ago, I used to let my dad go to work in the Cadillac sometimes. he drove a C.W.S lorry and often asked if he could take it to work ! I often said yes. and spent the day pacing up and down waiting for him to come home, Lovely memories still exist in my mind of that lovely Gleaming Black Cadillac Fleetwood I once owned.. Lovely days…

  2. Thanks for sharing this story. I was thinking about this car recently and how it may have been a real missed opportunity to grab up a nice example. Oh well…

  3. Hello
    Great article and interesting reply from the guy who bought his in the 70s for £250.
    I’m from Barking Essex originally and now live in Kent. I own the same model. Mines a 1951 Fleetwood 60 as above. I paid £5000 for it. It’s original rock solid car with just areas of flat paint work and surface rust. It really is a fantastic car to drive or just sit in. Made in the halcyon times and sadly overtaken and lost to safety standards, electronics, plastic mouldings and cost cutting technology all in the name of progress?
    Jason Adams

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