Jalopnik
Next up in the Down On The Alameda Street series is this '60 Caddy coupe that parks on the busiest street in town. During the last year, drunks have taken out several parked cars on either side of this gigantic finmobile, but the Caddy has remained intact.
This car is a Sixty-Two Coupe, which was the "entry-level" Cadillac for 1960.
Being a two-door makes this Detroit dreadnaught look even longer than it really is. It's missing a few trim pieces and has some rough spots, but it's a nice solid original 47-year-old car.
The Sixty-Two Coupe came standard with a 325-horse 390, but an extra $134.40 would get you the same 345-horse mill used in the Eldorado.
This car doesn't get driven every day, but it's no cosseted car-show queen. It's still out there, showing the flag.
That headlight assembly looks like something off a battleship! (Insert rant here about how Detroit Used To Have Style)
The incredible excess of the '59 Cadillac gets all the attention, but in my opinion the '60 is the best-looking of all the Cadillacs made during the Tailfin Era. It still has the space-agey fins and rocket-exhaust taillights, but without the extra 500 pounds of rococo nonsense you got with the '59.
The lesson here is that Detroit needs to bring back the fins. Fins, baby, fins!
1960 Cadillac Brochures [TOCMP.com]
Related:
'60 Cadamino! With Bedfins! [internal]
Comments
First!
Love this car...wonder if my car will ever make it on here.
These were great cars...I had one...in gold. Bit of an issue with the vac operated wipers, but a great cruiser. I agree...best styling of all the finned cars. A whole family could sleep in the trunk. I sold mine to buy a 67 Mini Cooper
@threewheel: you could have parked a Mini on the front seat next to you in that Cadillac.
As I said yesterday in response to the E-Van: industrial design peaked in the 60s. I doubt I will ever be convinced otherwise.
This car is positively majestic. The worst thing is, it probably weighs so damn much that it probably needs 325hp just to get out of its own way, and is running on less than that now.
That edge-to-edge grille is insanely awesome. A Cheshire cat smile, but with atomic-age orthodontia.
The sister ship to the Queen Mary?
In order to improve handling and increase fuel economy from 7 mpg to 8 mpg, take off the useless shiny bits. That'll drop the mass from 6500 to 5500 pounds.
At least this barge carries the weight low, unlike the modern utility vehicles whose blubber bulges everywhere.
threewheel, good move to get the Mini.
Return of fins would be sweet. This car has unbeatable style.
i willing to bet that this car does not weigh any more than a new escalade or even the new DTS. i will go now and look this info up, perhaps i should have done before...
I love the way Cadillac has only reluctatly given up the fins... you can still trace the receding fins into even recent Cadillacs... I'd love to see them return in some cool way.
1960 caddy 4703 lbs
escalade 5,838 lbs.
dts 4,009 lbs.
sts 4,273 lbs. (V8, AWD)
srx 4,442 lbs. (V8, AWD)
The convertible weighed just over 5000lbs.
[www.conceptcarz.com]
@my favorite car is a motorcycle:
You are soooo missing the point here....
Owning one of these now is not about handling or MPG.
@boofighter: That's my stance, too - the ever-balooning curb weights of modern vehicles has caught up with the 60's. (and, apparently, passed them!) An efficient modern drivetrain in that 1960 Caddy would probably push you up to 12-18mpg! Booya!
A new S2000 weighs as much as a Volvo 242. Just sayin'.
How optimistic this nation was back then..
now were driving vehicles that either infer "its going to heck so i need a big vehicle to run to the hills in" or "its all going to heck because were down to our last few drops of natural resourses"
This was my dream car for many years, those perfect fins are the Zenith of the style, so sharp and clean. I test drove a nearly mint low-miles one that i couldn't afford at the time (I think about $5000 in 1987), so i didn't buy it. It was reasonably quick of the line for such a barge, but around the corners it made my Rover sedan seem like a go-kart in comparison.
I did end up with a less mint '65 Calais for about $400 about a year later, so that was good fun anyway.
Hot!
A lot of you guys had childhood dreams of the Ferrari Testarossa or the Lamborghini Countach, but mine were of 1960 Cadillacs. In my eyes, they remain the most beautiful Cadillacs ever.
@threewheel:
Nope - the '60 has electric wipers; vacuum was discontinued the year before.
Yes, great car - love the fins but gotta digress here, 59 is much much better - if you got it flaunt it!
@my favorite car is a motorcycle:
You'd be surprised without emissions these beasts get pretty reasonable mpg - in the teens on the highway. Now my 76 Limo that was another story - 5 mpg with or without a tail wind.
Oh HELL yes. Ah, to have been around when Detroit was not only the center of the automotive universe, but its companies actually knew they had to WORK to MAINTAIN that rep, as well.
Wow! Just, wow. That's nice.
Y'all will be happy to hear that there's another nice '60 Caddy in my neighborhood. Stay tuned.
I fear that I may not be able to peruse el Jalopnik during my lunch hours at work now - with all this damn (car) porn showing up, I think they're going to firewall my PC.
Damn you!
@Vintage Racer: Your right its all about style.....and making you friends jealous.
Great shot of the fin silhouetted against the sky, Murilee!
I'd hate to take one of those in thigh, let alone family jewels. oooh, that could hurt!*@
You always had to tread carefully when one of these babies was being backed out of the local supermarket...
I also like the vintage advertisement. There was a great parody of these advertisements in Mad magazine one time. Showed the back seat to appear as if about a mile long;<)
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