1960 Cadillac Series 62: A Fintastic Journey

Note: An early RG writeup by me, on a friend’s classic Cadillac. Thought I’d move it over here. Enjoy. -TK

Until 2014, I had nothing to do with Facebook. I just didn’t see the need for it, and I thought I had enough going on in my life already without having another way to kill multiple hours online. One of the first things I got involved when I did join were classic luxury car groups. And met a lot of great people—and I’ve met a lot of those people in person over the last dozen years. Terrific folks, all. One of those people, Josh Noiles, is the proud owner of this 1960 Cadillac Series 62 six-window sedan in Inverness Green.

Sometimes you find cars, and sometimes they find you. For instance, for nearly 20 years I drove Volvos, then this clean 2000 Lincoln Town Car Cartier came up. Four years later I have two of them and no Ovlov, and now still have one Town Car and a 2019 Caddy. Funny how cars can evoke so much passion in people--they certainly do in my case! I first met Josh through The Brougham Society, and it became clear in short order that the 1959-60 Cadillacs are at the top of his list when it comes to classic cars.

He already had a 1960 Series 62 in Persian Sand (seen above), but later on another ’60 Series 62 turned up, a real time capsule and looking especially resplendent in Inverness Green with matching interior. Here is the story in Josh’s own words: “The car came to Nova Scotia through a local used car dealer who picked it up in Rhode Island in ’79. It must have been pampered before that, too. Been here in NS since 1979, and was stored in a heated basement, covered in blankets & on jack stands since the day it was purchased from the used car dealer.”

“When I brought it home in May 2016, that was the second time it had been outside since 1979. Once in 2011, staged for photos on owner’s property for his 50th wedding anniversary celebrations, then back into basement garage. I heard about it via fluke & word of mouth and investigated: it paid off! A story all in itself.”

“Options are interesting: car seems to have everything except Q engine & Air Suspension on a Series 62. Plus it lists “General Motors” as the original owner on the paperwork.”

“I do have owner paperwork for this car and the original owner is listed as “General Motors.” Any help on as to why that is would be appreciated, as well. Selling dealer was Blake Cadillac in Harrisburg, PA. Have receipts from the ’60s where a “Paul W. Miller” (Harrisburg, PA) owned the car.”

And then there were two. Yes, you have to be a true 1960 Cadillac nut to own two 1960 Series 62s!

Josh is a Cadillac-LaSalle Club member, and he’s always been interested in a car’s past when he buys one. A post he made on the CLC forum, asking for more information on this car, struck gold when someone local to the car’s original selling dealership chimed in:

“Your green car came from a dealership that is local to me. Blake Cadillac-Oldsmobile at 2222 Paxton Street in Harrisburg was a major dealership for many years. It dates back at least to the post-WWII years, and perhaps before that. In the 1970s, the dealership became Titus Cadillac-Oldsmobile, and after that it was Brenner Cadillac-Oldsmobile, and finally Brenner Cadillac until it closed in 2007. Brenner Cadillac sponsored car shows for the Central Pennsylvania Region of the CLC from 1989 until 2007. It also sponsored shows for the local Oldsmobile club. The building still stands, and is used by other Brenner dealerships for the sale of used cars.”

“As to why the original owner would be shown as General Motors Corp. at the dealership address, I can only hazard a guess. Some of the larger Cadillac dealerships in those days were also “distributorships”, which had a closer relationship to the factory than the typical dealership. As the major Cadillac dealer in the capital city of Pennsylvania, Blake may have been one of those distributors. If so, that could explain why Cadillac had a zone office or some other local presence at the dealership address. Perhaps the car was ordered for the use of a GM executive whose job entitled him to drive a company-owned car for some period of time.”

“The remarkable amount of optional equipment on this car supports the thought that it may have been ordered for a GM executive. The pictures show air conditioning (which was then on less than half of all new Cadillacs), cruise control, power windows, power vent windows, and power door locks, as well as the original floor mats.”

“The data plate also shows the presence of 6-way power seat, power trunk release, and tinted glass. Of the seven 1960 Cadillacs I have owned (including an Eldorado Biarritz), none has had this much equipment on it.” Thus, we have one of the perks of the digital age, finding out about your newly-aquired classic Cadillac thanks to the club forums online. Very cool.

So this car may well have been a “brass hat” originally, a term that generally means a loaded car used by GM/FoMoCo/Chrysler executives, or “the brass,” as a company car.

This car is one of 25,824 Series 62 six-window sedans produced for the year. Before options, the price was $5,080. Not cheap, especially when you could have gotten a ’60 Impala four-door sedan for $2,590.

A four-window Series 62 sedan (seen in gunmetal gray in the above ad) with a ‘flying wing’ roofline was also available for the same amount, $5,080. The Series 62 was the ‘standard’ Cadillac, with the Sedan and Coupe de Villes the next step up the ladder, followed by the Fleetwood Sixty Special, Eldorado Seville and Biarritz, the Fleetwood Seventy-Five series long-wheelbase sedan and limousine (starting at $9,533) and the Italian-built Eldorado Brougham at the absolute pinnacle, with a sobering $13,075 suggested retail price!

But even if one “settled” for just a Series 62, it was still a fine luxury car in its own right, with plenty of nice touches, the long wheelbase, and the same Cadillac engine and Hydra-Matic transmission. And, of course, those fascinating fins…

Either way, it’s a beautiful car. Heck, both of Mr. Noiles’s cars are gorgeous, but as green is my favorite color, I have a slight bias towards the ‘new’ one. Maybe someday I’ll get to see these cars in person, but even viewing them digitally from my home base in the Midwest, I’d say Josh is a very lucky guy! And the Caddys are too, for they have a genuinely caring owner who will take terrific care of them!

As I often say, best of all, it’s a Cadillac.