Cover Story ...
The 1950 - 1953 Caddy was a great departure from the styling of the ‘40’s. Originally designed by William L. “Bill” Mitchell, this design would have two more stylists in charge, but only minor changes in trim, grilles and horsepower would take place. From the taillights that would launch the tailfin design that dominated Cadillac’s styling well into the ‘60’s to the ‘53 “dagmar” points on the front bumper, the ‘53 looked like no other automobile on the road. Horsepower would increase, the fuel economy was quite impressive for a 2 ton automobile, 18 mpg at 60 mph, w/out computers, automatic overdrive or fuel injection.
Buyers who traded their car every year for a new model, (that was done frequently back then) actually made out quite well with the ‘50 - ‘53 Cadillac. They held their value so well that the dealers were able to sell trade-ins for almost as much as they had sold for new. Cadillac had surpassed Packhard as the #1 American luxury car making this “the car” to own. “It was a “Who’s Who” of the highway”. No other car has held its status like the Cadillac.
Featured on the premier cover of Still Runnin a fine display of the 1953 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, owned by Bruce Ferguson of the Greater Richmond area in Virginia.
by Lea Ellen Dunham
I want that piece of junk out of here ... those malcontent words resulted in another man’s treasure. Bruce Ferguson had heard through the grapevine of a 1953 Cadillac Coupe de Ville that was possibly available. A divorce scenario not only made the car available, but the sooner the Coupe was out of eyesight the better. The car needed both mechanical and cosmetic restoration, it was one of 14,550 produced by GM.
From 1970 through the 80’s Bruce was involved with judged car shows and drag racing with a ‘57 Chevy, but he had lost interest and wanted a cool cruiser. Sixteen years ago in 1992 this ‘53 Caddy was just the ticket for Bruce and as luck would have it someone wanted that “piece of junk out of there”.
After a ring and valve job and some other minor work, the Caddy was runnin’ and drivin’. Not long after the Coupe got stripped down to bare metal and primed gray. During a five year period of crusin in primer gray people constantly would mention Elvis and his pink Cadillac when they saw the Caddy.
So for fun, Bruce decided that for “one” summer he’d re-prime the car pink ... it remained that way for seven years. Bruce drove the car to numerous shows, cruise-ins and a number of family outings in his pink Cadillac.
Kelly, Bruce’s beautiful daughter spent much of her childhood riding, playing and sleeping in the big back seat. Kelly, now all grown up and in college told Still Runnin that she recalled the many outings and truly loving every minute of them. The Cadillac was known as, “The Finest Performance of all Time,” back then and later that “piece of junk” has proved to continue to be very dependable. The Caddy is still running with its stock V8 motor, 331-cid, original rear, 210 bhp. For the last fifteen years it has given many hours of enjoyable riding, a whole lot of miles of smiles and more fun times that Bruce and his family can remember.
Luckily, Bruce said, on its many road trips he had only lost a couple of hubcaps and had the same fender skirt fly off twice. The interior is still mostly original, although now starting to show its age, but Bruce likes it that way. His wife Debbie says the worn out front seat is as comfortable as their leather sofa at home.
After seven years the time had come for the “one” summer of pink to go. Bruce had decided to change from pink and was leaning toward flat black and partial to a suede finish. However, Debbie had other ideas and suggested to Bruce that he try pearl white (white diamond) like the modern Cadillac, so pearl white it was. Bruce decided to try using base coat paint and pearl with no clear coat hoping for the look he wanted. He had always done his own paint and body work.
In fact he was the one responsible for the pink primer, but this time he asked a friend to try this combo for him.
continues...
