New member in Atlanta Georgia - 1958 Cadillac Eureka Flower Car

[CatBird]

My wife, Anne and I live in south Atlanta about five miles north of the Atlanta Airport. We love vintage Cadillacs of the 1950s. We live in a warehouse we converted into a home and have a large garage.

We are new to collecting, but have a few vintage Cadillacs and just got a 1958 Cadillac Eureka Flower Car. This car has been shown at some AACA meets and we are looking for more information about it. Here are some pictures.

[Restorer32]

First Junior in Raleigh 2004, Senior Award at Hershey 2005, Grand National 3rd at Dover, Delaware 2006 likely because the interior had been significantly modified from original for comfort and driveability. Was also shown at the Professional Car Society National in Daytona. "The Professional Car" cover car 2nd Quarter 2010, Issue #136. 1 of 4 built in 1958 by Eureka.

[CatBird]

First Junior in Raleigh 2004, Senior Award at Hershey 2005, Grand National 3rd at Dover, Delaware 2006 likely because the interior had been significantly modified from original for comfort and driveability. Was also shown at the Professional Car Society National in Daytona. "The Professional Car" cover car 2nd Quarter 2010, Issue #136. 1 of 4 built in 1958 by Eureka.

Thank you so very much for the above info!

Any other info or photos posted here?

I have mixed emotions about the interior. It is certainly not correct for the vintage, but it is magnificently done! I have several other vintage cars with the correct interiors, seats, steering wheels, etc and find them eminently driveable. So I may be looking for a vintage interior. The present seats are the most comfortable I have ever sat in.

The steering wheel, I don't like. Magnificent, like all the work he did on the car, but a 12" wheel when it should be 18"? Just doesn't look right to me.

Mixed emotions. Will post some pictures later.

[Restorer32]

Except for most of the chassis we did the work on this car. It was a Herculean restoration of a rare but badly deteriorated original. The exterior is as original as is the "cargo" area. It took 8 sheets of brushed stainless to redo the back half. All those stanchions are new stainless as is the railing around the "boot". The seats are from a Dodge Ram truck and required major modifications to their bases to fit. We did those custom door panels to the owner's specifications. My Son actually did all the modifications to the dash. I agree about the steering wheel but that's what the owner wanted. Sadly the car suffered a bit from poor storage after its show career was over. Nice to see it actually being driven. We finally scrapped the remains of the parts car we used in the restoration maybe 3 months ago. It was far beyond restoration. We also made those sill plates your dogs have their paws on. They are stainless and are exact reproductions of the aluminum originals including the engraving. Other than your car and the parts car we scrapped, another identical car is reportedly in Texas in unrestorable condition and the 4th example is alledgedly somewhere in South America, so you likely will never see another '58 Eureka Flower Car.

[john2dameron]

It looks like the same car that was at the AACA Eastern Regional at Roanoke, VA May 7, 2005 but the one photo I have of it is not a great photo and I don't have any way of knowing how it did without trying to dig out some Antigue Automobile magazines and looking for its photo. There is some kind of decal on the door of the car in my photo that I cannot identify.

[Restorer32]

Yes I misspoke. It received its First Junior in Roanoke, not Raleigh and it must have been 2005. I hauled it there and showed it myself. We won't let owners drive their cars until after the first showing, we're funny that way. The "decal" on the door is actually an aluminum nameplate with the funeral home's name and a Latin inscription that escapes me at the moment. Something to the effect of "Honor the Dead".

[CatBird]

Yes I misspoke. It received its First Junior in Roanoke, not Raleigh and it must have been 2005. I hauled it there and showed it myself. We won't let owners drive their cars until after the first showing, we're funny that way. The "decal" on the door is actually an aluminum nameplate with the funeral home's name and a Latin inscription that escapes me at the moment. Something to the effect of "Honor the Dead".

The dash plaque shows 2005 Senior car. I enclose picture. Maybe it would help place where the car showed.

Right about the Latin "Obsovare Obitus" "Honor the Dead" and "Shepherd" over that.

[CatBird]

Thank you very much for the additional information. As I said about the seats, ALL the work on the car is magnificent and I am very excited about owning such an incredible car! It looks much like it did when it left Eureka in 1958, maybe better! I know the interior was the owner's choice. I will definitely change the steering wheel, but can not bring myself to touch the rest of it!

The seats have inlaid rhombus patterns with the Cadillac wreath surrounding "Eureka" - see pictures. and each leaf on the wreath is an individual piece of leather as are the letters. It is a work of art!

I am going over and cleaning some places that got wet while it was parked outside for six months. I have a large garage and can guarantee you that it will never be parked outside again! It is on my personal lift right now and I am cleaning a very few places that need it and resealing.

[Restorer32]

We also made the "Silent Siren" which is that Lexan piece with the purple cross that covers the spotlight. We lathed that out of a large slab of Lexan and painted it. It's a copy of an original. As far as I know noone has ever made those before or since. We eliminated the glove box to hide the a/c and faired in the outlets. The whole project was possibly the most labor intensive job we've done to date. Several collectors had passed up the opportunity to buy the car after writing it off as unrestorable. Martin Shepherd should be proud of saving this rare vehicle. For him it was truly a labor of love. We received the First Junior Spring of 2005 in Roanoke then the Senior at Hershey the same year in the cold rain. It drew a surprising amount of interest when we showed it at our flea market spaces at Hershey. It weighs over 6000# so hauling it is a chore.

[Guest BillP]

Striking car. Are the engine, trans, suspension "updated"?

Growing up in small town Pennsylvania, I never knew there was such a thing as a flower car until I saw one in "The Godfather".

[TexRiv_63]

Welcome to the forum, what a fabulous car! I always had a thing for hearses and flower cars but never actually owned one, good to see this one being driven and appreciated.

[CatBird]

Striking car. Are the engine, trans, suspension "updated"?

Trans was rebuilt. Engine had new seals was trued. front disk brakes. Suspension looks good, but stock. Has an 86 Commercial chassis, wheel base is 156 inches (13 feet) this is FOUR feet longer than my 2001 Cadillac Eldorado ETC.

[Restorer32]

The chassis is the factory 1958 commercial chassis. Barely fits in a 24' trailer.

[CatBird]

The chassis is the factory 1958 commercial chassis. Barely fits in a 24' trailer.

J, love your information! Will give you a call tomorrow.

[TG57Roadmaster]

I think we all love this information...nothing like getting it from the source!

If you haven't found them already, there are about 10 other images here.

Wonderful car.

TG

Edited November 13, 2013 by TG57Roadmaster (see edit history)

[CatBird]

Welcome to the forum, what a fabulous car! I always had a thing for hearses and flower cars but never actually owned one, good to see this one being driven and appreciated.

Never had a hearse of any kind before. Was not really considering one, though I have always liked flower cars. Something Majestic about them.

I had a search on eBay going for an Autronic eye for our Biarritz. The flower car has one and it showed up in my search. Anne and I fell instantly in love with her. We broke our piggy bank and drove to Virginia.

My wife loves these old cars as much as me. Driven it? I put over 400 miles on "Lilly" last Friday bringing her home.

I think it has replaced our 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville in Anne's affections. But each of these old cars has their own special charms! Here is Anne in "Black Diamond". Just after we got her off the car carrier.

[CarlLaFong]

As a former embalmer, I've driven a boatload of hearses (we called them coaches). I've never seen a flower car. They're pretty regional and rarely seen on the west coast. The last mortuary that I worked at still had a Packard Henney coach in 1970. I loved that car and wanted to buy it when we upgraded to a new Caddy, but I had no money to waste on an old heap. It was in beautiful shape, shined like a new dime. I can still hear the lovely gear whine (three on the tree).

[Restorer32]

I have a love/hate relationship with that car. The owner wanted it finished for the PCS Meet in Daytona end of July. We were instructed to pull out all the stops and put as many of my guys on it as necessary. It was one of those hot humid PA summers, miserable working conditions. Son and I worked 7 days/week for about 4 weeks along with those employees I could convince to help, trying to finish on time. It was a difficult restoration. Being basically a hand built body there was little consistency from one side to the other. There are "striped" trapezoidal trim pieces highlighting the sail panels. The originals were badly deteriorated. The ones from the parts car were of course, different enough that they couldn't be used. What to do? We formed new pieces from stainless and spent hours and hours tapeing off the fine stripes as original. A quick trip thru the bead blast cabinet to frost the areas not taped and the new pieces were almost indistinguishable from the originals. The Eureka emblems on the front fenders were another problem. We had only 1 unbroken example and it was brittle die cast. Using that one as a pattern we had a couple cast in bronze. It then took more than 8 hours each to clean them up with a small file and a die grinder before they could be plated. The sill covers were another big challenge. There are 5 of them and they are specific to this car. We took the one example we had and scanned the various decorative elements into a computer. We were then able to generate a file of the entire cover using an editing program to digitally repair the bad areas. Finding a company to photo engrave the covers was a challenge but we finally found a company that would do them in stainless steel but at a frightening price. Next installment I may talk about how we managed to get a windshield in this beast, known affectionately as Lily.

[CatBird]

Restorer32 there is a book in this! Please keep the info coming. If we can create a book I will share royalties with you and Shep. I found a lot of pictures on the Internet showing Lily when he got her, along with the donor car. You said, "Herculean" effort. I disagree, it was far more than that!

[Restorer32]

The windshield was another issue. After sourcing a new $800 windshield I decided that with "discretion being the better part of valor" I would hire a glass company to mount it. They, of course, broke it and no guarantee. Order another $800 glass. This one we decided to install ourselves. Turned out the repro glass was about 1 1/2" wider at the lower corners than the hole it needed to go into. No amount of coaxing would get it properly mounted. Put one corner in, carefully work to the other side, no good. Start in the middle and work to both sides, no good either. Tried flexing the glass with a strap around it. We could get it to the proper shape but no way to get it mounted. Out of deperation we devised a plan. Using a bottle jack and a couple carefully sized and padded 4x4's placed inside the car across the A pillars at the bottom corners of the windshield opening we very carefully spread the A pillars apart the required 1 1/2". The well lubricated windshield slid into place perfectly. Now for the exciting part. We very slowly released the pressure on the jack. Surprisingly our trick worked perfectly. That windshield has been in place since 2005 and hasn't cracked yet.

[Trulyvintage]

Bill,

Great background story - great pictures - sweet ride ..... :cool:

Jim

[Oldsfan]

That windshield has been in place since 2005 and hasn't cracked yet.

I can't believe you just said that... :eek:

[CatBird]

I can't believe you just said that... :eek:

I just ran out and looked. The windshield is fine. Looks brand new like the rest of the car.

[john2dameron]

Restorer 32, thanks for the info on the door emblem. Do you recall a '58 Cadillac Derham limousine with no tail fins being at Roanoke the same day the flower car was? Was it owned by the same owner and where is it now? It sure looked strange to see a Cadillac from the '50's with out tail fins.

[Restorer32]

No, I do not remember it and it was not owned by the owner of the flower car.

[Eldovert]

Welcome Bill !

Awesome flower car ! From Restorer32's excellent description I believe you picked up that car for a fraction of the restoration costs....well bought!

Cheers,Pat

[CatBird]

Welcome Bill !

Awesome flower car ! From Restorer32's excellent description I believe you picked up that car for a fraction of the restoration costs....well bought!

Cheers,Pat

We are very excited about getting this car! Sometimes we wake up in the middle of the night and go out in the garage just to be sure it is not a dream.

Don't know if this works for forum rules, but I do want to credit the resto shop for doing a magnificent job! A "Herculean" effort of love!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Penn-Dutch-Restoration-Services-Inc/320085984780587?rf=155242854511133

I am posting Lilly to their page

[TexRiv_63]

We are very excited about getting this car! Sometimes we wake up in the middle of the night and go out in the garage just to be sure it is not a dream.

I'm glad to see it's not just me that does that...

[caddyshack]

Hey Bill,

I think our handles are a little to close. Someone tried to reach you and got me.

[CatBird]

Hey Bill,

I think our handles are a little to close. Someone tried to reach you and got me.

Sorry. Can handles be changed? I am ok to change mine.

[MCHinson]

It might be possible for the webmaster to change it for you but I would not worry about it. There are lots of members who have similar forum user names. People will get used to making sure they use the correct name.

[CatBird]

OK, let's leave it as it is.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Bill Caddyshack (see edit history)

[CatBird]

Car is running very well. Did add an electric fuel pump, and an Edelbrock 1406 carb with electric choke.

Gages not working. Think something pulled loose (ribbon cable?) Trying to get the instrument cluster out. Have removed the screws, the speedo cable, the trip OD cable, the transmission indicator, the steering column covers and dropped the steering column a few inches. Trying to pull it out, gently from the right side, but no go. What else should I do? I have heard it should come out easy. Don't want to force it.

[Restorer32]

If our shop wasn't closed today due to the 15" of snow we've had since midnight I'd ask my Son. He put those gauges in there, did all the work on the dash in fact. Can't call him he's out plowing. If he calls in I'll see if he remembers.

[CatBird]

Thank you, Jeff. I got the cluster out.

But ask him if the Vintage Air switch block can be removed? Or do I need to unplug from the rear. I think the switch that actuates the water valve for the heater is bad. Valve won't open. Also there are some hanging fuse blocks with 10 to 2a fuses.

[Restorer32]

Give him a call. His cell is 717-577-6026, name is Devon. I just spoke with him. He said he remembered 2 screws up from the bottom of the dash holding the instrument cluster in?

[CatBird]

Thank you, Jeff. Will do.