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Value of 1922 Cadillac Phaeton Lucy & Desi Movie Car


Mark Gregory

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"Oh, For heaven's sake, Fred!" 

Fred really got taken paying $300 for a 1924 Cadillac in 1954!  According to the January 1954 N.A.D.A Used Car Guide, $300 would have bought either a higher mileage, below average condition 1946 Series 61 sedan or coupe which were $545 or $555 respectively as average retail.   Or an above average 1942 Cadillac which at average retail were between $265 for the 61, to $285 for a 62, $275 for the 60 Special, and surprisingly, $225 for a 75.  One supposes those didn't look old enough to make Fred look like the skinflint he was portrayed to be.

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3 hours ago, Mark Gregory said:

How much would this car be worth now ?

 

The early 20's (Type 57, 61 and v63) are amongst the cheapest prewar cads you can buy - though they are not cheap parts wise.... (which may have something to do with the low purchase price) 

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3 hours ago, Mark Gregory said:

I was watching the episode of I love Lucy getting ready and Fred paid $300 for this Cadillac in 1954

 

How much would this car be worth now ?

 

 

 

Per BLS CPI Inflation Calculator, $300 in 1954 equates to just under $2,900 today - I'll buy them all day long for that!  :D

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7 hours ago, Mark Gregory said:

image.png.beb96cb859c9ff89b27ac199c2958b85.png

 

I remember that and enjoyed it. Memory is vague though. It was not just a regular sitcom episode though? It was a made for TV movie where they bought the car to make a cross country trip to California? Maybe if it's on DVD I'll have to watch it again, 50 years after I saw it originally.

 

 

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2 hours ago, mike6024 said:

I remember that and enjoyed it. Memory is vague though. It was not just a regular sitcom episode though? It was a made for TV movie where they bought the car to make a cross country trip to California? ...

 

The episode with the run-down Cadillac and

 Lucy learning to drive was indeed just a regular

half-hour episode of I Love Lucy.  Following episodes

continued the story, as you described, of driving

to California, but in a late-model Pontiac.

 

Interestingly, the same learning-to-drive escapade,

with its hilarious problems, was in one of Lucille Ball's 

radio episodes of My Favorite Husband in the

late 1940's.  People who love I Love Lucy should

get tapes of those old radio comedy programs--

they have some different characters, but Lucy gets

into similarly absurd situations and the episodes

are just as funny!

 

Edited by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)
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9 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:

Did Steve McQueen sit in it? Did he drive it? 

 

Bob 

 

NO......He looked at it.......thats got to add another 50k to the price!

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Both 1922 Cadillac, same car???

image.png.09bdf97ffc0a5519f4576ad87421b757.png

 

No chrome strips on the back of the car?

No gas cap?

Bumper clamps are in a different location?  be interesting to hear from a Cadillac expert...

No extra stop light?

 

Could have been changed, but why?  be interesting to hear from a Cadillac expert...  Would like to see the documentation.

 

 

image.thumb.png.df21fac3dc39a84491f418a49ab01130.png

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I was always thrilled to see the episode when it would air. The front head lights were comic oversize items.  They did not take the car and went instead with the new Ricardo's Pontiac convertible. Several seasons later they did a "Lucy Desi Comedy Hour". One episode has Fred MacMurray, the Ricardos and the Mertzs  racing to get back to a Nevada town (Las Vegas?) to file a mining claim for uranium. The Ricardos are unknowingly PULLING the Mertz's  in their disabled Cadillac touring. Quite a load to be pulling with a late 1950s Ford 1/2 ton pickup up to 70 miles an hour! I think Fred MacMurray got his T-Bird stuck in new soft asphalt.

Edited by dibarlaw (see edit history)
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The "Long, Long Trailer" is a classic among both film and car buffs. If I recall correctly, at least three different cars were used in the movie as the one L & D pulled the trailer with. Two different years, and two distinctly different models! I haven't seen it since I was a kid, so don't remember or sure, but I have heard both a Ford and a Mercury were used. It is a long-time favorite of "film-flub" buffs!

Those of you with a serious interest in '50s Ford cars may want to watch it very closely.

 

As for the '22 Cadillac? (Or '24 someone said above, but I suspect it is a '22 .) I always loved that episode of the show, and loved watching the car. I have known several owners of Cadillacs of that vintage, and a good friend drove one on nickel age tours for many years (his was a '22). Wonderful car!

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  • 4 months later...

It is not the same car. People car say whatever they want. I have a 1938 Cadillac Town Car and it was sold new in Hartford, Conn.  so a friend tells people it was owned by Betty Dais father. These cars are dropping in Value right now also. I am 50 and saw the hayday of the car clubs. There are few people my age buying Classic cars and 2 new members does not make a movement. A lot of there clubs are on life support now. I belong to one club with 200 members and maybe 5 people are into prewar cars.

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On 2/11/2020 at 4:21 AM, wayne sheldon said:

The "Long, Long Trailer" is a classic among both film and car buffs. If I recall correctly, at least three different cars were used in the movie as the one L & D pulled the trailer with. Two different years, and two distinctly different models! I haven't seen it since I was a kid, so don't remember or sure, but I have heard both a Ford and a Mercury were used. It is a long-time favorite of "film-flub" buffs!

Those of you with a serious interest in '50s Ford cars may want to watch it very closely.

 

As for the '22 Cadillac? (Or '24 someone said above, but I suspect it is a '22 .) I always loved that episode of the show, and loved watching the car. I have known several owners of Cadillacs of that vintage, and a good friend drove one on nickel age tours for many years (his was a '22). Wonderful car!

The main car was a Mercury convertible but for the mountain pass scenes they used a Lincoln disguised as a Mercury by painting over some of the chrome trim. I don't know about a third car.

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On 2/9/2020 at 10:05 PM, John_S_in_Penna said:

 

The episode with the run-down Cadillac and

 Lucy learning to drive was indeed just a regular

half-hour episode of I Love Lucy.  Following episodes

continued the story, as you described, of driving

to California, but in a late-model Pontiac.

 

Interestingly, the same learning-to-drive escapade,

with its hilarious problems, was in one of Lucille Ball's 

radio episodes of My Favorite Husband in the

late 1940's.  People who love I Love Lucy should

get tapes of those old radio comedy programs--

they have some different characters, but Lucy gets

into similarly absurd situations and the episodes

are just as funny!

 

One of the writers said the reason they could turn out so many great I Love Lucy shows so fast is that they had a complete file of the old radio scripts and when they needed ideas in a hurry they could dust one off and rewrite it.

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