RIP “Cadillac” Carl Fielding

[Michael J. Barnes]

I have had sad news from his brother that Cadillac Carl Fielding passed away on June 12 due to complications from covid. I will be adding to this posting later with my own recollections. He helped a lot of people (like me); he told extraordinary stories; he packed a lot of adventure into his life.

[Dandy Dave]

Sad to hear. 

[TerryB]

Oh my, what sad news.  He had often contacted me and we had some great conversations about cars and the ups and downs of life.  He was certainly an inspiration.

[Walt G]

SO very very sad indeed. I so enjoyed his posts and his observations on the cars he owned and drove. We all learned from his sage words and were inspired to go out and get in our cars and drive them. He reinforced the knowledge that driving a car made in the 1920s can be done with reliability and done regularly without fear of any sort of a mishap. Next time you are driving down the road in your old car think of Carl and that will keep his spirit and vision of how to enjoy the old cars very much alive.

Walt

[keiser31]

So sorry to read this.

[Matt Harwood]

Oh no, that's awful. I really enjoyed talking with Carl and hearing his experiences. He was unremittingly cheerful and enthusiastic and always had a positive spin on whatever problems we were having with our old cars. HIs voice will be missed and this forum will be lesser without him.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

I will never read about synthetic oil that his memory does not pop up.  

 

  Ben

[SC38dls]

I was just getting to know Carl, we had a few good chats and I came away believing he is quite a character. A character with strong beliefs, good humor, a great attitude on life and old cars and someone that just didn’t put up with bull!  Our condolences to his family and friends, he will be missed by many I’m sure, I know I will miss him and his insightful post. 
dave s 

[Michael J. Barnes]

Carl’s knowledge of fuels and oils was encyclopedic; his memory was prodigious. You could phone him up after 6 months and he would remember where he had left off!

[TTR]

😢

 

I had hoped to meet him when in WA during our (still) pending/post-poned road-trip vacation to Olympic Nat'l Park.

Edited June 16, 2021 by TTR (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

So sorry to hear this.  I just had a great phone conversation with him a month or so ago. He will truly be missed .

Rest in Peace, Carl.

 

Greg

Edited June 16, 2021 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[95Cardinal]

I am saddened by this news.

Carl and I have spoken often over the past 2 years.

He was always helpful and very willing to share his knowledge and he had SO many wonderful tales to share!

I will miss him.

Godspeed, Cadillac Carl!

[Michael J. Barnes]

Carl loved to chat over the phone. He would have posted more often on the forums, but typing was not easy for him on the tablet (I think) he used. Nor perhaps did he see well latterly owing to diabetes.

[Grimy]

I am so deeply saddened by this news.  Carl and I had a number of (long) telephone conversations over the past few years and I truly enjoyed--and probably prolonged--them.  If anyone has future contact with his brother, please tell the brother how much Carl was loved, admired, and respected by his legions of friends on this forum.

[Michael J. Barnes]

I will make sure Carl’s brother knows about this post.

[Alex D.]

Well, this sure is shocking news! I had a very lengthy phone conversation with Carl a few months ago and boy was he long winded. His advice and knowledge will be missed.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Alex D. (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Carl was a great guy, and always helping people. He will be missed. 

[Guest]

Sad news indeed.

[trimacar]

Sad news and very sorry to hear, RIP….

[rocketraider]

Why do I feel like I've been gut-punched?

 

My only interaction with C_Carl was here on the forums but I felt I knew him. Intelligent, well-spoken and invariably positive. 

 

I'm getting my first covid vaccine this afternoon. Carl's passing due to this insidious disease should convince any of you who have been on the fence to get the vaccine.

[Grimy]

14 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

 

I'm getting my first covid vaccine this afternoon. Carl's passing due to this insidious disease should convince any of you who have been on the fence to get the vaccine.

What he said!!!

[Robert G. Smits]

I talked to Carl often as we both had unrestored 63 series Cadillacs .  Over the years I think I learned his entire life history  including losing a small fortune when his mother fell for an investment scam.  He also had health problems that he didn't dwell on.   I will miss him greatly     Take the Covid cause of death with a grain of salt.  If the health facility has any chance of adding the Covid diagnosis to the death certificate Medicare adds 15% to the payment and a positive Covid test is NOT required   If Carl had received even a single Covid shot his chance of dying from Covid is extremely low.  Also the rare break through cases after vaccination are rarely severe or cause death.  I can only strongly second rocketraider and encourage everyone to get vaccinated.  Remember:  SH** HAPPENS and "The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who made the  wrong decision!!"

Edited June 16, 2021 by Robert G. Smits
spelling (see edit history)

[Billy Kingsley]

Really sad to hear this. He was the first person on this forum to refer to me as friend. That matters to me, as I'm somewhat difficult to be around, especially online. 

 

This forum isn't going to be the same without him.

[wayne sheldon]

He had wisdom (all too rare in the world these days!). He had passion for many things (also becoming rare). I gathered that he lived life very well regardless of difficulties. He was most certainly very intelligent, something the world is losing way too quickly.

I only knew him through this forum, never got to speak with him on the phone. We traded a few messages, as well as comments on the forum. I really wanted to meet him in person if my situation should improve, and I could get up to his area (I have other friends in that area I would like to see again. 

 

The world has become a darker place.

 

Rest in peace.

[John348]

I too am deeply saddened by this news. Besides cars there was another part of Carl. Carl was a "Dead Head" and he told me how he felt he was fortunate to had seen some of the great pre stadium era Grateful Dead shows on the west coast, just by accident.  He will be missed. 

[Bloo]

He will be sorely missed.

[hidden_hunter]

Very sad to hear in the early Cadillac community

[maok]

So sad, he was a true gentleman.

[Michael J. Barnes]

Around a dozen years ago I bought my Cadillac V63 touring. Right away I joined the Cadillac LaSalle Club and started poring through the roster as soon as it arrived, looking for owners of cars like mine. What a find! A virtual twin of my car was in Seattle — just 4 hours south of my home in Vancouver. I wrote Carl Fielding an old-fashioned letter — that must have been before the roster had everybody’s email — and he phoned me as soon as he got it. That began our friendship. Carl was so trusting he simply put a key outside the rented garage he kept his 1924 Cadillac in. Any time I was passing through — generally on the way to my son’s lacrosse tournament — I could and did let myself into the garage to inspect his car in as detailed a fashion as I wished. I viewed his car closely twice. Carl and I never met on those occasions. I thought perhaps he was shy, but I think he was just busy both times.

 

Carl’s trust in other people probably cost him a few fortunes. He did not mind telling the stories. Who he rubbed shoulders with said something of his genius — Gore of Goretex, the Paulings of Linus Pauling (two Nobel prizes). His stories were sometimes hard to believe owing to their extraordinariness, but he did not seem to have any motivation to lie or exaggerate. In fact he seemed naturally simply truthful. Innocent in a way. “A holy fool” — though he was not religious. (He did have respect for the faith of others, however.)

 

Great compliments are being expressed in this forum — perhaps others as well. I would invite you to submit stories too! Many of you, over the phone, heard the same ones as me. Did he race cars on mountain roads in South America? I never got the details. Some kind of tour, again in the company of some important or well-connected people. He spoke Spanish without an accent, and was proud of the fact. Share away; share the details; and happy driving.

[JACK M]

I talked to Carl a couple of times. He often said that he would be dropping by someday.

I think he had a full and exciting life.

I would refer to him as 'A Good Ole Boy'.

[Mark Wetherbee]

Another loss to this hobby, he was an inspiration to many and his enthusiasm for original cars of the 20’s was infectious. My deepest condolences to his family.

[STEVE POLLARD]

Very sorry to hear about Carl's passing......Condolences to his family.

 

 

Steve

[John_S_in_Penna]

I never met Carl, but I read and appreciated

many of his postings on our forum.

 

For those who might like to reminisce, or

recall some conversations with him, here is

the compilation of his writings and advice

here on the forum:

 

https://forums.aaca.org/profile/139274-c-carl/content/

 

[1935Packard]

Cr*p.  Really sad to hear.  Thanks for letting us know.

[ken fielding]

This is Carl's brother, Ken.   Thank you, Mick, for allowing me to see the many ways that Carl touched people.   I am asking for help locating Carl's 1927 LaSalle, which he left in storage with an acquaintance in Las Vegas after the Cadillac Through the Years show in 2016.  Unfortunately I never learned where the car was stored or who has it, and no record has been located to help find it.   Searching his cell phones has so far been unproductive, and Carl did not send text messages.   I will be getting more complete phone call records from AT&T to try to identify phone calls to the Las Vegas area, as the person with the car may not have a 702 area code.  So far the few calls he made to 702 are unrelated to the storage.

 

If anyone has any information on where the car is, or if you see his 1927 LaSalle, please let me know.    You can see Carl and the car in this article:

COURTESY Seattle resident Carl Fielding drove his 1927 Cadillac Sedan about 2,000 miles to participate in the 11th annual Cadillac Through the Years car show Sunday at The District at Green Valley … | Las Vegas Review-Journal (reviewjournal.com)

Thanks again, Mick.

[ken fielding]

I am asking for help locating my brother's 1927 Cadillac LaSalle.  My brother, Carl Fielding, passed away on June 12.  He had left the car in storage with an acquaintance in Las Vegas after the Cadillac Through the Years show in 2016.  Unfortunately I never learned where the car was stored or who has it, and no record has been located to help find it.   Searching his cell phones has so far been unproductive.  Carl did not send text messages, and his "received" messages have not been informative.  I don't have access to his email, and I have no idea if access would help.   I will be getting more complete phone call records from AT&T to try to identify phone calls to or from the Las Vegas area, as the person with the car may not have a 702 area code.  So far the few calls he made to 702 are unrelated to the storage.

 

If anyone has any information on where the car is or who has it, or if you see his 1927 LaSalle, please let me know.    You can see Carl and the car in this article:

COURTESY Seattle resident Carl Fielding drove his 1927 Cadillac Sedan about 2,000 miles to participate in the 11th annual Cadillac Through the Years car show Sunday at The District at Green Valley … | Las Vegas Review-Journal (reviewjournal.com)

Thanks for any help.

Ken Fielding

[victorialynn2]

I’m so sorry to hear this news. Carl reached out to me with several private message conversations since I became a member of this forum and he was always helpful and a genuinely nice man. 
 

Mick, I sure hope you are able to locate his car quickly. Sending my thoughts and prayers to you and your family. 

[Ozstatman]

Ken, maybe reaching out to the organisers of the 11th Annual Cadillac though the years Car Show might turn up a lead as to where you can locate Carl's Cadillac?

[ken fielding]

Carl knew where the car was.    Although I had asked him over the years to give someone a list of where his cars were, he never did that.   So I don’t know if this is misappropriation, but it is certainly lack of information.

[JRA]

It seems to be a Cadillac, not a LaSalle.