For Sale: 1942 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special, Ambitious Project or Parts - $5,000 - Uniontown, OH - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1942 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special, Ambitious Project or Parts - $5,000 - Uniontown, OH

Classic Car - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive sale (craigslist.org)
Seller's Description:

1942 Cadillac Fleetwood. Car or parts. Engine turns over. All doors solid. Body pretty good. Have all chrome many pieces re-chromed. Usable interior. Carb rebuilt. Have all brake parts, new carpet set. All manuals. Including dealer invoice. If interested I will give my phone number. odometer: 55000
Contact: no phone listed.
Copy and paste in your email: 5f62e64f8bf23e1ab5c0e8c293ba53c3@sale.craigslist.org

I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this or Sale: 1942 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special.

The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942, Edited by Kimes and Clark states 1,684 1942 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special built.

[deac]

Cadillacs are expensive to restore. This car will needs a lot of work just to get it road worthy

[B Jake Moran]

And that’s actually a lot of production for a shortened production year.  I would not restore this car personally.  That’s too bad.   Did these have 133” wheelbases like the postwar 60S?

Edited July 27, 2022 by B Jake Moran (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

3 hours ago, B Jake Moran said:

And that’s actually a lot of production for a shortened production year.  I would not restore this car personally.  That’s too bad.   Did these have 133” wheelbases like the postwar 60S?

Yes, the 1942 60 Special was the first of the lengthened C-Body-based on the 133" wheelbase, the 1946-'47 60 Special is the same as the 1942 but with trim changes.  Unlike the 1948-'49 60 Special also on the 133" wheelbase, the additional 4 inches over the 129-inch wheelbase Series 62 sedan was two inches were added to both the front and rear doors which are stamping unique to the 60 Special.  Note the upper corners adjacent to the B-pillar have the radius corner and the top surface extends to the beltline as was a defining feature of the 1938-'41 60 Special which is a completely different body.   Note also with the additional length, the front seat backrest abutted a stationary lower partition which contains a smoking set/ash receiver, robe rope and wood-grained frieze.  For 1942, available was also the Body-Style 42-6069F 5-passenger Imperial Sedan of which 190 which had a partition window for formal use, 190 built for 1942. 

 

Cadillac, throughout its prosperous postwar years, always limited the number of 60 Specials built in any given model year.  The marketing idea was to create the impression that the most luxurious, prestigious Cadillac sedan was in constant high demand, always with an availability shortage therefore the most desirable and worthy of the approximate 20% price premium over the Series 62 and eventually around a 10% premium over the Sedan de Ville.  It worked wonderfully; 60 Specials were never included in end-of-model-year clearance sales.  Even as used cars, commanded top-market resale value because, next to a 62 or DeVille convertible, driving a 60 Special broadcast one could afford the best in four door luxury Cadillac had on offer.  

[Rivguy]

Cadillac reprised the rounded door tops with the ''71-'73 Sixty Special.

[58L-Y8]

10 hours ago, Rivguy said:

Cadillac reprised the rounded door tops with the ''71-'73 Sixty Special.

Simply Bill Mitchell reprising one of the best design features from his first great hit: the 1938-'41 Sixty Special.  Then he allowed it for all the 1973-'77 B-Body 'Colonnade' sedans and station wagons.  Lincoln paid the compliment when they restyled their greenhouse for the 1975-'79 sedans.