For Sale: 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham - $13,000 - Billerica, MA - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham - $13,000 - Billerica, MA 

1966 Cadillac Fleetwood - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org)
Seller's Description:

1966 Cadillac Fleetwood, bought from the original owner, new paint, new vinyl roof, 429 motor runs great, interior is pristine, tilt telescopic wheel, loaded, 93k miles. Runs and looks great. True classic Cadillac 13k obo. Have another classic car and this one just isn’t getting the attention it should. Make me an offer.
Contact: no phone listed.
Copy and paste in your email: 17802b103fd63913bc33ddf444deb34f@sale.craigslist.org

I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham

Personally, if you want to own the most elegantly designed and luxuriously appointed 1960's Cadillac sedan, this is your absolute best choice.

The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975, Edited by John Gunnell states 13,630 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham built plus 5,445 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special sedans.

[B Jake Moran]

65-66 Cadillacs are my favorite 60s Cadillac.  I used to hate them.  I have always loved the 61-64s.  The 67-68’s have added angles which don’t enhance the 65-66.  
 

I did not care for the 65-66 because of the stacked headlights and staid 3 box styling.  But in fact Mitchell pulled together a tight skin over the corners and knew the car had to set the tone for conservative style for the next 10 years.  
 

I love 4 door models but I would prefer a 66 coupe.  The 66 Fleetwood is known as a classic bow shot to the Lincoln and Imperial.  But, one can not go wrong with any of the 3.  
 

I am personally not as fond of the Lincoln but the 66 Imperial is the best of the 64-66 era and there was a drastic change for Imperial in 1967.  

[John_S_in_Penna]

It looks very nice, and the gray gives it an appropriately

formal look.  The price is realistic, too.  Thank you for

sharing this find, Steve.

[jframe]

Looks like a nice car, but why can't people clean their junk out of the trunk before posting a picture of it when they are trying to sell it?

[Rivguy]

This is an impressive looking car. I remember when all Cadillacs were impressive. There was a multi car test in I believe, Motor Trend that compared the 60 Special against the 600 Mercedes and Rolls Royce. The testers concluded that it was the most under rated of luxury cars. They found that it was outstanding in almost every area that counted. It was discounted because it was mass produced, American, and just not expensive enough. 

[58L-Y8]

The ne plus ultra of a 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham, in addition to the additional 3.5" of wheelbase, the length added to the rear legroom, the appointments such as the rear door vent windows, fold-down tables and footrest, corner reading lamps and formal backlight are those one-year-only broad walnut window frieze moldings.  

[bryankazmer]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

The ne plus ultra of a 1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham, in addition to the additional 3.5" of wheelbase, the length added to the rear legroom, the appointments such as the rear door vent windows, fold-down tables and footrest, corner reading lamps and formal backlight are those one-year-only broad walnut window frieze moldings.  

Agree.  The Fleetwood upgrades this year are particularly nice.

[m-mman]

Luxury? Sure, but I talked to an old Cad salesman once who told me he didnt like the 60 specials, they were too hard to sell. He could move Sedan de Villes all day long, but it took real salesmanship to offload a 60 Special. 

 

Guess that is typical for any make, in any price class. The largest volume is going to be in the middle price range.

[bryankazmer]

2 hours ago, m-mman said:

Luxury? Sure, but I talked to an old Cad salesman once who told me he didnt like the 60 specials, they were too hard to sell. He could move Sedan de Villes all day long, but it took real salesmanship to offload a 60 Special. 

 

Guess that is typical for any make, in any price class. The largest volume is going to be in the middle price range.

Same mechanicals, a little less performance (more weight), higher price.  The Fleetwood buyer had to value the extra increment of luxury.

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, m-mman said:

Luxury? Sure, but I talked to an old Cad salesman once who told me he didnt like the 60 specials, they were too hard to sell. He could move Sedan de Villes all day long, but it took real salesmanship to offload a 60 Special. 

 

Guess that is typical for any make, in any price class. The largest volume is going to be in the middle price range.

Not surprising to hear the old Cadillac salesman's aversion to the 60 Special since selling the Series 62 and DeVille were where the majority of the sales volume and his income were generated.  During the course of a conversation at a Cadillac-LaSalle Club meet with a retired district sales manager who worked in that late 1950's/mid-1970's period I ask how 60 Special prospects were approached and handled.   He told me the policy was to treat the 60 Special prospects as a 'carriage trade' clients: they were seeking all the luxury Cadillac had to offer plus the exclusive prestige implicit in the top-line Cadillac owner-driven sedan.  Being catered to and treated with 'kid gloves' was standard policy; a 60 Special commanded a 15-20% price premium over the DeVille, they expected and demanded special treatment.  Not easy folks to please but generally very loyal and great repeat customers.

 

He cued me in on an internal Cadillac policy regarding annual 60 Special production.  Surveying the production numbers each year, a pattern of round number quantities becomes obvious.  The reason was management set the number limit for each production year so the 60 Special would always be in an apparently short supply.  The implied idea of custom-built exclusivity was to be maintained to bolster the prestige image level even above other Cadillacs.   Cadillac management eschewed model year end clearance sales of leftovers as they detracted from the exclusive prestige image, especially for the convertibles and 60 Specials.  This policy also had the follow-on benefit of keeping "pre-owned' Cadillac resale value the highest in the industry.

 

Steve 

[kingrudy]

I would drive this car everywhere and everyday except to the grocery store. I hate grocery carts. Beautiful car. 

[TAKerry]

13 hours ago, kingrudy said:

I would drive this car everywhere and everyday except to the grocery store. I hate grocery carts. Beautiful car. 

I would go one step further and have someone drive me around. I have often joked with my son that when I get to be older I am going to buy a big old car (this one would be perfect) and have him chauffeur me around.

[m-mman]

6 hours ago, TAKerry said:

I would go one step further and have someone drive me around.

For several model years a Fleetwood 60 Special could be ordered with a leather front seat and a cloth rear. If you really needed a divider window you bought a Fleetwood 75, but this would be close. 

[Brooklyn Beer]

Need a harbor master to get it into a normal sized garage.  Nice car

[STEVE POLLARD]

18 minutes ago, Brooklyn Beer said:

Need a harbor master to get it into a normal sized garage

My Grandmother ordered a new 1964 Coupe Deville Convertible.... she had a one car garage. The Caddy was too long to fit, they had to bump out the garage so the front end would fit...lol

[TAKerry]

My grandmother would get a new caddy every 2 years. Most of them were Fleetwood Broughams. The garage at their house in Fla. was so small I had no idea how the car fit into it but it did. AND, my grandfather built the house. You would have thought he would have known better.

[B Jake Moran]

59 minutes ago, TAKerry said:

My grandmother would get a new caddy every 2 years. Most of them were Fleetwood Broughams. The garage at their house in Fla. was so small I had no idea how the car fit into it but it did. AND, my grandfather built the house. You would have thought he would have known better.

I've seen a lot of that.  Cars from the 40's through about 1980 were BIG.  But 2 of my last 3 houses, one with a garage built in 1947 and the other house had an attached "garage" when built in 1954, could not fit my modern Toyota Tacoma truck and never a 60's era Cadillac.  

 

Why build a garage if it can not fit a car?  

[John_S_in_Penna]

47 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said:

Why build a garage if it can not fit a car?  

From what I've learned:  Many of the earliest cars were

quite small--shorter and narrower.  Many garages were

built to accommodate those 1920's and 1930's cars,

and suited their owners well until cars became longer

and wider in the 1950's and 1960's.

 

Rambler made fun of those circumstances in their ads,

promoting their smaller cars, and even depicted the

garage situation that you mention: