12th Feb, 2025 12:00

Pavilion Gardens | Buxton, Derbyshire

Lot 46

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1955 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe
No Reserve

Sold for £8,212

(including buyers premium)

Lot details

Registration No: ESV 934
Chassis No: 5562133378
MOT: Exempt

Believed all original example that still wears its livery of Metallic Green over Light Green plain broad-cloth upholstery
Imported to the UK in 1984 and then laid up in dry storage until now
Offered as an exciting non-running project
Displaying a c.25,837 miles on the odometer (not warranted)

Styling and horsepower were the watchwords of '50s American car design and no examples epitomised the thinking more than the voluptuous Harley Earl-penned Cadillacs. For the lower, sleeker body of the Series 62 model introduced in 1953, the effect of the distinctive tailfins that had been the company's hallmark since 1948 were heightened by: a redesigned grille with heavier integral bumper and tapered dagmar-style bumper guards, prominent headlamp eyebrows, smoothly curved one-piece rear window and a fresh design of full-size chrome wheel trim. Cadillac changed their grille design every year, but in 1955, the grille was redesigned with wider spaces between the blades and the parking lamps were repositioned directly below the headlights. On the sides of the body the rub-rail moldings formed a right angle with the vertical trim on the rear doors or fenders.

Built for the 1955 model year, little is known of the early history of chassis number 5562133378, but evidence suggests that the car spent its early life around the Philadelphia, PA area thanks to a Keystone Automobile Club sticker on the rear valence. The vendor and long-term current owner discovered this remarkably original car for sale on a trip to the US in the early 1980s and imported it back home to the UK via the Liverpool docks. When the Cadillac arrived, it was immediately registered in the UK as 'ESV 934' and driven back from Liverpool to its long-term home in East London before immediately being laid up in dry storage until late December 2024 when the decision was made by the vendor to sell it. The storage conditions have done wonders to preserve the car in its original Metallic Green paint scheme and the original duo-tone Green broad-cloth interior has also survived intact (albeit with some small repairs to perform where 70-year-old stitching has let go).

Now offered as a very exciting project, 'ESV 934' is described by the vendor as being 'surely the most original example of its type in the UK which remains very solid'. We are sure that any prospective purchaser would be hard pressed to decide whether to sympathetically recommission the mechanical parts and run it in 'oily rag' guise or to use this un-messed with example to conduct a full restoration. To be offered without reserve, this Elvis-era '55 'Caddy' is supplied with UK V5C and registration plates, hub caps and rear-wheel spats, original jack and a charming period set of snow chains in their original Allstate box.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430

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Auction Details
Sell One Like This

Auction: Pavilion Gardens | Buxton, Derbyshire, 12th Feb, 2025

An auction of classic, collector and performance motorcars to be held in the beautiful surrounds of the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, Derbyshire.Venue Details

To enquire about entering your classic or performance car into the auction please call our sales office on 01925 210035, email sales@HandH.co.uk or click here: Enter Your Classic Motorcar

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Viewing

Tues 11th February from 12pm
Wed 12th February from 9am

Sale time

Wed 12th February from 12pm

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