Classic DREAMCARS Mount Dora, Fla. (352) 385-1945 www.classicdreamcars.com

               

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1962 CADILLAC 6200 SERIES SEDAN DEVILLE "TIME CAPSULE"

"CAPTURED ANGEL".... A BEAUTIFUL, ALL ORIGINAL, 'OLYMPIC WHITE' CADILLAC, FROM RUST-FREE, CALIFORNIA WITH ONLY 19,094 ACTUAL MILES. THIS 6229 SERIES, POST-LESS, SIX-WINDOW HARDTOP SEDAN IS LOADED WITH 'ALL THE TOYS' INCLUDING ALL THE OPTIONS YOU WOULD NORMALLY GET ON THE FANCY 6300 SERIES CADILLAC'S: IT CAME WITH POWER STEERING / BRAKES AND A 390 CUBIC INCH / 325 H.P. MOTOR WITH 10.5:01 COMPRESSION, MATCHED TO A SMOOTH SHIFTING "ULTRA-GLIDE" HYDRAMATIC AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION BUT, THE OPTIONS UNUSUAL TO THIS SERIES WERE: FACTORY "ALL SEASON" ICE-COLD AIR CONDITIONING, SIX-WAY POWER SEATS, POWER WINDOWS, MATCHING ORIGINAL DELUXE SEATBELTS, A PERFECT BLACK AND WHITE BROCADE AND LEATHER INTERIOR, AM 'SIGNAL SEEKING' RADIO W/ POWER ANTENNA, REMOTE TRUNK RELEASE, 'DOR'GUARD' DOOR EDGE GUARDS, THREE-SPEED WIPERS W/ BUILT-IN WASHER, UPDATED WIDE WHITEWALL RADIALS, 'AUTRONIC EYE' (CHANGES HEADLIGHTS TO DIM AUTOMATICALLY), E-Z-EYE TINTED GLASS, THE ORIGINAL MANUAL / BROCHURE AND EVEN THE ORIGINAL CADILLAC CREST FLOORMATS. IT HAS ALL THE RECORDS PROVING IT'S MILEAGE (INCLUDING TITLE VERIFICATION). THIS CAR CAME TO US THROUGH A 33 YEAR-OLD LIMOUSINE COMPANY THAT ORIGINALLY PURCHASED IT FROM CALIFORNIA WITH "THE INTENTIONS OF PLACING IT INTO SERVICE" BUT, ONCE THE CAR ARRIVED, THEY COULDN'T BRING THEMSELVES TO PLACE IT INTO LIVERY BECAUSE OF THE SUPREME CONDITION. THIS IS "OUR BARN CAR OF THE YEAR" FIND. AFTER A COMPLETE SERVICE & A.C. CHARGE, IT DEFINES THE OLD CAR TERM "IT DRIVES LIKE NEW" $29,500.

 THE STORY:

Americans celebrated the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis joyously "Twisting The Night Away" as they put the failed "Bay of Pigs Invasion" behind them this year. 1962 was tumultuous, to say the least, with the State Dept. canceling all Visa's for American Communist traveling Abroad. The U.S. would ban all trade with Cuba, while the U.S.S.R. would release Lt. Col. Gary Powers after capturing his U2 Spy Plane, the U.S. Supreme Court would rule against segregation on all Public Transportation Systems, and A.T & T would launch the First Communications Satellite. Chubby Checkers Top 40 Hit "The Twist" returned to the charts and hit "# 1" for the second time despite being banned by concerned citizens in Tampa, Fla. and Buffalo, N.Y. It spawned new Hit 'Twist' sequels by Joey Dee and the Starliners 'Peppermint Twist", Sam Cookes "Twistin the Night Away", The Isley Brother's 'Twist and Shout" and Gary U.S. Bonds "Dear Lady Twist'. By Oct. 1962, Bobby Pickett and the Crypt Kicker Five would release "The Monster Mash" and cause another Dance Sensation called the "Mashed Potato". Dick Dale would find a way to make his guitar amp / equipment sound like the Pacific surf and soon every Garage Band in the Nation would be working overtime to buy a Fender Reverb unit. The Vibrasonic Reverberator (echo chamber) was even available on automobile AM Radio Speakers to provide that echo on every song on the radio.... only to scare "the living B- Jesus" out of anyone when the spring 'rattled' after riding over a Railroad Track! Hugh Hefner would open "Key Clubs" featuring scantily clad Young Babes in Missle Chested Bunny Costumes while "Lawrence of Arabia" would win Best Picture, "To Kill A Mockingbird" would win Best Actor for Gregory Peck and Anne Bancroft would win Best Actress in "The Miracle Worker". Your ears would scream in pain every time the AM Radio blasted the Four Seasons singing "Sherry" or "Big Girls Don't Cry".....for the 48th time that day.
But, the Most Memorable Films that year would be "The Days of Wine and Roses" starring Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick and "The Longest Day" with it's All Star Cast. On TV "The Jetsons", "Bonanza", "Candid Camera", "Hazel", and "The Andy Griffith Show" were the Most Watched Top Hits. Muhammed Ali was then called 'Cassius Clay' and this would be the year he moved another notch closer to competing (and winning) against Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Title by beating Archie Moore. Though it was the Last Gasp for Studebaker... few people remember the ' Avanti' for it's unique Fiberglas body, Cockpit Style Cabin (Overhead Dashboard Controls), eschewed (aka: eliminated) Fins and lack of Radiator Grille. But, ask anybody about the introduction that year of " The Exciting, New 1963 Corvette Split Window Sting Ray" and everybody will remember going to the Chevrolet Dealer's Showroom to see one.... like they remember the day J.F.K. was assassinated.
Faced off against the garish Cadillacs of The Fifties and 1960 the 'all new '61-62 Cadillac' ushered in a cleaner, somewhat leaner version of what seemed to be A Triumph of Good Taste. We think it's the Most Beautiful Automobile of this Period. These were the First Cadillacs styled by the Bill Mitchell Regime but, true credit, really must be laid in the lap of Harley Earl as the 1961-62's very much resembled Harley Earls Concept Car..... the Pininfarina-Designed Eldorado Brougham of 1959-60. It is written that Mitchell hated the bottom fender' skegs' as he felt they looked like a rocketship and ordered the Design Group (headed by Jordan) "to get-off the skegs". When Jordan kept drawing them back into the design, Bill Mitchell told him "...if I have to tell you three times, your fired". By 1963, the beautiful Space Age Fins left the bottom of the fenders. This car marks the end of a Decade of Styling History for G.M. Design. The Giant Fins of the '60 and '59 were then toned (way) down with Small Fins at both the top and bottom of the fenders ( a direct lift from the GM Concept Showcar Cadillac 'Cyclone'). Drew Hare's "Double Bubble" G.M. Concept Car provided the "French Curve A- Pillars" for the windshield that then became a Cadillac Trademark Industry Standard all the way through 1965. Chassis length was trimmed 3 inches and curb weight lost 120 pounds which made for a much smaller looking Cadillac. They also added an All-Coil Suspension, Re-circulating Ball Steering and Big Finned Drum Brakes. Cadillac scratched the troublesome Air Suspension this year but, added a Rear Window Defogger, Limited Slip Differential (as Options) and a Crankcase Ventilating System for all California Cars. Power was supplied by the mighty 390 / 325 hp V8 , but, teamed with this smaller chassis and the 'Dual-Range' Hydra-matic on all models made for an Extremely Powerful Combination. Cadillac even created an obligatory nod to the Recession of 1958 by creating a Low-Power V8 on the Short Deck 'Town Sedan'.... though it was not popular, as only a 3,800 sold. Some sources say they were actually built for Rich Dowagers with Short Condominium Garages.
By 1962, Bill Mitchell added a Dual Circuit "Safety" Master Cylinder Brake System, Tidier Grille, Combination Backup / Turn and Stop Signals, Cornering Lamps, Heater & Defroster, Dual Speed Wipers with Windshield Washers, Colored Wheels Discs, Plain Fender Skirts, Oil Filter, Radio, Heater and Rear View Mirror all as Standard Features. The 4-Window Sedans lost the radical Wrap Backlight Window of the 1959-61 model's in trade for Conventional Flat Glass. All said and done, Cadillac produced 161,000 cars in 1962 yet, only 26, 216 six-window sedans, as seen here, were sold that year. "The Extruded Look " with the lowered tail fins, marked the 1962 Cadillacs Fresh New Approach to Design and offered a return to a More Conservative, Clean Cut, Restrained Elegance. The result was that the 1962 outsold the '61 model by 22,000 units. Once the Mid-Sixties emerged.... the Big Boat, Big Box Cadillacs would return to the Marketplace and these beautiful 'Little' Cadillac's would become Iconic.
Ultimately, it comes to driving one of these and up against the Big Boat Cadillac Collectible's, there is one clear choice.