1968 Cadillac DeVille Convertible - Collector Car For Sale

Description:

It''s summertime and there''s just no better way to enjoy the warm sunny weather than from behind the wheel of a drop-top vintage Cadillac. Having owned a ragtop Caddy myself for many years I spent more time driving that car for the sheer fun of it than I have commuting to work in my current machine. When the road is open that big Cadillac V8 whispering away under the hood pulling you along on an endless mountain of torque people turn to watch you drive past and well life just doesn''t get any better. With that Best of Show brings you this pretty 1968 Cadillac DeVille convertible. With just 42659 original miles it is a well-sorted combination of original bits and restored pieces that drives wonderfully today. Years ago it was purchased as a wedding gift for the owner''s wife and he presented it to her just outside the chapel and they used it on their honeymoon. It has had just three owners in the past 42 years the most recent of whom purchased it in the early 2000s from a private collector. It was repainted in the original Chestnut Brown a few years ago and I doubt the original firemist paint system Cadillac was using in ''68 looked as good as the 2-stage urethane now on the car. And in case you haven''t noticed this deep rich heavy metallic root beer color is making a BIG comeback so don''t be afraid of it. Chip Foose just put it on one of his recent award winning rods for Pete''s sake! Those long quarter panels look decent despite their vast expanses of sheet metal. The folding top emphasizes the long low sleek look of the 1968 Cadillacs an evolution of the earlier design that was very much in step with the times. Panel gaps are good and the doors open and shut with a solid feeling you can only get from a big body-on-frame luxury car. In short everything fits together the way a Cadillac should. Much of the chrome has been recently restored and re-plated including the bumpers. The rest is excellent original equipment including the rub strips along the sides and the stainless window surrounds. The unique two-tone taillight lenses are beautiful and check out the cool turn signal indicator lights built into the tops of the front fenders with their own little pieces of chrome trim highlighting them. The DeVille script on the quarters and Cadillac script on the trunk are in great condition with none of the broken tabs that happen when cars get driven through automatic car washes. 1968 was the first year for Cadillac''s all-new 427 cubic inch V8. Designed to meet the new government emission standards that took effect that year it was extensively tested in the laboratory being run the equivalent of 500000 miles. With just a fraction as many miles on this one it has never been opened or rebuilt and runs the way a muscle-bound Cadillac should run. It isn''t the sterile electric-motor hum that modern luxury cars have but a subdued rumble of an idle that lets you know that the 375 horses under the hood aren''t exactly sleeping. The engine compartment is reasonably clean just what you''d expect from an original car with under 45000 miles. Service items are new of course and there''s evidence that this car has been driven and enjoyed but not abused or neglected. This one also has factory A/C that''s fully functional and overall it drives extremely well. Behind the engine lives GM''s durable TH400 3-speed automatic transmission driving a specially balanced driveshaft and 2.94 gears out back for easy highway cruising. That big torquey V8 makes plenty of power to move this car with real authority despite the tall gears and you don''t want a high-strung Cadillac anyway. The rest of the chassis is basic Cadillac stuff that has been maintained over the years. Out back there are some Monroe air shocks to help keep things level no matter the load which is exactly the setup I had in my Eldorado and I loved it. Six people and their luggage? No bumper-dragging over-loaded worries just Cadillac elegance and a smooth ride. This big cruiser rides on a brand new set of 235/75/15 Yokohama Avid Touring tires with 3/4-inch whitewalls and absolutely beautiful full-wheel Cadillac hubcaps. A lot of money was spent recently on the white leather interior and it looks excellent all around. The back seat is still the original hides nice with a patina to it that no restorer could ever duplicate. Up front that''s all-new leather that''s glove-soft and just tempts you to sit down for a cruise. The door panels are new while the carpets and dash are beautiful original equipment. The gauges all work properly and I really like the key in the dashboard-I''m pretty sure 1968 was the last year for that feature in GM vehicles. There''s a rear speaker for the radio between the rear seats covered by a cool chrome grille too. Overhead the white convertible top was installed in 2009 at a cost of over $3000 including the new glass rear window. Topping it all off is a new white vinyl convertible top boot that looks killer when the top is down. Spend this summer in the first class seats of this 1968 Cadillac convertible. It isn''t a show winner it isn''t uber-rare and it isn''t an investment that will skyrocket in value next year. What it is however is a beautiful eye-catching comfortable powerful luxury car that will do everything you ask it to do and be cheap to acquire and maintain and will hold its value while you enjoy it. Imagine yourself winding down a quiet country road in this beauty the exhaust a distant murmur stars overhead. Park it somewhere and people will come over and admire it and ask you about it and you can point out all the cool features. When you leave you''ll look forward to the drive home and you will have made a bunch of new friends. Isn''t that what this hobby is all about?

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