Yesterday’s Celebrity showed some GM cars can weather a lot of abuse. But isn’t a Chevrolet just too common? Let’s climb the Sloanian ladder and check out what may be the Ultimate Beater, if not in decrepitude then in sheer size and presence.
This 1969-70 Cadillac Sedan de Ville may lack the mismatched paintjob and copious amounts of rust of the other beaters, but it mounts a strong challenge for the Ultimate Beater trophy. Firstly, it is filled with junk. If there was any lovely brocade cloth or leather trim inside, it is probably tattered and torn by now. Secondly, the exterior is battered and worn. Was this Caddy involved in some kind of shopping cart demolition derby? Or is parking in Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace neighborhood really that rough and tumble? Rust is eating away at the rocker panels and the rub strips are halfway gone. The factory olive drab paint job makes this seasoned Caddy look even more menacing. If the ideal beater for you is something that has that Uncle Buck charm – that is to say, sheer size – then this Caddy must surely be the Ultimate Beater.
That Cadillac looks positively dainty next to the RAV4/Forester/bland crossover in front of it!
Indeed. Mind blowing how “average” CUVs shrink what was considered a very large car. The Caddy probably still wins a length and width contest, but the proportions of vehicles are just so changed. The wheel / tire assembly on the CUV looks almost as tall as the fender top on the Cadillac, and as JPC notes, the Caddy’s front end is sitting pretty high.
That is amazing. It looks like a scaled down Cadillac.
That’s a Nissan Pathfinder, not sure if it’s still body-on-frame but the new ones are on the big end of “mid-size” and very much a “traditional” SUV and not a CUV.
The Pathfinder is Unibody
The new Pathfinder is a fullsize unibody FWD/AWD transverse-V6-powered CUV that used to be a midsize BOF RWD/4WD longitude-V8-powered SUV, much like the Ford Explorer. Yes, a few loudmouths on the Internet hate it now, but for how much buyers of either respective SUV were using it for truck duties, the switch to being essentially a tall wagon made a lot more sense.
Could that Caddy have been subject to an engine-ectomy? I remember that GM cars of that era had a tendency towards front suspension sag as they aged, but this one is really up in the air.
Big old Cadillacs used to make wonderful beaters. Great for urban traffic warfare, where the guy with the biggest and least valuable car always wins.
I think it contains a homeless persons worldly goods. Sad
Lots of “junk in the trunk”. Literally.
If you do have to live in your car, though, an old Caddy isn’t a bad choice; room to spread out. Relatively speaking of course.
I don’t know…I may prefer yesterday’s Celebrity as a beater. More fuel efficient, front drive traction, easier parking, as well as six passenger room
You would think that the MPG of the 472 or the challenge of driving/parking in the bowels of NYC would have taken out this Caddy no matter how high the quality of it by age 20. Instead at 45 it’s shabbiness has become a challenge to those around it. The owner probably likes the faded glory aspect, perhaps matching his own seediness. Tow it away and junk it. Imagine if that is the only 1970 Cadillac a young person ever sees. What a loss.
In my experience, the 472 gets about 9 MPG period. It don’t matter if you are in the city (at least burbs), on the highway, babying it or hammering it….it gets about 9 MPG. There are a lot of newer cars that will only do double that around town. This one has the advantage of being able to park by braille. The front bumper alone is 5 separate pieces of heavy gauge steel. Turning circle is no worse than my ’90 Accord.
I’m reminded of a long-departed musical colleague who, in the 90s, had a ’69 or ’70 Fleetwood. It was pale yellow with a black leather interior, and it was named “Isolde.” It seemed to be nearly indestructible.
The small wheels and low height of the Cadillac compared to a modern CUV is kind of shocking. Makes a huge car almost look like a dwarf.
That it still has hubcaps (though mismatched) suggests some level of dignity.
Of course, this caddy could have us all fooled:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/chameleon/2859849
+1
The back seat is maybe used as extra storage, since the stuff may not fit in the owner’s Micro-apartment? “I’ll clean it out someday, but I dont want to lose the parking spot”
A real life George Costanza.
For the record, parking in Windsor Terrace IS rough. As it is in the rest of Midwood and elsewhere in Brooklyn. Some places are tougher than others, but if I had a dollar for every time I came out and found a chipped bumper, dented door, broken taillight, a scratched fender, a keyed scratch the length of the car, a dented hood from neighborhood kids jumping on it, a broken door glass (and a rummaged-through glovebox) or a trunk popped open with a screwdriver on one of my various cars over the years, I’d have just about enough to buy a beater Caddy like this.
Finding parking spots may be more difficult with a car like this, but since most people in Brooklyn park by feel and are used to pushing two cars apart demolition derby style to fit their own between them, it’s not as much of a problem as it would be in a more genteel town. Many people I know refuse to buy a brand new car in New York City, unless they have a garage. So this one is perfect. It’s a bit of a hold-out today, but even 10 years ago there was a whole class of large beaters just like this, owned by “get-off-my-lawn” type folks forced to live in an apartment without their own lawn. Best of all, it’s a Cadillac 🙂
Favorite NYC special that used to be seen all the time, 77-85 vintage Olds 88’s & 98s with huge bumper guards and Caprice taxi suspension parts fitted to it. Couldn’t go two blocks without seeing one back in the late 80s and 90s.
Yup… I resemble that remark (a ’82 Olds 88 in the early 1990s)
I lived in NYC in 1988-92, and my mental image of that time has 77-85 Olds 88s/98s as the second most common car after yellow Caprice taxis. I had no idea until now that my somewhat dim memories of a quarter century ago were actually accurate.
geeeod, cant imagine living like that…at least if i had any attachment to cars at all. number one priority would be getting out. no offense to anyone intended..:)
+1
guess its not a picknick to return your car after the lease is up and its showtime at the leasing firm??
The tail says it’s a ’70.
I had a 72 CDV city beater when I was 19. You could tell it was a city car that spent most of its life parked on the street. The drivers side had all the dents and all the rust, while the passenger side looked almost like new. I miss that old car, ‘ridin’ dirty’ on the steelies, suspension shot, exhaust intact but resonator deleted, cracked windshield, heater controlled by a ball valve in place of the busted vacuum control under the hood, old grandpa grip snow tires on the back… and maybe 5mpg. But those big leather seats, the feel of that steering, the roar when that 4barrel opened up. Ridiculous by today’s standards, but a priceless motoring experience for anyone that truly loves cars.
This is my winner in the batle of the beaters, shading ahead of the Fiat 131
In the 1960’s , late 1940’s through early 1950’s Caddies were wonderful beaters, slow but oh so sturdy , even when badly rusted (I.E.: Boston ) they’d cruise quietly along , always a couple of the electric windows would still work for Summer ventilation .
I miss them greatly although I aspired to a 1939 LaSalle Opera Coupe .
I should take photos of the beaters in South Central Los Angeles , some amazing cars and trucks out there still chugging along or providing living space .
-Nate
“Waaaaarriors, come out to plaaaaaay!”
Apparently, early-mid 1950s Caddies were still good NYC beaters in 1979!
I know it’s just a movie but that’s a sad thing .
I _LOVE_ that vintage of Caddies and would like to have a Flower Car (pickup truck) or Coupe .
Instead I’ll muddle on with my 1980 Fleetwood S & S Victoria hearse….
-Nate
That 472/th400 drivetrain is bulletproof
These cars are still fairly plentiful. Ate up with motor did a good write up about how GM priced Cadillacs to sell in the 70s and sold a lot. They also lost some brand cache. They are great cars though. I bought a 73 sedan Deville in 2010 for $900. Someone had taken all the trim off and it was in primer, a door wouldn’t open, a window wouldn’t open, but that thing ran smooth and cruised at 85 no problem. I took the drivetrain out and put it in a ’56 Packard clipper I was restoring. Switched to a FWD oil pan to get crossmember clearance. It was a great motor for that Packard. Packard only made their V8 for two years so parts are scarce. It was a junkyard car too, but it looked and ran great when it was done.
Ah ha, I have a Cadillac Beater car too! A 1991 Brougham with 272000 miles on it! It looks worse in person than in the pictures. The vinyl top is long worn out, the driver’s side seat is ripped as well as the armrest, the rear bumper is bent, the bumper fillers are gone, a piece of molding on the passenger side got sucked off in a car wash, the molding on the rear driver’s side was held on by tape, the leather on the steering wheel is crusty and disintegrated. Since this is/was a southern car, no rust.
This is an excellent car however and I drive it 300+ miles in a day for my former job as Georgia Traffic Attorney and my current job as mobile closing attorney.
More pictures
Another picture. I didn’t mention that a wheelcover came off on the way back from court in Monroe County or that the driver’s side door lock got ! STOLEN off the car from in front of my old house.
Wow, what motor in that car? It’s not the HT 4100 is it?
NOOOO I READ THIS SITE SO I KNOW BETTER THAN TO 4100. This is a ’91, FI 305. I think the 90/91 was the first year for fuel injection, which probably has something to do with how it got to 272000 miles. I don’t do carbs, and the FI gave a bump in power from bog slow to tolerable over the 307.
Hard to call a clear winner in the “Battle of the Beaters”. Celebrity certainly has the lowest running costs, Fiat is undoubtedly the most interesting and probably the best to drive, but the Caddy has the most presence by a long shot.
You can’t find a better beater than an American BOF car with V8. automatic and a solid rear end. It will run forever. Some exceptions, like the 4100 HT and early edition of the TH200R4 and Fords AOD.