GREAT mid-`60s GM cars on "My Classic Car"

62caddy,

Congrats on the 59 & I especially like the ragtop! A fellow 2 doors down the street had a mint 60 coupe when I was a kid that he kept till he was in his early 70's & I always liked the looks & the quality showed through. True icons.
 
Last edited:
I belive theres a fella around the Toronto area that has a ton of caddies.Im sure he was profiled on some tv show.Quite the massive collection.
 
I figured the 2x4bbl would have had an elongated air cleaner, in order to fit two carbs under.

Hard to remember my grandmother's now but it did have big dramatic script on the label.

Definitely a round air cover, & there's no reason they'd have gotten the 2x4bbl anyway.

The Wildcat 445 had this air cleaner cover, same one our '65 Wildcat had--the Wildcat 465 was the same style. This one looks as though it is using one of the reproduction stickers (I don't think any stock air cleaners ever looked this good except, maybe, the day they rolled out of the dealer lot ;) ):

upload_2018-1-18_12-11-29.png

This was the earlier style of air cleaner (not sure which years):

upload_2018-1-18_12-12-17.png



This wasn't my parents' '65, but I'd take this in a pinch, maybe if it were a different color:

upload_2018-1-18_12-16-19.png

...without the ridiculous tailpipes though...

upload_2018-1-18_12-17-40.png

The fuel filler cap was behind the logo beneath the trunk lid, which articulated downward. Amusingly, when we bought the '71 LeSabre, I was curious about the car and would poke around it a bit--it took me a few days to discover that the fuel filler was behind the license plate! :D
 

Attachments

  • upload_2018-1-18_12-14-58.png
    upload_2018-1-18_12-14-58.png
    279 KB · Views: 3
The Wildcat 445 had this air cleaner cover, same one our '65 Wildcat had--the Wildcat 465 was the same style. This one looks as though it is using one of the reproduction stickers (I don't think any stock air cleaners ever looked this good except, maybe, the day they rolled out of the dealer lot :D

Wow thanks. Definitely wasn't the earlier type, so i guess it was like your first photo. Lost in the mists of time, and as you say by the time I saw it, it was several years old and no longer pristine. Though she did take very good care of her cars, as did her husband, whose ownership of a classic Mercedes turned me on to that!

Grandparents can be very influential in one's life. Mark Twain called grandparents and grandchildren "natural allies, because they share a common enemy." :)
 
In my younger days I had a 68 Toro with a modified 455. Bought it from a small local car lot, it was the lot owner's personal car. He had the engine and tranny rebuilt so he could tow his boat. Used it for one season then decided to sell it and by a truck instead. That thing was a fun car... problem was the gas gauge went faster than the car did and the car was no slouch by any means.
 
Sad thing is all of it came to an end in 1971 when GM went supernova with all of their cars. Ugh.


Not...quite :)

You are overlooking perhaps the best of all the F bodies, the lovely 1973
Firebird , especially in Formula or full TA trim. Tell me the SD455 wasn't an epic last hurrah for that era! I got some pics of my TA (non SD but 4 speed and plenty fast) around here somewhere..,.will upload when I find them.

I grew up with a GM crowd and we all started with late 60s Rivs and early 70s Grand Prix's. They were super cheap in the early 80s and everyone's grandma had one to unload.

I'll take a 69 GP SJ with the 428 4 speed please :)

jblnut

PS check out Leno's 1000hp Toronado if you have never seen the build vid. I want....
 
Drove a 455 GP SJ and it was a pretty fast car.I had a 73 or 74 lemans with the 350 and factory duals and she wasnt too bad either.1970 or 72 chevelle 2 door with the 307.I believe 225 slant six darts could smoke that gutless car.My first car was a 64 4 door chevelle with the 230 six and 2 speed powerglide.When I sold that car she had 175,000 miles on it.My first love:)
 
Drove a 455 GP SJ and it was a pretty fast car.I had a 73 or 74 lemans with the 350 and factory duals and she wasnt too bad either.1970 or 72 chevelle 2 door with the 307.I believe 225 slant six darts could smoke that gutless car.My first car was a 64 4 door chevelle with the 230 six and 2 speed powerglide.When I sold that car she had 175,000 miles on it.My first love:)
307's weren't that gutless. I had a 69 Malibu that was a 307/glide car when I bought it and it didn't go to bad but it didn't last long because of a soft cam. It would lite the back tire (only one) with no problems. Headers with dual exhaust and a quadrajet probably helped a lot. 307 was replaced with an L-79 327 and a T350. That helped it move down the road a lot. ;)
 
You are overlooking perhaps the best of all the F bodies, the lovely 1973 Firebird
PS check out Leno's 1000hp Toronado if you have never seen the build vid. I want....

Mostly I was talking about the E body, and yeah, I was generalizing too. But there were some significantly larger cars made between 1971-1977, especially with the E body.

David North, who designed the Toronado, is still around and he's on a facebook Toro page. I asked him about why the cars got so big during that time - his answer? "That's what the people wanted."

As for Leno's Toro. I'll say this - I like that he kept the look stock.
 
Thanks!

Still lots of work to do. Haven't really touched the body or seats/headliner. Still have a couple of minor electrical issues to sort out. But it runs - first time really since I've owned it. - the last block was toast and never would run right.
 
I still have a pair of 65 Gran Sport cast aluminum valve covers sitting in my basement. The Riviera was originally going to be part of the Cadillac lineup, the rebirth of the LaSalle. Politics at GM had it end up with Buick. At last count I've owned over 150+ cars in my 65 years; all of them Cadillacs, Buicks, Corvettes and Oldsmobiles other than a 1972 Lincoln mkIV, a 79 turbo Saab and a few VW Beetles. My mind that thinks I'm still 16 wants another project car, my 65 year old body says a firm "NO".
 
I hear ya. For me, I just like to work on cars. It’s a hobby. I’m under no illusion I’ll ever make money on this, but it’s therapeutic in its own way. There’s a Mark IV in town, pretty nice even tough it’s brown. I’ve never seen it move, sadly.
 

Of the 1960's Cadillacs, I am beginning to fall in love with the 1965-1966 Calais coupes. They look nice, have great lines. I also like DeVilles from that era, built before Cadillacs suffered from cheapened build quality, when Cadillacs were Cadillacs. P.S. I love and admire the early Toronado, and on the Buick Wildcat and Riviera I highly agree the 1965 was the best year, I like them better than the 1963 and 1964 styling, better, cleaner lines.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom