Gary has had some history with these classic caddies long before he laid eyes on this beauty. As a child, he rode in one owned by his parents. He quickly realized why Cadillac was considered the standard for all things automotive. The world renowned comfort of the famed American automaker must have rubbed off on him. But first, a little history of the car.
This 1952 Cadillac Fleetwood Special (Golden Anniversary Edition), Four Door Sedan, was originally purchased from a dealership in New York by an Army Colonel serving in Germany. The Caddie was shipped there, but was rarely used. Because the Colonel had his own personal staff car, the Cadillac wasn't needed very often. The car was later sold in Texas with about 34,000 on the clock. The second owner was a Christian missionary who also spend a good amount of time overseas. After years of faithful duty, the Cadillac became too much for the second owner to handle and needed to find a new home.
About this time, Juanita and Gary were reading the local paper, and noticed an add for a '52 Cadillac. Gary swore that they would only look at the car, and not make any quick decisions about buying a new vehicle. That plan rapidly dissappeared, when they gazed upon the Caddie. The car had about 74,000 miles after an engine overhaul, but showed an incredible amount of potential. Gary bought the car that day, but had a lot of work to do.
The 331ci V8, needed a good deal of TLC, since the previous owners failed to do a lot of the routine maintenance, as the car just sat for long periods of time. After some fresh paint, trim pieces and tires, the '52 started to come together. After getting the engine to run properly, work was done on the exhaust, and the motor and bay received a fresh coat of paint. But then the real work started. The interior needed a complete restoration. Everything was either restored or replaced.
After all that elbow grease, it's easy to see why this car is so special. 1952 was a special year for Cadillac. It was the car makers' 50th anniversary year, and many of their cars received a couple of new add-ons. It has five 24 carat gold plated insignias included two "V" symbols and the "Fleetwood" name on the dash. 1952 was also the first year Cadillac offered power steering, dual exhaust exiting from the rear bumper, a four barrell carburetor, and the dual hydromatic automatic transmssion. This one also came from the factory with automatic windows, but they were converted back to cranks by an earlier owner.
One addition Gary made to the car, was that of a couple of desert water bags. Gary, who has collected these iconic devices for the past few years, now has over 100. "The [water] bags," Gary told me, "were used to keep the engine cool between gas stations in the desert." Since gas stations were few and far between in desert areas, these bags served a double purpose. These specially designed bags were filled with cold water, and hung from the front bumper. The hot air that passed around the bags was cooled before it ever reached the radiator. If the radiator did happen to overheat, you then had an extra resovior of nice cold water.
But don't fear, Gary's not done yet. After some steering work on the Cadillac, he has some other projects on the back burner including a '64 Falcon convertable, a '64 Ranchero, a '52 Mercury, and even a '59 Edsel. Good luck Gary and Juanita, you might one of those other projects here someday as a Rollin' Relic of the Month. Just keep on crusin'.
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