My poor father in law has been cooped up with all this isolation stuff for two weeks. He's 85 years old and in bad health to start with. Honestly, he's circling the drain. Could go at any time. Breaks my heart him being stuck in his house for so long.

Decided to give the Cadillac a good wash and wax this morning, then went over and snuck him out and took him for a cruise. We ended up going all through western Iowa. That's where he grew up. He had a great time. Really lifted his spirits.

Got the business from my wife when she found out, but I've been chewed out before.

It was a good day.

 

Good for you you were a true blessing to him. 🖖🏽 🙏🏼✌🏽
Here to lock down. But I do have to ride into work and check the boilers at the school and the synagogue which I take care of.

 

Omaha, I miss having a land yacht, about the only ones left that I have enough room to be comfortable in are pickup trucks (I'm 6'3" and about 60 lbs over fighting trim). I had an '86 Towncar, loved the ride and the room in that thing. When I punched a hole in the frame with a floorjack, I knew our time together was over. Damned salt. Must have been a real nice ride in that Caddy.

 

0maha, pretty impressive motor! What model and year? We need details....

 

That is a 1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. "Triple yellow" (yellow paint, yellow vinyl top, yellow interior). Just about completely original, with right at 55k miles on it now.

My dad had one just like it back in the day. Over the years, I'd thought about trying to find one, but never got around to it. Last year I got a wild hair and started poking around. Found the Cadillac and LaSalle club, and posted a message describing what I was looking for. About a week later, got a message from a guy in Michigan letting me know that an ad had just gone up on CL that morning. Long story short, I called the seller, decided this was the car, flew up to Michigan and drove it home.

It spent most of its life in California. Michigan guy's dad bought it in the mid 1990's, but basically just stored it and used it as a nice day, pleasure cruise car. I've got an oil change receipt from 1996 showing 46k on the clock, so its been all but unused for over 20 years. What happened is that the owner died, his wife cried when she looked at the car, so the son wanted it gone, and right now. This year/model isn't anything special from a collectible perspective, so I got it cheap.

Overall, it's in good shape. Totally rust free. I replaced the entire brake system (except for the hard lines) front to back, but otherwise haven't done much. As it sits, it needs a little exhaust work, the climate control blower isn't working, the cruise control goes in and out, and the nifty automatic trunk closure thing doesn't work.

I've put about 500 miles on it since I got it (not counting the drive back from Michigan), and it seems to be responding well to a little use. Mostly I just take the grandkids out for rides...they call it the "banana boat".

Honestly not sure what my plans are for it. I have to rent a place to keep it, so it's costing me $110/mo for that. Otherwise, not much. It's registered as a "Classic", which means I don't have annual fees to renew the plates. And the insurance is next to nothing too. Like $40/year or something ridiculous. The only kicker on that is they limit me to 2k total miles per year. If I go over, they ding me like its a regular car.

So for now I'll keep it, and piddle around with the maintenance items that need doing. It's kind of fun to work on, but everything is so damned big!

Anyway, that's the story.

 

Omaha, Your very fortunate to still enjoy the presence of your father. I wish I could have the same.... I know if my dad was still around I would have done the same.. He had a 76 Coupe All White.... Great memories... Thanks for taking me back.....

 

And a fine tale too! I guessed it must be from that era, with sealed beam units while they were still compulsory over there. Quite an eyeful I must say - your photo makes it look more like a strong cream, rather than banana yellow, which softens the impact!

My indulgence, some years ago, was a 1977 Aston Martin V8, which I insured on a similar basis as your Caddy. That also was regarded as a 'classic' for insurance purposes, although I couldn't initially find insurance anywhere, until a broker told me who he thought was the factory insurers. So I called them direct and was assured they could insure it and asked what model is it. Like being admitted to a private club! A wonderful car, but cost a fortune to service and maintain.

 

great read, like the Cadillac used to work on them in the dealer so it is a soft spot for me. The old on board diagnostic's I believe were state of the art, in the years to come. but that may be primitive if you hold off and warmer and the unit flashes dtc's out check engine lamp. only ignition control if I remember and feed back carburetor. Any way good luck. I need to post a question in the evo engine section. see ya later.

 

Sadly, dad died way back in 1985. It's a weird thing being more than 10 years older now than he ever was.

The official Cadillac name for the color is "Colonial Yellow", and it is indeed a bit more of a soft, cream sort of yellow. And let me tell you, it gets attention. Every time I take her out, I get positive comments from people.

At the risk of boring you with, well, boring stories, here's a bit more on the trip to get the car.

We arrived at the very small airport in Saginaw late in the evening. Went up to the rental car counter (the airport is so small that all the car rental outfits share one counter) and presented our rental information to the nice, older guy working the late shift. A conversation was struck, I mentioned our purpose, which caused car rental guy to think of me as "car guy". He told the story of a similar trip he had recently made to go buy an old Pontiac out of Pennsylvania. AND...decided to upgrade us at no extra charge from the Jetta I had reserved to this hot rod:



That thing was fun.

Drove that night to the nearby town of Auburn and put up in a hotel. Got up the next morning and drove an hour or so further north and met up with the seller. Gave her a once-over, went for a short test drive, and decided I'm a buyer. His asking price was well below what I figured I'd need to pay for something like this (lets just say well less than a Minnesota Road King), so I didn't dicker. Handed him the cash, exchanged some paperwork, we've got ourselves a Coupe DeVille.

Drove her back down to the Saginaw airport, with Angie following in the hot rod, to return the rental. Bad news is now she wants one of those. That Dodge really is a hoot to drive.

Since we were so close, decided to drive over and put a toe into Lake Huron.



Then headed west across Michigan. Our goal was to get to Luddington and pick up the ferry across Lake Michigan into Manitowoc, Wisconsin, avoiding driving through Chicago on the way home. Great drive. Got lots of attention at every stop. Ran into one friendly couple on a '98 Electra Glide. That was pretty cool. He came over and started admiring the car, but when I realized what they were riding, I went over and started admiring his Evo! While he and I were bonding over our mutual vehicle admiration, the girls were pretty much standing there explaining to each other how ridiculous we were.

The ferry operation in Luddington has these young guys who serve as porters, driving cars onto the boat. There was quite a bit of negotiation as they determined which one got to drive the Cadillac.



The evening ride across the lake was glorious. The weather was mild, and the water was calm.



After a few hours, we safely arrived in Manitowoc, fetched the car from the porters, and found a hotel for the night, which is really the end of the story.

Got up the next day and drove the rest of the way back to Omaha without any trouble, so that's that.

 

There is absolutely nothing boring about that story. I love it.

You sir are living the life.