1962 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

[Steven Tuck]

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[Rodfather]

Steve can you also supply your vin (engine number) so it can be placed in the permant registry in order of its build as a current survivor.

I am curious how you found out the car was the 637th 6367 built. I worked on this very thing with Matt Larson, the archivist of the Cadillac Division of the GM Heritage Center some years back. Because of the method used by the factory of using a singular build sheet for all models someone would have had to manually count the previous 6367s meaning approx. 80,000 engine numbers would have need to be manually checked on records that are not public in thier totality. If it was 637th I assume it was built in approx January or February 62 and your Engine number would be in the 070000's. to 080000's?

I am completely obsessed with 62 6267/6367 cars. Even though I collect all kinds of Cadillacs, all the 62 convertibles are my favorites. It is the first make and model car that I rode in when I was new born being brought home from the hospital in (top up). That particular car was a SO car shipped to our Indianapolis dealer for GM use at the Indianapolis 500. I have never been able to pass one up since.

Yours is especially beautiful ... you really need to add some underhood and interior shots.

I also see you are a CLC member. I too have been on and off since the Early 80's ... however more off than on. I think I am two years delinquent now .. and they probably have thrown me out again. The social side of the CLC turns me off. We do have some great members though who are just about the cars that tend to lure me back every so often. Pete Peters writes the judging manuals for the national and Lars Kneller is always in a planning position for national too. I don't know how they do it. One meeting every 4 years or so and I've had it.
We have been toying with the idea of becoming a sub specialty chapter of the clc.

I hope you will find this site and knowing other 61/62 owners important and useful.

Thanks for joining the group. Look forward to your contributions.

rf

[Rodfather]

Steven,

I have attatched an example of a build sheet so you can see that the "body number" does not correspond to the series of any specific model. In this example you can see that 4 "F" bodies are in production however the body number does not correspond to the sequence of specific body model production.

From your Engine number, without doing the math to approximate what your build date is, I can tell it was built in early December 1961.

I would say your car was built earlier in the series in the high 400's or 500's.

To find out exactly you would have to literally count the "E's" on the build sheets from the beginning of production until getting to your car. That entails perusing 44,647 recorded cars built. Of course The Heritage Center only lets the build sheets out in single pages so assembling the information to even begin the task is virtually impossible.

What is your date of build from your sheet. I am always looking for benchmarks to estimate build dates.

I can find out where the 420313 code is from. At first blush it looks like an East coast dealer code.

RF

[Rodfather]

Okay ... Here it is

Outlet Code - 420313 - Washington DC

Your car was delivered new to Capitol Cadillac. The dealership was located at 22nd and M Streets in Washington DC. - December 1961
In 1979, the dealership moved to its present location. The actual building your car was delivered to in DC no longer exists.

If your really lucky you could call the dealership to see if they have a record of who first owned the car.

On outlet codes - There is no numeric standard to decipher these codes. There only is a proprietary record that is kept with limited access controlled by the Cadillac division of GM.

[Rodfather]

It came directly from Matt Larsons Outlet Code Book. Matt is the person who controlled Cadillac's Archives. The book is not public. The code in this case specifically denotes Capitol and is correct. ..... I am not guessing.

The only way that the car could have gone to a Virginia dealer would have been by first passing through Capitol.
A 66 code does not count for 62


The body number simply denotes the pressing of the body not the series by which it was placed in the line to be produced as the build sheet example in the post below shows.

The only cars without extensive research that were "numbered" were for example 57 - 60 Eldorado Broughams

Now if you want to recognize the significance of the 62 ... It is the final manefestation of the Cadillac Cyclone XP74 by way of the 60 and 59 Eldorado Brougham


And I would love to have a window Sticker ... and a sign .... very very neat.

As far as the building is concerned that is very interesting. I am not from that area and was simply told the area is much different and that the dealership no longer was there and that the building was gone ... all of that was word of mouth ...

[Rodfather]

See if DC has a BMV that can give you registration information from 62.

I will check the 66 outlet code to see what it is. The possibility exists that either it is not DC or it designated a new districting of the outlet area.

All the extras are not necessary I don't show cars. Last time was 2004 in a national show for a friend. My cars are for me and I drive them and have fun with them. Right now I have a friend trying to get me to bring cars to the St Patricks Parade here in Indianapolis. No way that is going to happen .... people don't realize the time that goes into these cars for daily maintenance. If I am going to drive them and maintain them it is going to be doing what I want. The recreation of a factory window invoice interests me and the sign would be great hanging on a wall.

If you want to dig into what a 62 cadillac really represents and why it is significant you have to look at the XP74 and the relationship of Bill Mitchell and Harly Earl.
Now that would be a neat sign you could make showing the liniage of design. You would have to create the wording to reflect how these cars came to evolve through Harly and Mitchell but it could prove to be a very significant contribution since no one as of yet has published or produced anything defining how this design is significant to Cadillacs Heritage. Not only is it significant ... but it reflects the ultimate styling cue's developed by cadillac through the 50's .... this is what they were working towards with the XP74. Also 62 is mechanically full of firsts from Cadillac and GM ... from the bearings in the steering column to dual ciruit brakes ... the list is long but not published.

The 61 and 62 are the first and only standard production models of the Cyclone Concept. The 59 and 60 Eldorado Broughams are the first and only special production cars of the Cadillac Cyclone.

The Broughams were very expensive. I am responsible for the destruction of a 57 Brougham when I was 16. I used it as a parts car to restore a 57 Eldorado Biarritz.
I always have looked at those broughams as Ugly Prom Dates ...... Expensive and not much to brag about ....a car for Old Ladies and Stuffy Coggers, but the Eldorado Biarritz of 57 was wonderful .... a special sporty Cadillac. My first Cadillac when I was 16 was a 41.

rf