1947 CADILLAC SERIES 62 CONVERTIBLE

COLOR: CADILLAC DARK BLUE METALLIC

ENGINE: 1970 CADILLAC 8.2 LITER V8 ‘CAD 500’

ELDELBROCK CARBURETOR AND INTAKE MANIFOLD

ISKY. CAM

TRANSMISSION: HIGH PERFORMANCE GM TURBO 400

STOCK REAR END

TRUESPOKE CHROM STEEL WIRE WHEELS

“A little ditty ‘bout Jack & Diane,

Two American kids growing up in the heart land.”  (1982 song by John Mellencamp).

     This is about Jack and Diane Ferguson’s ’47 Cadillac but it’s not anywhere near a little ditty.  Dubbed  ‘Yank Tanks’ by Australians, this road beast comes in at a whopping 4455 lbs compared to a 2016 Cadillac at 3646 lbs.  it was the giant of the road just after World War II, and the last year of the fat fender design. Originally it was Diane’s car until Jack sold his hot rod’32 and his hot rod Mustang; it’s now Jack and Diane’s Cadillac.

     Jack and Diane are just the 4^th owners of this rare manufactured luxury convertible, Cadillac only made 6755 units in 1947, originally priced just shy of $3000.00 you can buy several new Cadillac’s for the value of this beauty today. After searching for 2 years, Jack found the car for sale at the Pomona Swap meet where the owner, an Orange County car enthusiast, had bought it as part of the ‘Shafer Collection’ in Seattle, WA.

   Watching the Ferguson’s cruising Claremont in their ’47 looks like an anachronism until you open the hood via the art deco hood ornament to find that the “Battle Proven” Flat Head V8 - 150 horsepower, 346 cubic-inch power plant of 1947 has been replaced with a 1970 500 CID/8.2 Liter 400+ HP V8 engine with an Isky cam, new Carburetor, Intake and a 400 Transmission. Originally equipped with power windows, power top and power seat all hydraulic operated, Jack has changed them to electric so there is no threat of fluid leaking on the upholstery and original leather seats.  The system is still in the car but disconnected.

     As a child Jack’s family drove to California from Ohio in a ’47 Caddy. Jack wanted to repeat the trip his family made, so they shipped the car to Chicago and drove the Mother Highway, Route 66, back to California.  16 days of cruising and checking out every old vintage site along the way, eating in 50-year-old restaurants and making sure he got a decal from every state on his rear bumper. The first road trouble started when he broke the drive shaft, a problem that would cause him to go through two more before installing a high-performance drive shaft.

    Luxury at its finest in the 40’s as well as the 21st Century and a great example of CAL-RODS cars.