If you know me and the cars I’ve owned since I was a scrap young lad of 16, you may have noticed I didn’t own much American iron. But there is one person that can confirm, Cory in Seattle, that a long time ago we had a vision of getting into the business of 50’s American icons. Specially, shipping the big fin Cadillacs, such as the iconic 1959, to Japan. The place where American-excess rang supreme in the late ’80s, and to some extent still does where fins are concerned.
We were freshman at SDSU dreaming of an export business as young entrepreneurs. I was the car guy and Cory was the guy that ended up living in Japan part of the year. It was an ambitious plan, laid out in great detail over ping pong in our dorm room. Despite never seeing an export company develop, we did partner up on a paper products company that eventually became one of the first environmentally-sound hemp companies in Seattle, opened in 1994 and sold in 1998.
That aside, it probably comes as no surprise that all cars hold a certain level of attraction to me. But having this ’59 Cadillac Eldorado in the shop, generates more of a stir versus ones I don’t purchase, or even see that often. Not only do you feel the massive presence of a twenty-odd foot car, you get to run your hands over the metal, the fins, the hood, the fenders. You also get to talk to the owner and hear about their 15 pursuit of this 1 of 12 special order car. And while we are only putting this car into primer for the owner, it’s a thrill to have it in our shop. We will no doubt follow it’s journey to full concours restoration knowing we helped lay the foundation.