1983 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham ???!!!!

[Don Wasley]

This isn't a pro-car but it's so unusual I had to post this. Here's a link:

http://www.carsforsale.com/used_cars_for_sale/1983_Cadillac_Fleetwood+Brougham_150460575_7#

But here's the kicker...it's a STATION WAGON!!!

Did Cadillac offer such a conversion back then? I'm not aware of them doing it so I'm guessing maybe an aftermarket conversion/modification.

Can anyone shed some light on this?? :stars:

P.S. My other laptop died so I'm using another one but it has Linux Mint OS instead of Windows and Firefox as a browser so that's the reason I couldn't paste pictures....sorry.

Don

 

[Todd Merrifield]

Interesting...my first guess would have been Caprice station wagon with a Cadillac front end, but I see it also has what appears to be a Cadillac dash and door panels. Rear wheel openings appear to be Chevy, not Caddy. It would be interesting to see exactly how much crossover there is between the same year Caprice and Caddy.

 

[Gus Boucher]

This is a GM wagon with a Cadillac front bolt on cilp. A little body work was needed at the door edge to line up with the clip. The dash, door pnls. front seats and carpet were switched. The rear wagon seat has had an the covers switched and the 3rd. rear seat got a fast flat recover. Nothing major was done to the tail lights. Look at the profile and you will see the rear wheel wells are round not square like the front. The the outer door hdl are not Cadillac. If you find a photo of the H&E or one of the high end conversions you will see what I have pointed out and more. They were a modified Cadillac How do I know ? I have a 1989 Custom Cruiser I was going to do the same thing and even refit the tail lamps, but at the end of the day it still would be an Oldsmoibile with a factory vin for an Oldsmobile. But worse then that I would have wrecked a future collectable. I am sill looking for my Cadillac Wagon.

 

[Paul Yates]

Heres a pic for those interested. Also an 83 Caprice for comparison.

Very cool car. I have always dug station wagons. And the price seems decent. Probly some wiggle room for negotiation too. I would definitely drive this one around.

 

[John Royark JR]

In the 60s and 70s there were conversion companies that converted them into wagons, but they used the whole Cadillac body.
As others said this is a Caprice with a Cadillac dash and front clip, would have been fairly easy to do. They could have at lease grafted in Cadillac tail lights.

 

[Gus Boucher]

I checked the vin and it came back to a Cadillac Fleetwood. I called the seller he tells me it was made for a Funeral Home by a custom coach builder. He goes on to say it has a 4100 motor and is far from perfict. I also noticed that they did switch outside mirrors too. Interisting car. I would bet that all the #s do not match on this one, but still interisting. Too bad its 6 hr. from me or I would take a look.

 

[Andrew G. Zajkowski]

R.S. Harper custom coach fraser mi.

R.S. Harper Custom Coach made several useing a fleetwood brougham as a base. while i worked there in the late 80's very unique and retained the cadillac tailights. the donor vehicle for the back was a impala wagon price range was in the high 50's on up, this one appears to be a impala or caprice with a modified front clip so the fleetwood frt end would fit. i have 2 build pics of a r.s harper conversion in my photo album

 

[Kurt Arends]

That is what's called a "bad marriage".

 

[Paul Yates]

In the 60s and 70s there were conversion companies that converted them into wagons, but they used the whole Cadillac body.
As others said this is a Caprice with a Cadillac dash and front clip, would have been fairly easy to do. They could have at lease grafted in Cadillac tail lights.

Yup definitely Caprice from the firewall back. And i agree that Cadillac tail lights would have really finished it off.

Thanks Gus for digging a bit deeper. It appears to be in good shape, and very clean, but the owner saying its, "far from perfect" explains the, what i feel, is a very decent asking price.

I am curious as to why it was built for a funeral home. Perhaps a custom personal vehicle? I cant imagine it doing any service, or removals with the seats and all in tact. Interesting.

 

[Gus Boucher]

Yes Paul I agree. When I am told by a sales person something "special" about a car and there is nothing to back it up you know like a name, invoice, manufacture or any providence I just smile, shake there hand, nod..... and walk.

 

[Rick Franklin]

I always wanted to take a mid 80s front clip of a Lincoln Town Car and put it on a Ford Country Squire of the same vintage. My body man asked me "But WHY?" I bought my 86 Lincoln S&S Hearse instead!

 

[Don Wasley]

VIN plate swapping most likely

Working in dealership auto parts for various manufacturers has some distinct advantages because you get to look at various car models close up. For example, the VIN plates that are visible at the bottom of the LH side of the windshield are usually riveted in place. So all a conversion company would have to do, in this case, is to drill out the rivets that secure the VIN plate and remove the Chevrolet VIN plate and replace it with the VIN plate from the Cadillac donor vehicle riveted back in the same location and, presto chango! You now have a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham station wagon!!!

 

[Don Wasley]

....I am curious as to why it was built for a funeral home. Perhaps a custom personal vehicle? I cant imagine it doing any service, or removals with the seats and all in tact. Interesting.

Paul, maybe they used it for an "inexpensive" flower car if they couldn't afford/didn't want to buy/didn't know a flower car existed, possibly? You're right, though. It's very interesting that this would be in a funeral home professional fleet!

 

[John ED Renstrom]

but in reality you would have to have it registerd and get the star rivets from the HP in this state. but if your a after market builder re registering the car would be easy. the same as MM and Superior did. you just give it a new number. the cowl may or may not be the same on these set of cars. the easy way to do the dash and front end clip would be to splice the caddy cowl to the Chevy body. the only way it would be using the caddy engine would be if it was on the caddy chassis. way to much swapping of stuff to just put the caddy motor in the Chevy chassis and move the caddy dash to the Chevy body. I'm sure in these years the glass was the same as was the floor pan. the worse case would be to have to graft the front section of the caddy door frame to the Chevy door to marry up to the cowl. this is what the boys did while creating the hearse or ambulance bodies.

 

[Bill Carlin]

Paul, maybe they used it for an "inexpensive" flower car if they couldn't afford/didn't want to buy/didn't know a flower car existed, possibly? You're right, though. It's very interesting that this would be in a funeral home professional fleet!

In the 80's, we used station wagons for removals, transports, flowers, pall bearers, etc. The seats folded flat in those cars making them great for a removal cot.

 

[Peter Jennings]

Isn't swapping VIN plates illegal? My 85 and 87 Cadillac hearses are all Fleetwood Broughams by VIN and registered as such. No mention of "hearse" on title or registration.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

that's why you got to prove the trail of ownership. and the hp brings you the two star rivets to put the other vin tag on. here in SD

 

[Terry Lange]

Here are a couple of Fleetwood wagon conversions that I shot over the years. The white one was at the Pomona, CA swap meet a few years back, and the '76 was taken in the late '70's-early '80's at a car lot in Florida.