Solid 1971 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special Brougham Rots in Texas; Is It Worth a Rescue?

With one in six American jobs linked to the auto industry, the federal budget reported a $1 billion deficit in tax revenue, with hundreds of millions more lost in retail sales. Overall, the General Motors United Auto Workers walkout of 1970 was one of the most significant and most expensive strikes in American history, if not the largest.

The shockwave was visible in GM’s overall production for 1971 – all divisions’ sales fell significantly, from Chevrolet to Cadillac. After settling to an agreement, the assembly plants resumed production, but the model year was compromised irreparably, financially speaking. From a buyer’s standpoint, things looked a little bit better. Yes, there were fewer new GM cars to spend money on that year, but the offer was still plentiful.

Even if Chevrolet lost the top spot in overall production to Ford (for the second year in a row, I might add, after a similar labor disagreement had clouded 1970, too), all other divisions were outselling their direct competitors. Cadillac spearheaded the resistance in the luxury segment, selling over three cars for every Lincoln made that year.

Of the 188,537 Caddies built for the model year, 15,200 were given the extra catchy name ‘Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham.’ Up until that point, the two nameplates had lived as separate models, the Sixty Special on one side and the Fleetwood Brougham on another. Cadillac joined the two into a single line, although the ‘Sixty Special’ was seen only on paper, not the car itself.

Fifty-three years later, the 5,000-lbs (2.2 tons) behemoths are few and far between, and they tend to live good retirements in the care of well-off owners who have had them for decades. Of course, there are exceptions – the abandoned, derelict example found by Benny Sanchez from the Classic Ride Society YouTube channel in Little John’s Wrecking Yard in Fort Worth, Texas.

Even in this deplorable state, the enormous Cadillac commands respect after 54,344 miles of service (87,440 km). After all, the ‘Standard of the World’ hadn’t been a simple play upon words but the company’s creed since its very inception. It made ‘Made in USA’ stand for something – even if only size, and it was more than enough.

The 133-inch (3,38 m) wheelbase allowed 228.8 inches (5,81 m) of Cadillac to sit comfortably on the road – for a $7,763 base price – and it’s understandable why such a luxo-barge used naval-grade engines. Four hundred seventy-two cubic inches (7,7 liters) were not only a V8-themed show of big money but also of sheer engine opulence.

Big as it was, the eight-cylinder was not exactly a powerhouse of horsepower, with 345 ponies on tap (220 net hp, after the SAE tax). However, it was a torque nuclear reactor with 500 lb-ft (380 net, or 515 Nm). Impressive as it was, it still had to give the right of way to its Eldorado sibling, the legendary 500 cubic-incher V8 – 8,200 cubic centimeters, or 8.2 liters.(In 2024, we can only shake our heads in disbelief when we read, again and again, that more than two gallons of displacement could only churn out 235 net horses and 410 lb-ft/556 Nm).

Naturally, no owner-driven, self-respectable luxury automobile of the early-seventies America could have any transmission other than an automatic. This Caddy also came with power everything—seats, windows, brakes, steering, door locks, even suspension. The Automatic Level Control was standard equipment on all Fleetwood models.

The car sitting in the junkyard has been off the road since 1989 – by now, it has spent twice as many years rotting than it did cruising along the interstate. Although in rough condition inside due to a missing windshield and side window, the body is pretty solid and straight.

The dent on the passenger side front door would disagree but look at that chrome. It shines impeccably, even after more than half a century. The rest of the body isn’t bad either – and the underside looks decent, with no catastrophic rust attacks anywhere.

Apart from the white leather interior trim and the corresponding black carpet, this Bavarian Blue Firemist Cadilac Sixty Special Fleetwood came with footrests for the rear occupants (htey still work, see them in the gallery), a blue vinyl top, and Soft Ray Glass.

A Trackmaster rear brake skid control system, six-way dual comfort passenger seat, cruise control, automatic climate control, AM-FM stereo radio with 8 track tape, and lamp monitors were all ordered on this very late build Cadillac (June 1971). The car is too good to live in this misery, but would it be worth a rescue (and what would follow it)?