Lot 118

Motor City 2016

1942 Cadillac Series 67 Seven-Passenger Imperial Sedan by Fisher

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$16,500 USD | Sold

United States | Plymouth, Michigan

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Engine No.
9380014
Body No.
2
  • Formerly owned by S.S. Kresge; believed to have had only three owners from new
  • The second of only 198 examples built
  • A wonderful original and unrestored car
  • Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic; a superior CARavan entrant

Body Style 42-6733. 150 bhp, 346 cu. in. OHV V-8 engine, three-speed synchromesh manual transmission, independent coil-spring front suspension, Hotchkiss semi-floating rear axle, and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 139 in.

It is easy to forget that in 1941 and 1942, the famed Series 75 was not the largest Cadillac available. That honor went to the Series 67, a model three inches longer in wheelbase and with bodywork built not by Fleetwood, but by Fisher, which was usually known for providing the division’s mass-production bodies. While the Series 67 was somewhat less opulently appointed than the Series 75, it made up for that in sheer impressive size and remained a popular choice among America’s wealthy and most important families.

Among the buyers was Sebastian S. Kresge, founder of the S.S. Kresge chain of dime-stores, once a fixture in major American cities nationwide, and the predecessor of today’s Kmart. Mr. Kresge was a significant businessman and philanthropist here in Detroit, where his company began, and the Kresge Foundation continues to support worthy causes throughout Michigan. According to the current owner, Kresge acquired the Cadillac new, and it remained in his family for over three decades. During much of that time, it was regularly used to drive Mrs. Kresge back and forth across the border to the family’s summer cottage in Ontario, Canada.

In 1977, the Cadillac was sold by the Kresge estate to Ken Mack of Michigan. Mr. Mack eventually sold the Series 67 to its previous owner, in whose care it has continued to be maintained in solid unrestored and very presentable order. As luck would have it, he had also come to own the Kresge cottage, and so the car was able to once again spend time at its original “home.” It is accompanied at the sale by a copy of its Cadillac build sheet and by a 1948 Michigan title in Mr. Kresge’s name, signed off to Mr. Mack at the time that he purchased this car.

Survivors of the Series 67 are among the scarcest CCCA Full Classics, especially those manufactured in the war-shortened 1942 model year. The opportunity to acquire an imminently CARavan-worthy original, such as that offered here, with rich Michigan provenance, cannot be underestimated.