Vinny O'Hare

1911 Cadillac Finds a New Home in Australia

This week I got an interesting email from Malcolm in Australia. I will let him explain why his English Riley is on a Cadillac site.

Hi Vinny,

I am a new member to your Cadillac Country Club and read your emails and attached articles with great interest – there’s nothing like a car club that relates to a special make of car to get members talking about their ‘pride and joy’! Congratulations on getting the Club up and running – well done!

I live in a regional city called Townsville which is located on the north-eastern coast of Australia, 1100 kms north of Brisbane and 340 kms south of Cairns. I have just finished restoring an English Riley and although your members might think of me as a heretic in hallowed halls of Cadillac I just have to include a photo because I love her long classy body and sexy curves.

Riley car in Australia — Malcolm and His Restored Riley

But enough of the English. In three weeks time I will be driving to Melbourne (a 6,000 km round trip) to bring home my next restoration project – a 1911 Cadillac 30. It was ‘love at first sight’ even though I will be starting off with just the chassis, engine, drive shaft, wheels and fenders – a challenge, that’s for sure (see attached photos). But somewhere in my besotted brain I thought ‘if I can restore her to her former glory I will die a happy and contented man’. This thought has been strengthened even more by the most beautiful photo I’ve ever seen of a fully restored 1911 Cadillac 30, which I purchased on Ebay as well as an original maintenance manual.

Before Restoration of a 1911 Cadillac — Beautiful 1911 Cadillac Awaiting Restoration.

Historically, the Cadillac was a popular car with wealthy property owners (graziers) running sheep or cattle, because the cars were strong and reliable, and able to withstand the rugged conditions of the Australian ‘outback’ (or what you would call ‘frontierland’). So, a significant number were imported from America. So far, I know of a 1911 or 1912 in Cairns, Canberra and Melbourne. Hopefully I will locate more as a source of parts, information and advice!

1911 Cadillac cockpit — 1911 Cadillac Body

Naturally, I would love to hear from any of your members that have, or know where I can buy, spare parts for a 1911 Cadillac 30.

Cheers, and keep up the good work

Mal

1911 Cadillac frame — 1911 Cadillac Frame and Drive Shaft

I hope you enjoyed Malcolm’s email. It absolutely makes my day when someone half way around the world sends me pictures and a Cadillac story. I am sure we will be hearing from Malcolm as he rebuilds his vintage Cadillac. If you want to help him out feel free to leave advice in the comments if you know where he can get parts. I have sent him to a nice Cadillac club that I am sure will be a big help to him. If you want to see what it is going to look like when it is finished visit our 1911 Cadillac page.

Justin Bieber’s New Cadillac Is A Beauty

By Vinny O'Hare

I am sure you all heard on the news that Justin Bieber got pulled over in his new “Batmobile Themed” Cadillac CTS-V. Well I saw a video of Bieber getting interviewed where he said it was all bull so I believe him. You know how the media loves to play that game to make the stars look guilty.

This Sunday night on the Velocity channel at 8pm you can see how he got his car customized at West Coast Customs. To me it looks like a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Black Diamond edition but I am not sure exactly if that is what it started out as. I will be watching to see what they do to it besides the suicide doors.

I know it has 22 inch Asanti wheels and some batman logos but I am sure the guys at West Coast have done many other changes.

So yes I am admitting that I am going to watch Justin instead of the first quarter of Sunday night football. Is that so wrong after all he does have a good taste in cars. We have a video of a CTS-V Black Diamond that I put on the forum from the NY auto show.

Welcome to the Cadillac family Justin Bieber.

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Cadillac Tow Truck

By Vinny O'Hare

I was just watching “You Don’t Know Dixie” on the History channel and they had an interesting piece on the very first tow truck. I bet many of you didn’t know that the first tow truck was a Cadillac.

First Cadillac Tow Truck.

Ernest Holmes from Chattanooga Tennessee chopped his 1913 Cadillac in half and rigged it up so that he could pull trucks out of ditches. The day before someone flipped their Model T in a ditch and it took all day with 6 men to get it out. He figured there had to be a better way. He went back to his shop and the tow truck was born.

If you would like to learn more visit International Towing Museum

The show was very enlightening and if you get a chance to see it I recommend doing so. Here is the preview from the History Channel.

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