Our friend Earle has a new baby. Here is his email and you can see the excitement he has to add this to his collection.
We managed to get the new addition to the fleet home this week. Have learned that it is a Hess & Eisenhardt built Park Hill model six door funeral home limo. It is a 1985 Fleetwood Brougham stretch and is the last of the full size rear wheel drive Caddies. All other models in ’85 are front wheel drive, and in ’86 every model was FWD.
This vehicle is 21.3 feet long, is, as far as I can determine about a 8.5 on a scale of 10. There are minor bumper dings both front and rear (21.3 feet long, remember?) and the hood either needs painting or buffing and there is one dime size rock chip on left rear quarter that needs attention. Everything except the power antennae works – I have the same problem with the Flower Car, must be somewhat common.
I plan to take it in to get the mechanicals checked and if all is good, then have the body shop see about the hood and chip. I think I’ll call the minor bumper dings “age appropriate patina.”
Look forward to turning a few heads with this beauty when it is returned to it’s former glory. I have decided to name it “Black Velvet II”.
As I am told the car was purchased new and used exclusively by a funeral home in Doylestown PA. It was taken from regular service fifteen years ago but kept garaged and maintained for occasional use. In 2010 it was sold or traded and found it’s way to a dealership in Cherry Hill NJ where it was purchased by the first owner after coming out of service, in Columbia PA. He made some age related repairs, new battery, a/c condenser, belts. I found the car advertised on eBay and after three days of research and internal struggle between pros and cons I took the Buy It Now option and became the second owner since it was taken out of service. My brother and I made the round trip to PA and the car now resides in southern NH where I plan to freshen it up, attend to a few details and show it along with my 1978 McLain Flower Car.
The stretch was done by Hess & Eisenhardt also known as Sayers & Scovill (S&S) from Cincinnati OH. Through a number of acquisitions and mergers the S&S name still builds coach-built cars on Cadillac chassis’s under the name of Accubuilt.
This vehicle is a 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham stretch six door family limousine built for the funeral home industry. The 1985 Brougham is the last of the full size Caddies with rear wheel drive. All other models in ’85 were front wheel drive and in 1986 all models were fwd. The car has 28 thousand miles and rides and drives like a new automobile. The exterior is all black with a black vinyl, textured roof. The interior is blue leather throughout and in excellent condition. Every option on the car with the single exception of the power antenna works. Once I have the the all clear from the shop and know that everything is as good as it looks, I plan to take it to local shows, any Professional Car Society (PCS) shows I can make and use it for the fun and head turning ability I am sure it will bring to the table.
