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| One-piece windshield was new to Cadillac in 1950s. |
Should you desire to tour Cuba in style and comfort – and, of course, you do -- you'd be hard-pressed to find a better conveyance than this 1950 Cadillac sedan.
Though its side trim is a bit confusing – some pieces missing, others perhaps adapted from a Cadillac of the previous year – I'm pretty sure from its overall proportions as well as the vaulted shape of the decklid that this a Sixty Special model rather than the more common Series 62.If I'm right, it's one of 13,755 Sixty Specials built for 1950, all on a 130-inch wheelbase that was down three inches from 1949 but still ensured copious interior space. The Series 62, of which 55,311 were produced, had a 126-inch wheelbase.
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| Sixty Special looks to have been well used, and well cared for. |
Almost certainly, this Cadillac was sold new by the busy Ambar General Motors agency in Havana. It might have gone to a wealthy businessman or politician, maybe even to a mobster.
From the shine of its brightwork, we know this enormous Cadillac has been given much love in the decades since. It deserves its due, and when you alight from it at the Tropicana or Habana Riviera, its chrome reflecting the flashes of the tourists' cameras, so will you.
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| Big exhaust pipe hints at a diesel engine in place of the original 331-cubic-inch gasoline V-8. |