25 Aug Pigeon Crap Covered 1947 Cadillac Limo – Barn Finds Winner!!
An old friend of mine, Joe Dunleavy, bought this car back in the late 50’s or early 60’s for $100. I believe it had been used before then at a northern fishing camp to transport guests who arrived by float plane to the lodge. Joe drove the car over the years for outings and for friends’ weddings and had the engine removed for rebuilding and the body repainted in the 1970’s. In the early 80’s, when I first saw the car, it was stored engine-less in his brother-in-law John Crispo’s barn a mile up the road from my home, covered in pigeon crap and a thick layer of dust and chaff. A year or two later the car was pulled out of the barn in order to temporarily wagon in a load of hay, and soon thereafter the barn burned to the ground. The fire scorched the new paint and the car sat outside for several years following, unfortunately with some of the pheumatically powered windows partially lowered. During this time Joe was very busy with his business, and the Muller brothers garage in Duntroon, where the engine had been rebuilt, closed shop. I was in my early 20’s and had been working on restoring cars for a few years. One day I walked into Joe’s office and he said, “Jim, would you like the Cadillac?”. The answer was easy. I tracked down the engine which had been ‘lost’ and put it back in the car, and ever since have been storing the car, awaiting for the day to get it on the road again.
Photo to follow…