Cadillac's 100,000th car to roll off the line in 1950 wasn't a run-of-the-mill model — it was a Sixty Special, the brand's flagship.
Median 90 hp across 122 similar cars
Lead trim: Sixty Special 331 cu in OHV V8 (1951) · up to 210 hp
Cadillac Sixty Special1950–1953
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Cadillac Sixty Special yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactCadillac's 100,000th car to roll off the line in 1950 wasn't a run-of-the-mill model — it was a Sixty Special, the brand's flagship.
The 1950 Sixty Special rode a 130 in wheelbase (4 in longer than the Series 62's, but down 3 in from the previous year) and had a shipping weight of 4,136 lb (over 4,300 lb curb), powered by the same 331 cu in (5.4 L) Cadillac OHV V8 introduced for 1949, producing 160 horsepower; for the first time over 100,000 Cadillacs were sold in a year, 13,755 of them Sixty Specials (a model record), and the actual 100,000th Cadillac was a 1950 Sixty Special. For 1952 the reverse lamps became integral with the fin-mounted tail lamps, the "Fleetwood" script returned to the trunk lid, the rear exhaust outlets were two wide horizontal slots on the bumper and winged crest emblems appeared on the grille extensions; with a down-draft carburetor the 331 produced 190 horsepower, with a revised automatic standard (sales fell to 16,110 at US$4,269 and 4,258 lb shipping weight); Cadillac won Motor Trend's "Car of the Year". 1953 saw the attention go to the new Eldorado convertible: minimal trim changes (wider rocker moldings, a revised grille and bumper), but significant engineering changes including a new 12-volt electrical system and a jump in power for the 331, now rated at 210 hp, with trunk-mounted Frigidaire air conditioning (US$619.55) and the "Autronic Eye" new options. Dimensions: 224.9 in long in 1950, 224.5 in in 1951–52 and 224.8 in in 1953, 80.1 in wide, 62.7 in high.
Collectors Spotted in the Cadillac Sixty Special Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Cadillac Sixty Special yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
4 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sixty Special 331 cu in OHV V8 (160 hp, 1950) | 1950–1950 | 5.4 L V8 | 160 hp | 312 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Sixty Special 331 cu in OHV V8 (190 hp, 1952) | 1952–1952 | 5.4 L V8 | 190 hp | 322 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Sixty Special 331 cu in OHV V8 (1951) | 1951–1951 | 5.4 L V8 | 160 hp | 312 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Sixty Special 331 cu in OHV V8 (210 hp, 1953) | 1953–1953 | 5.4 L V8 | 210 hp | 330 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
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Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Cadillac's priciest Sixty Special option wasn't called "Brougham" or "d'Elegance" — it was the "Talisman," named after the word for a magic charm, and it outranked both of those trims.
For 1965 the Sixty Special brought back a B-pillar it had gone without since 1957 — trading its hardtop look for a formal, pillared sedan profile.
This Sixty Special went nearly bare-sided on purpose — it shared the Eldorado's stripped-down lack of body trim instead of the chrome standard Cadillacs wore.
The 1959 Sixty Special's rear-fender air scoop never breathed a drop of air — it was pure decoration, a one-year-only styling flourish bolted on for the fins era and gone again after.
After fifteen years as its signature look, the Sixty Special's chrome fender louvers vanished for 1957 — swapped for a giant ribbed metal panel covering the whole lower rear fender.
This 1956 Sixty Special wore the last of the "knobby" tail fins styled after the P-38 Lightning fighter plane — Cadillac smoothed them out the very next year.
Cadillac's 100,000th car to roll off the line in 1950 wasn't a run-of-the-mill model — it was a Sixty Special, the brand's flagship.
For one year only, the 1948 Sixty Special had a rainbow-shaped instrument cluster stacking every gauge directly above the steering column.
Cadillac had a sunroof option before World War II — and then killed it for being slow-selling. The feature wouldn't return to a Cadillac for almost 30 years, until the 1970 Eldorado.
Designer Bill Mitchell called the 1938 Sixty Special 'the first hardtop,' even though it was technically a sedan. Its pillarless-look doors blurred the line years before real hardtops existed.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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