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.
Median 83 hp across 153 similar cars
Lead trim: Sixty Special 390 cu in OHV V8 (1960)
Cadillac Sixty Special1959–1960
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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.
FactThe 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.
In 1959 the Sixty Special, its wheelbase down to 130 in, continued as a pillarless hardtop with its own distinct moldings, including a side-mounted dummy air scoop on the rear fender and a thin chrome bead from the front fender back to the rear bumper, with chromed fin-mounted tail light pods (body-colored on lesser Cadillacs); the "Sixty Special" script was gone but the Fleetwood script remained. It was 225 in long, 81.1 in wide in 1959 and 79.9 in in 1960, 56.2 in high and 5,100 lb, with the 390 cu in (6.4 L) OHV V8 providing 325 horsepower and the 4-speed Hydra-Matic; air suspension using freon-filled shock absorbers was optional, with a "scientifically engineered" drainage system advertised.
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
2 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 390 cu in OHV V8 (1960) | 1960–1960 | 6.4 L V8 | 325 hp | 430 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Sixty Special 390 cu in OHV V8 (325 hp, 1959) | 1959–1959 | 6.4 L V8 | 325 hp | 430 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
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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