Ed Wilder's 1952 Cadillac

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1952 Cadillac convertible restyled by Jay Everett for Ed Wilder of Los Angeles, California. Ed wanted to have his car radically altered, but he also wanted it to retain the stock Cadillac appearance. Chopping the top, channeling the body, altering the grill or making any similar changes would make the car look less Cadillac, so Ed and Jay decided that sectioning the body was the only thing that would do. The car was sectioned above the fender lines, and four inches were removed just below the belt molding. This necessitated rebuilding the hood and altering the the deck lid. According to Hop Up May 1953, altering the hood and deck lid was the most difficult part of the job. After sectioning the car, it appeared wider, but not as wide as Ed wanted it. So Jay moved the front fenders three quarters of an inch out from the body. This change made it necessary for Jay to further alter the hood in order to fit the widened opening. After moving out the fenders, Jay also had to widen the doors, the quarter panels, the rear fenders, the bumpers and grill. During the build Ed decided that he wanted a Coupe de Ville instead of a convertible. A new de Ville top, complete with windows and hardware was ordered from a Cadillac dealership and installed on the car. After sectioning the car, the rear quarter windows were too long to roll down, so Jay made windows that could slide in and out instead. The deck lid and hood trim was removed along with the Cadillac scripting on each front fender. [1]


After sectioning the body, the cowl had been sectioned below the level of the instrument panel. The panel had dropped so much with the upper part of the body that it was impossible for the driver to get his feet under it. The 1950 Cadillac instrument panel is not so deep as the 1952 panel, so a panel from a 1950 Cadillac was fitted to the car. The seat cushions were dropped closer to the floor, and the seat backs were cut down. All hardware inside was brass plated.[1]


The body was painted in a black lacquer, and the suspension was lowered three inches in the rear and two and a half up front. The total cost ran close to $3,000 US.[1]


Magazine Features

Hop Up May 1953
Hop Up July 1953


References




 

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