1962 Cadillac Series Sixty Special Fleetwood

The tail fins grew to new heights during the 1950s, a styling exercise that was quickly copied throughout the industry. The automobile tailfin is often credited to General Motors design chief Harley Earl (while other sources credit Franklin Quick Hershey), and was first seen on the 1948 Cadillac. Throughout the 1960s, the tailfins descended, adopting a downward slope on the 1965 Cadillacs.

The Sixty Special model of the early 1960s reflected Bill Mitchell's more restrained and subtle design themes, with the 1962 Series Sixty distinguished from its peers by its chevron slash moldings on the rear roof pillar and a unique cross-hatched rear deck latch panel grille. The sole body style was a four-door hardtop sedan with seating for six and a factory base price of $6,370. This meant it was within $300 of the Eldorado Biarritz convertible and almost $700 more than the Sedan DeVille, limiting production to only 13,350 of the 160,840 total cars built by Cadillac in the 1960 model year.

Powering all 1962 Cadillac models was an overhead valve V8 with a 10.5:1 compression ratio, hydraulic valve lifters, five main bearings, and a Carter two-barrel carburetor. It delivered 325 horsepower which was sent to the rear wheels via an automatic transmission. Standard equipment included power seats, power windows, whitewall tires, a six-way power bench seat, and remote control trunk lock.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2015

The 1962 Cadillac Sixty Special sedan reflected Bill Mitchell's more subtle design theme, with a more formal c-pillar treatment with small louvers and a smaller rear window balanced by triangular quarter windows on the rear doors. With a base price of $6,366, it was within $300 of the prestigious Eldorado Biarritz convertible and almost $700 more that the Sedan DeVille, limiting production to only 13,350 of the 160,840 total cars built by Cadillac in the 1960 model year.
By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2024