The 58 Seville is back home. A dead battery...

04 | 09 | 12 | 21:08 | Filed in: 1958 Cadillac

Due to limited space in my garage I always have to store at least 2 cars at friends. Last year I put my 1958 Seville into storage at a friends awesome garage.

Now after almost a full year of not seeing the car it was time to bring it back home again. I was a little worried if the car would even start up after such a long time of hibernation.
After I put some fuel into the center carb - the car fired right up after only 3 seconds of cranking! Amazing! The car ran perfectly well and made the one hour and a half trip home without any issues.

The surprise came the next day when I wanted to take the car on another trip. The battery was dead although it was disconnected after the last trip. I tried to recharge it but it´s completely dead! The Exide Maxima battery only lasted for 5 years and broke down over night without any warning… I will buy a new battery probably next spring - not sure if I should go with Exide again, maybe a cheaper one will have to do.

The 58 after it left my friends garage after a year of storage. To my surprise it started right up!

Tags:1958, Seville, Eldorado, Battery, Exide

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The cars are in winter storage :-(

With winter approaching rapidly, today I returned the license plates of my cars and put them into winter hibernation. I did not drive my cars very much this summer due to a mostly very rainy summer. So I did not rack up too many miles on my cars this season. I just made about 200 - 400 miles on most of them...
The cars are now in their cosy garages and will all get a new wax-, lubrication- and thorough cleaning job during the next few weeks. I usually also disconnect all the batteries, give the weatherstripping and rubber a good coat of silicone spray and treat all leather areas with leather conditioner. I also clean the interior carefully and over-inflate the tires to make sure that they do not get any flat spots. I will also park the tires on styrofoam. I really hate winter and snow and I am already looking forward to next spring... Over the winter I will rebuild the starter motor of my 1967 Eldorado and detail the undercarriage. The Lincolns undercarriage will get a very good cleaning as well. The 67 DeVille will get some new front wheel bearings and probably a new wheel cylinder and power booster. The 58 Eldorado will also need new front wheel bearings. So there will be a lot of minor things that will keep me busy over the winter...

Below are some pictures of our very last cruising tour this week with the Mark III

Cruising through the scenic landscape of Austria looking down at a lake

The Mark III enjoying the last sun rays...

The whole family in the Lincoln - little Elliot is taking a nap as usual - nothing beats the soothing sound of the V8...

Tags:1971, Lincoln, 1967, 1958, 1996, Buick, Roadmaster, Eldorado, Seville, Deville, Continental Mark III, Winter, Storage

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The 58 Eldorado is in winter storage in an awesome garage

28 | 09 | 11 | 18:14 | Filed in: 1958 Cadillac | Various

I put my 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville into winter storage today. As I ran out of garage space and have not found a solution for my storage problem yet, my friend Christian was so kind to offer me a cosy place in his AWESOME garage to store the 58 over the winter. So I drove my car to him today and enjoyed the 75 mile trip to his garage, as we had a warm and sunny autumn day.
When I reached Christians garage I refueled the car and put some fuel stabilizer in it. Amazingly the car needed only 18 mpg / 13l/100km. Thats pretty amazing - and I drove it pretty lead footed...

The car will spend this winter in a fantastic garage . The owner has an amazing collection of fine Cadillacs and some other classic cars. Among the Cadillacs are a 1956, 1957 and 1960 Eldorado Biarritz and a super low mileage 1976 Bicentennial. All cars are in amazing condition. The garage is second to none - it also features a full size bar and diner below the show room...

I´m glad that my 58 can spend the winter there, while my other cars are safely put away in my crowded garage. I really want to thank Christian for his generous offer!!!!

Below you can see some pictures I took on my last ride with the 58 in 2011. Good night my dear 58 - see you in May 2012.

On the way...

I had to stop at an oil pump along the road to snap a picture...

I had to stop at an oil pump along the road to snap a picture...

Christians “Eldorado Roadhouse“ - an awesome garage! The 1960 Biarritz once belonged to Cary Grant by the way... Next to my 58 is a super low mileage Bicentennial...

A part of Christians garage - the car under the cover is my 58... then there is a custom corvette and a #1 Mustang GT350...

Tags:Eldorado, 1958, Seville, Winter, Garage

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TV - Promotion Shooting for the Cadillac BIG Meet - 58 breaks down

23 | 08 | 11 | 16:13 | Filed in: 1958 Cadillac | Car Shows | Various

I got a call from national Austrian television that they would like to do a short report for the upcoming Cadillac BIG Meet at the Kremsegg castle. They needed some Cadillacs there to do some interviews and to shoot some footage to promote our upcoming event. Of course we had to use this chance to promote our show on air.
My friends Christl, Christian and Willi and I made it there with our cars, on what must have been the hottest day this summer, and we could do the shooting for a 2 Minute piece at the Kremsegg castle.
We had Cary Grants former 1960 Eldorado Biarritz there, which now belongs to my friend Christian, which was the star of the report. The report aired 2 days before our show on national television.

I drove my 58 to the shooting and while sitting in heavy traffic it suddenly cut out while I was in the left lane. Eventually I made it to the right shoulder and I tried to make it run again without any success. Unfortunately I had no tools with me - so I had to call the automobile service club to help me out. They arrived about 20 minutes later. I asked the guy who helped me out to unscrew the fuel line and blow some compressed air into it, as I suspected a clogged fuel line. We reconnected everything and it ran beautifully again. So I safely made it home again. I wrongfully assumed that everything must have been fixed now and that I should clean the tank soon... (see the report about the Cadillac BIG Meet 2011to see what happened)

Stranded on the Autobahn

Cary Grants former 1960 Eldorado Biarritz was the star of the show

The TV team with the show host Simona Pindeus and Willi Hofmann on the steering wheel

Tags:Cadillac BIG Meet, 1958, Eldorado, Seville, Car Show, ORF

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Cadillac BIG Meet 2011

28 | 08 | 11 | 20:09 | Filed in: 1958 Cadillac | 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III | Car Shows | Restoration

The Cadillac BIG Meet is Europe’s biggest Cadillac meeting - held every year at the last weekend of August.
My wife and I are part of the organization team together with some good friends. At this years addition we had the theme “Cadillac meets Lincoln“ and so we invited Lincolns to the show field. My own Continental Mark III just got ready for the show a couple of days before the show, so I drove it there along with my 1958 Eldorado Seville which was piloted by my friend Tayfun.
On Saturday there is always a cruising tour limited to 40 preregistered cars. When we arrived at the host hotel lots of people were surprised seeing me arrive in a Lincoln ;-)

30 minutes before the tour started, suddenly the 58 cut out and did not want to start again. I once again suspected a clogged fuel line and we blew the line through. Unfortunately it did not help at all - the line was free. With the help of Lucky (a fellow 1958 Biarritz owner) we disassembled the fuel pump and found out that the valve inside came loose and was no longer in its seat. Lucky put it back and the car ran beautifully again. It all was fixed in 15 minutes and the 58 was ready for the cruising tour.

At the show on sunday 133 Cadillacs and 11 Lincolns participated. There were many awesome cars on the show field, like one of the worlds best 1953 Eldorados, a spectacular 1958 Eldorado Brougham, lots of 59 Eldorados and everything else ranging from 1921 to 2011. The show was once again spectacular.

You can find all the pictures of the show here:
http://www.cadillac-meeting.com/english/pictures/pictures.html

My 1971 Continental Mark III just before the start of the cruising tour.

The cars are gathering for the cruising tour

Lucky repaired the fuel pump of my 58 Seville 30 minutes before the start of the cruising tour - Thank you Lucky!!!!

My friends Claudia and Tayfun drove my 58 Eldorado Seville

one of the many awesome cars at the show - 1958 Eldorado Brougham # 535 - my dream car

a small overview of a part of the show field at the Kremsegg castle

You can find all the pictures of the show here:
http://www.cadillac-meeting.com/english/pictures/pictures.html