1961 Cadillac Fleetwood
The Fleetwood name started as a body manufacturer, and was acquired by General Motors in the purchase of Fisher Body in 1929, who purchased Fleetwood in 1925. From 1925-29 Fleetwood Body built Cadillac bodies exclusively, offering them as an option from 1927-1934. After 1934 Fleetwood bodies were only available on the exclusive Series 75 and Series 90 Cads. By the 1950s it was used as an umbrella to designate more expensive, exclusive Cads, and also as the body manufacturer for the Fleetwood Brougham from 1957-1961. With the addition of the Eldorado Biarritz in 1963 Fleetwood was the body manufacturer. The Eldorado, Sixty Special on the extended Cadillac chassis, and high end Series 75 models were placed under the Fleetwood banner, but there was no separate Fleetwood model. Bare Fleetwood chassis were used for professional coach builders. In 1977 the Sixty Special Brougham and Series 75 were renamed “Fleetwood Brougham” and “Fleetwood Limousine” respectively. In 1985 the Fleetwood name was used on the new front-wheel drive GM C-body platform, while the Brougham became a separate make on the rear-wheel drive GM D-body platform for a single year. In 1986 it became a DeVille option package, before becoming part of the Fleetwood Sixty Special on the stretched C-body platform, and the Fleetwood Series 75 used an even longer stretched C-body chassis. In this period there was a lot of back and forth with the Fleetwood designations and other models. In 1993 the Fleetwood name landed on the rear-wheel drive C-body four-door sedans. When this platform was retired in 1996 the Fleetwood name was as well.
1961 Fleetwood Sixty Special/Series 75
Another new body hit the showrooms for 1961. Body sculpturing and harder breaks characterized the 1961 design. Riding on a shorter 129.5-inch wheelbase chassis, the fins were smaller and more refined than in 1960, but one smaller fin lower on each rocker resulted in four fins per rear end. Power steering was now standard. Fleetwood tops featured heavy C-pillars for a more formal look than other Cadillacs. Six chrome trim slashes on the rear quarter panels defined the Fleetwood. Power seats and windows were standard equipment.
AVAILABLE MODELS:
1961
- Body Style
- 60-Four-Door Sedan
- 75-Four-Door Sedan
- 75-Imperial Sedan
- 86-Commercial Chassis
1961 Cadillac VIN Decoder:
First Two Characters: Year
Third Character: Series
- M ~ Fleetwood 60 Special Sedan, Four-Door
- R ~ Fleetwood 75 Sedan, Four-Door
- S ~ Fleetwood 75 Limousine
- Z ~ Commercial Chassis
Fourth-Ninth Characters: Production Numbers
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