For the 1965 model year, someone at Cadillac decided that referring to cars by numbered series names might be a little too fuddy-duddy and old-fashioned for the Space Age, at least on the cars in the lower end of the lineup. So the Series Sixty-Two, the closest thing there was to an "entry level" Caddy, got re-dubbed as the Calais.
Essentially a de-contended DeVille with less chromed bling on the outside, you could still option a Calais up to be every bit as plush as its more expensive sibling. (Power windows, power seats, AM/FM radio, et cetera were all standard on the DeVille but had to be purchased separately on the Calais.)
It could be had as a pillared sedan, a hardtop sedan, or a hardtop coupe. Unlike the DeVille, there was no convertible offering
The horizontal bar in the grille marks this Cascade Green Calais Coupe as a 1966 model. Under the hood was the Cadillac V-8, which in 1966 displaced 429 cubic inches, sported a four-barrel carb, and was rated at 340 SAE gross horsepower. The 10.5:1 compression ratio would have demanded premium fuel, but presumably that didn't matter to the Cadillac Man, who wouldn't balk at needing to spend as much as nine whole bucks to fill the 26-gallon tank on his Calais.
According to Car Life at the time, the motor was healthy enough to shove the 4760-lb coupe to sixty in 9.4 seconds and through the quarter in seventeen flat at 83mph. The car would float down the interstate at up to 115 with the optional 3.21:1 performance rear axle ratio, maybe a little faster with the standard 2.94:1, although acceleration would suffer a bit.
Base price was $4,955 (or $48,275 in current dollars) but by the time you added air conditioning, power seats & windows, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, and an AM radio, as well as a few other bits and bobs, you were looking at six grand. But hey, it was still the most reasonable entree to driving the Standard of the World.
This one was photographed using a Nikon D7000 and 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR zoom lens in July of 2020 in Speedway, Indiana.
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