A special interior treatment makes this 1950 Series 61 one of a kind

At first blush, this Cadillac is unassuming to behold, almost plain with its single-tone French Gray paint and blackwall tires. It's a base Series 61 Sedan, the least expensive four-door in General Motors' flagship range, and one that exhibits the sweetly mellow patina that 70 years of good care can bring. But look inside, and that first impression quickly gives way to amazement as this Series 61 reveals a most extraordinary secret, hidden in plain sight.

It was evolution, rather than revolution, at Cadillac for the 1950 model year. Bearing visibly refined styling and a one-piece windshield, the latest examples carried on the cosmetic themes that had been established with the all-new 1948 models, and continued to use the overhead-valve V-8 engine that was added in 1949. The Series 61 represented the most radical change for 1950, using the shorter corporate B-body shared with the Oldsmobile 98 and Buick Super and Roadmaster. The result was a Cadillac that offered an up-to-date drivetrain plus an admirable amount of interior room within a reasonably trim exterior footprint. This model proved the best choice for an economically cognizant consumer with specific demands for a premium automobile.

This 160-hp, 331-cu.in. OHV V-8 has never been apart in 50,000 miles, but its two-barrel Carter WCD 742S was preventatively rebuilt with ethanol-resistant gaskets. The son of the original owner added an aftermarket A/C unit in 1966, now partially removed for service access.

When Dr. Bela Hubbard visited the Apache Motors Buick-Cadillac franchise in Tucson, Arizona, in July 1950, he had an unusual new car in mind. Hubbard would specify an entry-level Cadillac four-door model, but would option it to the point that the finished car would cost $4,160.18, the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $44,655 today. This was a startling $1,294.18 (about $13,890) more than the 61 Sedan's base price, more than $500 ($5,365) above the cost of the exclusive Series 62 Convertible Coupe, and within $610 ($6,550) of the seven-passenger Series 75 Fleetwood Sedan.

Hubbard bought one of 14,619 examples of the Series 61, whose 122-inch wheelbase nestled inside a 2117/8-inch overall length; these measurements were 4 and roughly 3 inches shorter, respectively, than those of the 1949 model. Cadillac's two-barrel Carter carburetor-topped 331-cu.in. V-8 used its 313/16 x 35/8-inch bore and stroke and 7.5:1 compression ratio to produce 160 hp at 3,800 rpm and 312 lb-ft of torque at 1,800 rpm. That ample torque helped the 3,822-pound sedan step out smartly, even with the available four-speed Hydra-Matic in place of this model's standard Synchro-Mesh manual. Shorter wheelbase notwithstanding, the coil spring front and semi-elliptic leaf spring rear suspensions, linked to the reinforced X-type frame, gave a Cadillac-soft ride over low-pressure 8.00 x 15-inch tires.

The dash remains intact with its factory-applied finishes, as do the plastic steering wheel rim and shift knob. The original radio was restored to function correctly again. The floormat crumbled when it was removed to access the Hydra-Matic service points on the tunnel.

Among the many options and accessories specified for the richly equipped base Series 61 Sedan was this windshield visor, which cost $47.50 to install; it was complemented by extra-cost windshield washers and an exterior rearview mirror.

The list of equipment selected for this car included typical items like that Hydra-Matic, automatic heating system, and a radio with rear speaker, but the invoice also noted something quite out-of-the-ordinary: a $277 charge for "Labor—Installing Leather Trim." "Every inch inside is covered in leather—the headliner, the door panels, the visors, the windlace, even the rear package shelf," owner John Strawway tells us. "It was likely Dr. Hubbard's son, Thomas, who had the custom leather upholstery for the car fabricated so that it could be installed by the dealership."

The current caretaker of this car has closely examined this upholstery and found it unique. "This leather is much more rugged than you'd find in a Jaguar; it's thick, and stitched like a heavy saddlebag," John says. "Clearly, the Hubbards loved the Southwest, and that probably has much to do with the saddle-leather trimming. The pattern is nothing like what Cadillac used in 1950, so it's not like such an interior would have been offered by the factory. This is more like the channel stitching that you see in cars of the Twenties and Thirties. The car came with some scrap pieces of original tanned and raw leather, and from those, I could tell the interior color had mellowed some, but hadn't changed dramatically. This car was always garaged."

Not surprisingly, it was that custom interior that drew the Rochester, New York, resident to become its second private owner outside of the Hubbard family. The attraction to our Driveable Dream was helped by John's memories growing up through the 1960s in the back seats of General Motors' finest, as he told us that his parents always drove recent-model, second-hand Cadillacs. It joined a collection that includes nine Cadillac-built cars manufactured between 1907 and 1981; "I hadn't owned any cars from the Fifties, that decade hadn't resonated with me very much. But I found this car fascinating.

"Dr. Hubbard was a successful geologist and came from a wealthy family, so he could afford any Cadillac," John explains. "I suspect he selected the Series 61 because it was the shortest, lightest model offered, and likely to be the most efficient. His concern about fuel efficiency was evidenced by notes to the service department questioning its work on the carburetor that resulted in a drop of 2 mpg. I have most of his typed service requests and receipts for the work performed. Every spring the car went to the dealer to have the oil changed to summer weight, and to have the anti-freeze drained, system flushed, and water added. In the fall, the service returned the car to winter oil along with fresh anti-freeze."

When John bought this Cadillac in 2015, it showed fewer than 50,000 miles on the odometer and was, for the most part, as delivered. "A prior owner had an incident with a garage door frame that required a bit of repainting on the right side, but it was matched fairly well. In bright sunlight, you can see those areas are a bit shinier, but that's part of the history of the car.

"There's no indication that the engine has been rebuilt," John continues. "It ran fine when I bought it, but I rebuilt the carburetor with ethanol-resistant gaskets. I also dropped the oil pan to clean out any sludge, something I do with every old car. Navigating a steep driveway accidentally damaged the muffler and tailpipe, so I replaced them with a system from Classic Exhaust in Ohio; it fit exactly right." Thomas, who maintained the Sedan until his own death in 1993, had an aftermarket air conditioning unit installed prior to a trip to Mexico in 1966, but that system's under-dash interior components blocked access to the Hydra-Matic service ports on the transmission tunnel, so John removed them.

Original order sheet and invoice reveal the curious request for the installation of a full-leather interior, to be supplied, replacing the fabric upholstery before the car was delivered.

The driver's portion of the front bench seat also required attention, he revealed. "The cotton threads had let go. The leather was a little stiff, but I cleaned it with Murphy Oil Soap—it's a vegetable-oil-based cleaner that is gentle and effective—and then gave it three applications of Lexol over a winter. When I came back to it, the leather had softened nicely. I took the seat completely apart and re-stitched it by hand. It was tedious, but upholstery specialists told me I couldn't run that old leather through a sewing machine. They gave me very good information on how to handle it, and it was a great rainy-day project in my basement shop."

In his five years of ownership, John has put a few thousand miles on this very original Cadillac, and he praises its highway manners while noting that the lack of power assist for the steering and drum brakes mean it requires a bit more effort and attention. "It's pretty bulletproof, but parts aren't too hard to find. It's a great car, and I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a 1,000-mile trip."