By Jay Hirsch
“What if?”
These words could be applied to the magnificent two-door “woody” wagon seen here. If Cadillac had made such a car in 1947, would Cadillac buyers have bought the car? If Cadillac made the car today, would there be enough interest by Cadillac people to keep the car in production? We will never know.
This one-off custom Cadillac, made sometime between 2001 and 2005, has no “paper work” detailing where the car was built, who built it or who the car was built for. This “1947 Cadillac Woody” was previously owned by Tammy Allen, before the current owner “Cadillac” Sal Santoro bought the car in 2016.
Although Sal likes and appreciates all cars, he is called “Cadillac Sal” because of his love and passion for all things Cadillac. Among the several Cadillacs Sal and his wife, Jan, own is a white-with-gray-roof 1959 coupe, which “no amount of money can buy,” because “that is Jan’s car.” That is passion!
This 1947 Cadillac began life as a 1947 Cadillac Miller-bodied hearse built on the series 75 chassis with a wheelbase of 136 inches. Power was from a 150 hp, 346 cid V-8/5.7 liter engine. The rear two-piece tailgate was cut and shaped from the original one-piece-door, which swung open towards the driver’s side. The door was the same width as it is now with the exception of being cut into a two-section tail gate with gas struts for the top and bottom sections to support it when opened.
The body and frame were shortened by 29 inches, with the roof being replaced with a roof from a 1957 Chevrolet wagon and lowered by three inches. The taillights and fins are from a 1949 Cadillac, which are similar to the 1948 tail fin assembly introduced by Cadillac in 1948. The body had four-and-half-inches sectioned out of it. Given that the original 1947 Miller hearse was almost six feet, six inches tall, the sectioning of the body and the lowering of the roof brings the “woody” into 1960s and later proportions without any loss of headroom and entry to the passenger area is very easy, with no ducking of one’s head whatsoever.
The exterior wood is done in period-correct ash and mahogany, except for one “minor detail.” The wood is not part of the structural body. The 1947 Miller hearse had an all-steel body. The wood is bolted onto the steel body. The wood theme is carried over into the passenger compartment, which has wood slats on the ceiling, again for decorative purposes, with each wood slat hand-cut to fit the contour of the steel roof. The interior panels on the doors are made from oak and white ash, keeping with the period style of the car. The seats are corvered in a smooth leather in a maroon color, reflecting the style of the 1940s. Except for installing a modern radio where the art deco speaker would have been, the dash has been kept “original.” One thing Sal is “thinking of doing” is replacing the external section where that radio currently is with an original chrome speaker face, when he finds one. Sal is also deciding on what type of cover he wants to install over the speakers in the front doors.
In hot weather you are kept comfortably “kool” by a modern-day Vintage Air conditioning unit. As a matter of choice, when the car was built, the wheels have small chrome wheel covers and chrome beauty-rings with the wheels painted a reddish-orange. Sal likes this look as opposed to a full-chrome Cadillacsombrero wheel cover.
To power the 1947 Woody there is an OHV 429 cid/7-liter engine from a 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood. The turbo 400 transmission, along with the front suspension and rear axle, are also from the 1967 Fleetwood. The Woody has a dual-master-cylinder brake system, which all Cadilacs have had since 1962. Even though the power-assisted brake system are drum brakes, those are truck sized drum brakes and are more than adequate in bringing the Caddy to a safe stop.
The Woody rides on 235/75 x 15 three-inch-wide radial tires, which is a vast improvement over the original 7.50 x 16 bias ply tires.
One design touch left from the 1947 Cadillac is the hood with the flying goddess hood ornament. She is more than “just a pretty face.” The goddess also serves a function as the hood release. One turns the goddess sideways, releasing the latch that keeps the hood locked down. This would be the last year the goddess performed that trick. The final touch to this fantastic 1947 Cadillac Woody is the buckskin paint color reminiscent of the El Paso beige on the 1947 Cadillac color chart
As for the ride of the wonderful Woody, it is pure Cadillac—smooth and powerful and quiet. “Smooth and powerful” compliments of that 1967 engine and suspension; “quiet” because an all-steel body with the double ceiling of steel-and-wood blocks out any external sounds. Riding on those modern day radial tires, the car takes curves as well as any large modern-day SUV.
This 1947 custom Cadillac is the epitome of “Cadillac style” •
