Cadillac was the number one luxury American automaker in 1951. In 1951 the Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75 would represent the fourth generation of that model.
Out of a total production of Cadillac’s in 1951, GM made only 1,090 of the Series 75 Sedan, 1,085 units of the Series 75 Fleetwood Limousine that accommodated 7-8 people and the Fleetwood Series 75 business Sedan of which only 30 vehicles were produced. In addition to this a total of 2,960 commercial chassis were produced. Some of these you would have seen as ambulances and hearses.
Fleetwood Coach Building
Fleetwood Pennsylvania at one time went by the names of Greentown and Coxville. Much of Pennsylvania was settled by German immigrants and many were quite skilled in the European trades of coach building and cabinet making.
tIt was in this town that the Fleetwood Metal Body Company, makers of strictly high end custom automobile bodies was established. The way their business worked was that the chassis of a luxury automobile such as a Packard, Pierce Arrow or Cadillac was sent to them accompanied by complete instructions as to the kind of body desired.
Many notable names were initially drawn to the Fleetwood coach builders. These included Andrew Carnegie, the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers who had all been owners of Fleetwood built automobiles.
General Motors determined that if their Cadillac brand was to grow going forward what was required was low cost, yet high quality custom coachwork that could be in-house. In 1925 Fisher Body, which had a majority of it’s stock purchased by GM in 1919, purchased all of Fleetwood for $650,000. A year later GM purchased all of the remaining Fisher Body stock. In 1926 a lot of expansion was underway in Fleetwood Pennsylvania including the addition of factory buildings. To satisfy the projected demand for Fleetwood bodies, Fisher Body started construction of a new Detroit plant in 1929 for the exclusive use of Fleetwood.
Between 1929 and 1937, all Cadillac salesmen were issued a 70 page handbook called “The Book of Fleetwood”, which included picture and details of current model year styles, options, prices and color combinations as well as details of Fleetwood body construction.