1959 Cadillac Coupe De Ville - No Particular Place To Go

Lou Querusio, of Naples, Florida, is no stranger to the custom world, having grown up in a time when the Alexander Brothers and Barris ruled the pages of countless little books. It was where his passion for customs blossomed and grew, never letting him forget the fascination they held over him as time passed. With a number of cool cars already under his belt, including a slammed '58 Impala with a six-deuce-fed 348ci mill underhood, it was time to focus on locating the base for his next build. Having always been a fan of '50s-era Cadillacs, he began a search for a '59 coupe De Ville with its mile-long body, flowing lines, and skyscraper-esque rear fins. Wanting to locate a rust-free base to start with, he expanded his search to the Internet and finally found a respectable-looking car in Texas. We all know how the story goes when a car is represented in one way and arrives in another. Well, in Lou's case, the car was far from rust free, but nonetheless it was still workable.

Having been fortunate enough to have worked with Todd Lewis and his talented team at Xtreme Restorations in Slatersville, Rhode Island, on a number of his past builds, there was no doubt in his mind that the team would be the perfect group to take on the '59. Lou wanted to elevate the seductive lines already immersed in the stock design given that it was considered to be one of the most alluring big sleds to roll off the production line back in its day. Working with the design team at Xtreme, which included Todd and Ken Washwell, they pooled their ideas for the numerous changes and brought them to designer Jack Carroll of Carroll Auto Design to bring the concept to life. Now with a visual blueprint in hand they began the process by first tearing the car down to its bare bones. With the body off, the rolling chassis was completely disassembled and sent out to be blasted clean. Once back, it was boxed, filled, and smoothed while also having the driveshaft opening modified for the upcoming ride height changes. To bring the Caddy's underbelly as close to the ground as possible, the suspension was reworked starting out back with the addition of RideTech CoolRide 'bags, along with a set of RideTech tube shocks. The stock smoothed-out rearend was filled with 3.77:1 gears and suspended into place by a boxed original three-link system while RideTech LevelPro self-leveling sensors even everything out. Up front the team infused more voodoo into the mix by combining the original A-arm suspension with RideTech ShockWave 'bags and RideTech LevelPro self-leveling sensors all linked to a RidePro digital control system. Custom fabbed antiroll bars by Xtreme Restorations ensure the car will hit the turns without a hitch. To round out the chassis, the team reworked the braking system to incorporate 10-inch Cadillac discs up front while out back a set of Wilwood Engineering 10-inch discs get the call from a Kugel Komponents dual master with 7-inch booster. Finally for rollers, nothing brings an air of class to the mix like a set of chrome-plated '58 Cadillac Sabre wheels topped with pillow-soft Goodyear Super Cushion skins.