Once upon a time, there existed a rigid automotive hierarchy in America, and one could easily decipher your rank within the company by what you drove. Fords and Chevys were for the common man, middle management drove Buicks and Mercurys, and Cadillac set the bar for all other luxury automakers. If you drove a Cadillac, you were a somebody. A boss. A Don Draper character.
If you’re a fan of the AMC TV series “Mad Men” and Don Draper in particular, then you may want to check out this auction from ScreenBid. The Hollywood collectible auction house will be putting Draper’s 1965 Cadillac Coupe de Ville up for auction. Though it only appeared in seasons five through eight, it was a fairly regular character in its own right, and is arguably the coolest of the 1,300 props being auctioned off since the television series came to a close.
The Coupe de Ville trim package was first introduced in 1949, and in 1959 it became its own model, and in 1965 it got a major makeover into the car you see here. It’s as American as cars get, weighing as much as 4,900 pounds and packing a 340 horsepower 7.0 liter V8, it was 224 inches (about 18.6 feet) long. That’s just as big as a 2015 Chevy Suburban, though with a day left and bidding stalled around $26,500, Don’s Cadillac is much, much cheaper.
Sure, it might not be as famous as the General Lee or Mystery Machine. Yet this rather large slice of television history is a great deal more interesting than Peggy’s couch pillows and throw (current bid: $375) or Don’s playing cards (current bid: $650). We know which collectible we’d rather have.