1988 Cadillac DeVille

Coupe Coupe

8 Cylinder 4.5 Liter

Automatic

1G6CD1155j4219762

Gasoline

Some very good friends of mine were telling me about their consideration of purchasing a house next door to theirs whose owner had recently died. When I went to look at the house with them I found this 1988 Coupe DeVille in the garage. This car was in fact, the last Coupe Deville purchased by Irene Skelley of Dallas, Texas. Irene died in January at age 100. Irene and her husband decided many years ago that the only car to drive was a Cadillac, so since 1949, that is all the Skelley's drove. Mr Skelley died in 1980 and left Irene with an almost new 1979 Coupe DeVille. In 1988, Irene decided that she would purchase the last Cadillac, on her own. On January 20, 1988 Irene drove into Sewell Cadillac in Dallas and traded in her 1979 Coupe DeVille with 15,011 miles. After writing a check for the trade difference of $21,500, Irene drove home in her new 1988 black on black Coupe DeVille. From what I can figure, Irene wanted her new coupe with no vinyl top and certain equipment and Sewell did not have the exact car in stock. A car was located at Frank Kent Cadillac in Fort Worth, Texas and Sewell arranged for a dealer trade and Irene's car was driven from Ft. Worth to Dallas. On January 20th, the new black Caddy had 75 miles on the odometer. Since Irene was getting close to 80 years of age and had retired from school teaching and her evening job at Neiman Marcus, she only made occasional trips to the grocery store and beauty parlor. From the first service receipt dated 4-27-89, Irene had stacked up a whopping 379 miles! The next service was 1-25-90 and the odometer read 497 miles! These are the miles listed by the date of each service at Sewell Cadillac: 10-27-90 / 668 miles,1-31-91 / 739 miles, 1-25-92 / 933 miles, 1-12-93 /1137 miles, 10-1-94 / 1395 miles, 2-20-95 / 1427 miles, 5-17-95 / 1461 miles, and the last receipt from Sewell Cadillac was dated 2-9-2000 when evidently the car had not been driven since 1995 and $758 worth of work was done such as a new master cylinder, battery, hoses and belts etc., and the miles were 1592. When the car was parked in the garage for good in 2000, it was covered with blankets and there it remained until the heirs uncovered it. When I got a new battery installed, the odometer lit up at 1601 miles! Amazingly the car was put up for good in 2000 after being driven an additional 9 miles. The car has now been driven over 60 miles on freeways and streets and it drives like the new car that it is. The AC has been converted to modern refrigerant and blows ice cold. Not perfect as there are a few dings on the hood, a few minor scratches, some looseness in the headliner and a non-working power antenna. Equipment includes, split full power seats on both side with a power recliner for the passenger, tilt/tele,cruise, leather,auto trunk and all other standard features. No cassette player, just am/fm. This car, the provenance, the color,the equipment, the lack of a vinyl top and the incredible low miles make this a one of a kind. Drive it, Pimp it or collect it. Not many like this and probably not another one just like it. Please email jpete55@swbell.net with your questions.