BY JAMES McCARTER
LA View Publisher
Last week’s “On the Road” was about a Cadillac limousine built by Derham Body Company in Rosemont,Pa. Derham was the last ofthe great body builders,companies that fitted custom bodies on a chassis produced by any one ofa number of automobile makers. While Derham was the last coach builder to actually build a car body,the name ofanother great body company is still being used:Fleetwood.

Under normal circumstances, Wade Cleffman is a Pontiac guy. Over the years he has collected many Pontiacs,mostly from the 1960s.But a few years ago he spotted a 1968 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine and he just couldn’t resist. “It was in great shape,” recalled Cleffman.“And the price was right.

By 1968 “Fleetwood”was simply a name used by Cadillac for their top-of-the-line model.Like all General Motors cars ofthat era,the body was made by the Fisher Body,a division ofGM.

But at one time Fleetwood was an independent company. Fleetwood Metal Body Company ofFleetwood,Pa.,was founded in 1909 by Harry C. Uhrich,a blacksmith who wanted to build the finest auto bodies in the world.

As a young man Uhrich worked at Reading Metal Body Company in Reading,Pa.The company built bodies for Chadwick,Duryea,Garford and other early automobile manufacturers that were located in the area.

Urich learned the business and eventually worked his way up to treasurer ofthe firm. Garford was Reading’s biggest customer and in 1909 that bought the company and moved it to Elyria,Ohio.

Urich got together with some friends and former Reading employees and founded the Fleetwood Metal Body Co.At first the company worked out of an old mill with 5,000 square feet of work space.

By 1920 Fleetwood occupied over 60,000 sq.ft.and employed 375 people.The company was building most ofthe bodies for Packard,Pierce Arrow and Cadillac. Fleetwood opened a sales office in New York City in 1913 and was supplying cars to tycoons like Andrew Carnegie, the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers.

Movie stars like Mary Pickford,Theda Bara, Harold Lockwood and Andrew Pierson bought their car bodies from Fleetwood.Their product has been sent to every part of the world including California, South America and Europe. By the mid-1920s the market was beginning to change.

Mass production was the new thing, and even luxury car makers knew that they couldn’t compete by building one body at a time. General Motors realized that the future success ofthe Cadillac brand probably depended on the availability oflow-cost,yet high-quality,coachwork. So at the urging ofLawrence P. Fisher,Fisher Body Corp.made an offer for the outright purchase ofFleetwood for $650,000.

The deal was accepted by Fleetwood’s board ofdirectors,and the deal took place on July 18,1925. General Motors bought 60 percent ofFisher in 1919. Shortly after Fisher purchased Fleetwood,GM bought the remaining Fisher stock.GM now owned Fleetwood.

At first the deal benefited everyone.Cadillac got all the bodies they needed and Fleetwood got money they needed for expansion.But within a few years the deal soured for Fleetwood The operation was moved to Detroit Plant Number 18 in 1930.There most Fleetwood bodies were converted to a stamping process and most of the old craftsmen were not needed.

By 1932 all Cadillac bodies were stamped,and the Fleetwood was reduced to a model line. Ironically,Cadillac did offer a custom body in the late 1950s. Unfortunately, it didn’t come from Fleetwood.Called the Eldorado Brougham,it was built in Turin,Italy by the Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.

While Fleetwood the body builder was gone,Fleetwood the limo was here to stay.The name has come to mean the pinnacle ofluxury and Cleffman’s car is no exception. The 1968 spotlight was on motive power:an all-new 472cid V-8 with 375 bhp.Designed to meet the new government emission standards that took effect that year,it was extensively tested in the laboratory,being run the equivalent of500,000 miles.

Though not as fuel-efficient as its predecessor,the 472 could boast ofbeing the largest production engine offered in the industry. In terms ofdesign,1968 was the one ofthe boxier years.The long hood and stacked headlights were reminiscent ofa Pontiac.

It was the first year for standard hidden windshield wipers and lighted side markers. Cleffman’s car is unrestored, and he likes it just the way it is. “It still has great paint,”said Cleffman.

“I don’t have any plans to change it.” Wade Cleffman’s 1968 Fleetwood is powered by a 472 cubic inch V-8, the largest production engine of the time.

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