I've found one for sale on hagerty. It seems appropriately priced. It's 3 hours away. If it were a lot closer I'd be on it like a duck on a june bug. But since it's so far away, what do I need to know? What should I ask the seller? What do I need to look out for. Any guidance or tips would be greatly appreciated. I don't need the car, but my birth day is next Satuday and I can afford it.
Be sure to ask about the factory bullhorns .
Are you genuinely prepared for the size and indoor storage? 225 in is 18.75 ft. That means is you have a simple 20 ft deep garage that you can really have nothing on the floor at the nose of the car and that still doesn't leave room to really walk around the car.
Are you really prepared for the 10 mpg or less? Yeah, single digit mpg! And, not just the price of gas but a lead additive as well.
Price up a set of tires. It's a good chance the current tires have a lot of tread but are very old. Are you forced to only Coker for tires?
Eldorado or coupe deville? The Eldorado is FWD.
I only know that brake parts can be difficult to find, based on VGG's experiences.
Personally I wouldn't be too worried about lead additives. Cadillac engines were generally built of pretty high quality stuff, plus they typically aren't driven hard. As a collector car it won't see high miles either, and since it had a couple decade's worth of operation on leaded gas it will probably take years and years before any excessive wear on valve seats or cam lobes is going to show up. By the same token, while gas mileage will be pretty low, assuming it's going to be a weekend cruiser and won't be driven on multiple cross country treks that's not that big a deal.
It's a big car, but then again it's not as big as a typical modern pickup truck. Convertibles are susceptible to water leaks so look for rust in the floor pans, especially under the rear seat and in the trunk. Convertibles had leather upholstery, so a car that hasn't been cared for may have sun fading or cracks and splits in the seats. Wheels were 8.20-15", the modern equivalent is 235/75R15; tires should still be readily available from your local tire store.
You can look at factory brochures for a 1969 Cadillac here: https://oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Cadillac/1969_Cadillac/index.html
I'm not sure if it's gotten better, but axles and transmission stuff for the Eldorado/Toronado were really hard to find a decade or two ago.
What do you need to know really? It's a giant, elegant hunk of American iron with a big-inch engine. Everything else is superfluous. 
I commend you on your excellent taste, sir!
John Welsh said:Are you genuinely prepared for the size and indoor storage? 225 in is 18.75 ft. That means is you have a simple 20 ft deep garage that you can really have nothing on the floor at the nose of the car and that still doesn't leave room to really walk around the car.
Are you really prepared for the 10 mpg or less? Yeah, single digit mpg! And, not just the price of gas but a lead additive as well.
Price up a set of tires. It's a good chance the current tires have a lot of tread but are very old. Are you forced to only Coker for tires?
Those are valid points. I had an early '60's luxobarge and I ended up storing at a place that typically rented to boats and RV's.
To the OP, ask for copies/images of any service records. That may give you an idea of what costs you may incur for any delayed/deferred maintenance items. Cars like this may have low mileage but may have things like radiator hoses, belts, or heater hoses that are decades old, etc. Not "deal-breaker" stuff, but good info to have.
I've had a couple from this era. They are glorious boats. 472 cubic inches with a cam that tops out at 4500 rpm means torque levels reaching insanity. These often came stuffed with 2.43:1 gears and still roast tires. I suppose if it's a late 69, it could be a 500, but they weren't typically installed until the 70 model year. Only way to know for sure is to measure the stroke with a screwdriver or welding rod. 4" is 472. 4-1/4 (4.304) inches is a 500. Only difference is the stroke.
The engine will last forever. I had a 500ci caddy with well over 500k on it before it started smoking. A teardown revealed a cracked oil ring, but it still had crosshatches in the bores. Super-high nickel blocks means they're hard as granite, but if you try to up the ante (over 600hp) they can get some "sing" to them. Factory pistons are cast, and there aren't many aftermarket options without going custom.
The RWD cars were based on the GM B, C, and D bodies, which are nearly identical except for minor differences, so think like Olds 88/98, Pontiac Bonneville, Chevy Impala/Caprice, etc. The FWD cars were E-bodies and the only other E-body option was the Olds Toronado. Fewer parts around for them, but still available.
Transmissions are parts-bin GM. Most of them came with a TH375, which is a "softer" TH400. If it's FWD like an ElDorado, it's a TH425 which shares a lot in common with the TH400 as well. Bulletproof, and cheap to rebuild. Same bolt pattern as Buick/Olds/Pontiac, so cores are a dime a dozen.
Even if you're not planning on making more power, a swap to an Edelbrock intake (yes, they still make them) will pay big dividends if it fits under your hood. Factory Caddy intakes were cast as a super low-rise intake to clear hoods with it's massive deck height. The intake charge goes into the plenum which is below the ports in the head, so it has to go down-up-down. That causes a bit of fuel to come out of suspension. Swapping to an Edelbrock not only frees up about 15hp, but you might see better MPG.... which actually isnt' bad to start with. I was getting 18 mpg in a dually with a Caddy 500/TH400 and 3.73s. Another hack is to get an HEI from a later caddy. Way more spark energy, and no more points to file and set.
If you want headers, the easy button is to make or buy Caddy flanges, then use BBC headers. Cut the flange off the BBC headers and weld on the caddy flanges. Bore spacing is within about 1/8", so it's an easy tweak.
I never had trouble finding parts for my 62 Caddy Deville, but that was 15 years ago.
Just do it. The only problems they tend to get are dumb electrical stuff from all the options. The good news is that they're simple. Modern high-option cars have a thousand wires that disappear into a magic computer box. Old Caddys don't. If your heater blower motor stops, it's either the switch, the fuse, or the motor. Diagnosing that on a modern car is more like a 12-page flowchart of "test for voltage at BCM pin 31" then "verify coolant temp sensor input range," it gets nauseating.
if its not rusty then it would be a cool summer car ,
And buying it in Winter should keep the price down.
Hopefully you have a covered space to park it ,
and it is your Birthday 
Had more then a few and I really like them though I tend to go 57-63 on years because that is what I am comfortable with.
As others have said parking them in a standard garage is hard. I have a 25 foot depth garage and even that felt tight. Getting the car in the air to work on them is hard as well. Removing things like hoods and doors is a heavy affair and can take extra help to rehang. The drivetrains are bulletproof and honestly unless they have been horribly abused or assembled wrong are dead reliable.
They do not resell well at all because of the space requirements so your not going to make a profit on one, if they need rechroming just walk away and find a better car.
Had more then a few and I really like them though I tend to go 57-63 on years because that is what I am comfortable with.
As others have said parking them in a standard garage is hard. I have a 25 foot depth garage and even that felt tight. Getting the car in the air to work on them is hard as well. Removing things like hoods and doors is a heavy affair and can take extra help to rehang. The drivetrains are bulletproof and honestly unless they have been horribly abused or assembled wrong are dead reliable.
They do not resell well at all because of the space requirements so your not going to make a profit on one, if they need rechroming just walk away and find a better car.
I have a '74. (See: Live thread: Bringing back a Cadillac that inspired a love of cars | News | Grassroots Motorsports)
It's 224 inches long and we had to extend our garage to accommodate it. It barely fits - and I need to remain limber to still get in and out of that car in that garage.
I can't speak for a '69, but I can for a '74. Basic parts are still quite available, although you might have to wait a day or two to get them. There are several aftermarket companies that make parts that commonly break (such as filler panels).
I say the biggest challenges with these cars is the sheer size, which many have cited, and re-chroming is expensive.
Other than that, they're a blast to have fun with.
Only three hours away? That's nothing. Although your fuel bill driving it home will be pretty high...
In reply to RacerBoy75 :
Oh yeah, and then there's fuel. Yes, you'll be surprised how much fuel you'll consume just by idling. 
None of my 472/500s were terrible on gas. The cams have almost zero overlap, the 69 will have 10:1 compression, and the Qjet does a mighty fine job. High teens/low 20s are frequently reported
wearymicrobe said:if they need rechroming just walk away and find a better car.
Quoted because that's hilarious. Gotta love 'Merica
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