You gotta read this ! Trip home from Albany

Definitely needs to be a CC or Series 75 Limo hood due to the wrap-around windshield used on these cars '59 - '64 (and '65 on the Series 75). The "regular" '61 - '62 Cadillacs have a completely different windshield, thus the trailing edge of the hood where it meets the cowl is a different shape to the pro car hood/cowl area.

Jeremy is correct, your fenders are unique as well...

Martyn

Thanks very much.

Tomorrow I plan on having the hood looked at to see if there is any chance of saving it at all.

I was asked if the paint had come off the hood where it landed on the top of the window and folded back down onto the roof.

It did not and they said there may be a good chance it can be fixed.

I will know after they check it out.

I think I would still like to find a real nice one and replace it anyway.

There was a big fold in the passenger side tip right in the corner that would need to be fixed and painted for sure anyway.

I would like any leads on a hood please if anyone knows of one. THANKS !

I will keep you informed as I get more info.


Thanks for reading and all the help !
Darren

but here the least I can do is share this with you

Darren,

I feel your pain too. We had a hood latch fail on a 1974 Criterion ambulance one time. Not only was there the windshield to worry about, I had two Grimes lights installed on the front corners of the hood. Luckily, the only damage was some bent sheet metal up near the trailing corners of the hood.

Your situation certainly could have been a disaster, so you're very lucky. As bad as losing one of your cars would have been, it would have been a better outcome than injury or loss of life. Glad this worked out for the best. It is a safety reminder to us all...

DEAR DARREN: Having heard only the basics about your ordeal to this point, I was extremely glad to learn from your account you emerged unscathed (aside from the hood) and that Digger's truck driving experience proved crucial in this respect. Don't get me started on how little I think of the majority's driving skills - presented with an emergency scenario like the one you chronicled, the other 99% would have screamed and flailed their arms about like a deranged Muppet as they bounced off adjacent cars! Me being me, I still can't resist asserting that, if you guys had been driving old US 20 or NY 5 instead of the Thruway, you would likely have been going at pace where an open hood would not have been a total loss. The places to pull over and deal with the problem would have also been larger, more frequently-placed and not under unceasing assault by Kenworths and other 18-wheelers trying for the Land Speed Record.