This is Sally, my 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. This is the very first Cadillac I bought, and she may be responsible for getting me hooked on the Standard of the World. I was still a university student in 1992, but I was already very desperate to obtain a nice big Cadillac. However, being a student, I had very limited financial means, and the realisation of my dream seemed pretty unlikely. Apart from winning the national lottery or making big bucks in a casino, I could not think of any other legal means to obtain the money for my Cadillac. Then I realised there was this TV show called Waagstuk!, which is the Belgian version of the very famous show Jeopardy! I entered the pre-selection round for the show and after a couple months I was invited to participate in the game. Luck was on my side in August 1992, as I won a quite large amount of money (for a student). You can probably all guess what I did the day after I had won the show... Yes, right! I wrote to several old car dealers in the USA, asking if they had for sale a Cadillac which was within my budget.

A couple of weeks later I received a fax from Rader's Relics, located in Winter Park, Florida. They told me they had for sale a 1972 Coupe de Ville in excellent condition. After I was given a detailed description of the car, I decided to take it.

In December of 1992 I was the proud owner of a Cotillion White 1972 Coupe de Ville, with a Green vinyl top and a magnificent Jade Green leather interior. The car was pretty much the way the dealer had described it, except for some rust at the lower edge of the front fender. Since this area was covered by a 4" high stainless steel trim item, it was pretty easy to repair it. In 1994 I received a letter from Sally's previous owner, Sally James. The car did not have a name then, but my wife and I decided to call her Sally from then on. She told me she had inherited the car, when her mother, Leola James, died in 1978. Her mother, who had owned the car since new, had specifically ordered it in the colors and with the options as the car is now. As a proof, I was supplied with the original Bill of Sale, issued by Val Ward Cadillac of Fort Meyers. The Bill of Sale specifies correctly that Sally comes equipped with the following options:

• Group 3 Accessories ($971)
• Cruise Control ($92)
• Electric Door Locks ($69)
• Tilt & Telescope Steering Wheel ($92)
• Automatic Trunk Lock ($56)
• Autronic Eye ($49)
• Leather Upholstery ($169)
• Dual Comfort Seat ($103)
• Vinyl Roof ($152)

Since the base price of the car was $6,152, Sally cost $8,023 in 1972. Sales tax and some miscellaneous charges resulted in a total price of $8,657.34.

Sally was built on May 26th 1972, as is evident in het Build Sheet. Mr. and Mrs. James took possession of Sally on June 16th 1972 and they applied for temporary tags the very next day.