1965 Caddy for Sale

My name is Darryl Warren, Development Coordinator with the Children’s Wish Foundation, Prince Edward Island Chapter. I’m reaching out in hopes yourself or one of your car enthusiast contacts would be interested in purchasing a 1965 Cadillac convertible. Sterling Hickox, sole owner, is gravely ill suffering from terminal cancer and he has weeks to live. It’s his dying wish to have his cherished Cadillac sold with the purchase amount being donated to Children’s Wish. He bought the Cadillac in 1965 while working in Hollywood.

A few more details are as follows: the Cadillac has very low mileage(68,000). The car is completely original excluding the tires which he had replaced after 35 years. Sterling has stated that he feels the car is worth between $50,000 and $75,000. He hopes to grant 5-7 wishes for deserving children.

I have attached several photos above. The first you will see is one of Sterling holding the car’s original Bill of Sale. A very interesting fact about Mr. Hickox is that he was a close friend of Steve MacQueen. He has many wonderful stories he has shared with me about his time in Hollywood.

If you would be so kind to reply to this email with interest/advice and also share the information to your contacts on our behalf, it would be greatly appreciated.

In closing, if you have any questions or you would like to contact me directly for additional information, I can be reached at darryl.warren@childrenswish.ca or call 902-566-5526/902-213-9495. Also, I have included a heartwarming/breaking article that was first published in our newspaper back in 2015 regarding Mr. Hickox’s intentions. The one thing that has changed since the article appeared is that Mr. Hickox has decided to donate the money now when he can do so himself and not wait until after his passing.

Best regards,

Darryl

Article Published in The Guardian on 25 August 2015

Sterling Hickox sits in his 1965 Cadillac at his home in Charlottetown.

Photos by Jim Day/The Guardian

Sterling Hickox is surrounded by his past.

His Charlottetown home is filled with cherished mementoes.

Signed photos of major celebrities, including a large image of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, adorn a room that allows the elderly man to relive his many brushes with stars during his years as a grip working for major studios in Los Angeles, California including Universal, MGM and 20th Century Fox.

Clearly his fondest memory is being befriended by big screen giant Steve MacQueen.

The pair, he recalls with great delight, would ride their dirt bikes together in the Nevada desert.

He also hung out with a guy named Lee Marvin, the late actor who starred in The Dirty Dozen.

There is also a school bell in the home of Sterling Hickox.

The bell, tucked away in another room, represents a much different period of his life - the critical early years.

Hickox dug the bell out of the old Mount Herbert Orphanage shortly before the building was demolished.

The bell serves as a stark reminder — not that he truly needs one — of his days of torment and abuse spent at the orphanage in the first 11 years of his life.

That very bell, he says with a rueful grin, made solid contact with his head on more than one occasion.

Those years, Hickox is quick to observe, were indeed formative ones.

“Not a good place for any kid to start out,’’ he says.

Former residents, including Hickox, reached a settlement in 2012 with claims including physical, sexual and mental abuse dating back as far as the 1920s and running through the 1970s.

Hickox has never forgotten just how bad a time it was for him at the orphanage.

His rough edge may well have been born from those years.

Oddly enough, so too his deep sentimentality may have emerged from this tormented period.

Hickox is a soft man with a hard shell.

While working as a grip for NBC in Burbank, California, Hickox bought a brand new 1965 Cadillac Coupe Deville for $6,090 (roughly $1,000 was shaved off for trading in his ‘62 Caddy).

He still has the 1965 Cadillac.

The car means a great deal to this sentimental man.

It serves as a symbol.

“When I was a kid I remember some farmer saying you’re not successful until you own a Cadillac,’’ he says.

“I’ve owned two of them.’’

This Caddy - his second - has been with him for a long-time. This Caddy - his second - has been with him for a long-time.

The car has its original 429 engine.

The exterior is the same sandalwood colour with not so much as a scratch to be seen.

He put new tires on the Cadillac after 35 years, but everything else on the vehicle is “totally original.’’

He is so attached to the Caddy that he will not part with the car until he parts from the world.

Sadly, his mortality has been more than a passing thought of late.

Hickox is battling lymphoma.

He does not want to make any predictions, but he is making preparations.

One taking-care-of-business piece that he would like to publicize is his decision to bequeath his beloved Cadillac to the Children’s Wish Foundation of P.E.I. once he is gone.

He hopes the car will fetch more than $50,000 for the foundation, which would allow several children with life-threatening illnesses to receive a very special wish.

“I feel honoured to be leaving it to the Children’s Wish,’’ he says.

“Unfortunately, I will not be around to see the smiles on the beneficiaries.’’