Help Axel do Route 66

Last summer, my buddy Axel came looking for some car-buying advice. Axel is not new to cars, but he was faced with a choice between two, excellent, low-mileage cars: a Mercedes and a Cadillac. After polling the media (myself, and Donald Osborne), he went with the Caddy, a 1973 Sedan deVille with under 15,000 miles.

And now he wants to sell it.  My first, cynical thought was that he wanted to flip it now that the market has improved a little, but then I heard the story. Axel has a friend from back home in Germany who’s turning 66 this spring and to celebrate, they decided a trip down the Mother Road was in order. He didn’t want to thrash a near-perfect original car coast-to-coast, and he wanted a model year 1966 for the trip. “I would like to take something like my ‘73 Caddy, but just not this one with 15,000 miles,”he said. “Perhaps a coupe, perhaps a convertible. We really have no idea.” He admits he’ll probably have to sell the DeVille to finance the new ride.

So first, here’s what he’s stepping out of; then, knowing he likes this ride, what would you suggest for two Germans planning on crossing the heartland? Bonus points if you find an appropriate car in Hemmings, because there’s always the possibility he’ll buy whatever you come up with. (Something convenient to his home base in New Jersey probably wouldn’t hurt,either.) If he goes for it, I’ll get him to do a Route 66 travelogue for us.