Louie Mattar, a San Diego garage owner with a big imagination, who turned his 1947 Cadillac into a how-to guide for four-wheeled DIYers everywhere. When he bought a brand new Cadillac four years ago, the extra equipment his dealer offered was not enough and Mattar started to add a weird assortment of things that other motorists can only dream of.
Doing most of the work himself, he put in a shower, coiling the pipes from his 50-gallon water tanks around the exhaust manifold for the hot water. A pumping system was crammed under the hood. Next to the taillight went a drinking fountain and under the dashboard a tape recorder and a bar with spigots for whisky, water and soda. In the back seat he put a washing machine, a stove and even included a kitchen sink. All this took four years to do and cost Mattar better than $14,000.
Later that year, in Sept. 1952, Mattar’s ultra-tricked-out Caddy set a world endurance non-stop record (since eclipsed) when three drivers, working in shifts, traveled round-trip from San Diego to New York and back — 6,300 miles — in one week. It later traveled — virtually non-stop, due to Mattar’s innovations that allowed it to refuel while driving, etc. — from Anchorage, Alaska, to Mexico City.
The car, along with a trailer, which Mattar also custom made, is now in the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park.
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| Louis Mattar with his 1947 Cadillac, San Diego, 1952. |
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| Louis Mattar pulls the makings of a meal from the trunk of his heavily modified 1947 Cadillac. |
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| Washing is done by small machine in back seat. Two batteries provide extra electricity. |
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| Louis Mattar hangs washing from his heavily modified 1947 Cadillac. |
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| Ironing is easy for Mrs. Mattar with arm rest as board. Toaster or razor can be plugged in here. |
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| Louis Mattar enjoys a pull on the water pipe he installed in his heavily modified 1947 Cadillac. |
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| Jackie Smithwick, friend of the Mattars’, takes a warm water shower next to front fender. |
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| Plugged into Louis Mattar’s heavily modified 1947 Cadillac. |
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| A boy drinks from a water fountain that Louis Mattar installed in his 1947 Cadillac. |
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| Cooking hot dogs, Mattar uses homemade stove which slides forward into the back seat from trunk. |
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| A picnic on the beach, courtesy of Louis Mattar’s tricked-out 1947 Cadillac. |
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| Louie Mattar and Miss San Diego. |