The Shocking Price American Pickers Paid For A '59 Cadillac Fleetwood

Mike Wolfe has dedicated the better part of his adult life to digging long-forgotten relics from backyards and dusty garages all across the country. For the past 12 years, he's been doing just that as the star of History's smash-hit reality series "American Pickers." And if you've been watching the series over the years, you know Mike and his various co-stars have made great sport of scooping up all manner of hidden treasures from off-the-map locales rarely glimpsed by folks who don't actually live there.

Those hidden treasures naturally come in all shapes and sizes, with Mike and company shelling out hard-earned dollars for everything from vintage toys and antique jeans, to soda fountain signs and memorabilia. Over the years, they've also made moves on big-ticket items like rare motorcycles and classic cars. As one might expect, the price tag on such items can vary dramatically depending on their condition, and, of course, the person doing the selling. And in a recent episode of "American Pickers," Mike and his brother Robbie ended up paying a shocking price for a '59 Cadillac Fleetwood thanks to a little hustling from the car's owner. Here's how much they paid for the classic car.  

If you're a classic car nut, you know Cadillacs are beyond coveted among certain factions of collectors. That was indeed the case for the original owner of the '59 Fleetwood that Mike and Robbie Wolfe spent big bucks on in the Season 23 episode of "American Pickers" titled "Cadillac Man." In fact, the collector in question had a legitimately astonishing cache of classic Cadillacs tucked away on a now-defunct pig farm in California.

Blown away by what they saw, Mike and Robbie had no intention of leaving the farm without one of those Cadillacs, eventually setting eyes on a filthy but fit '59 Fleetwood. Unfortunately, the original owner's daughter (now running point on the man's collection) had no intention of letting it go for a penny less than its worth. So when the Pickers came in on the low-end with their first offer, she immediately came back on the high side — which was a cool $10,000.

Thankfully, the haggling didn't last too long with the parties more or less agreeing to meet in the middle, settling on a final sum of $8,500. Perhaps inspired by the memory of her father — who apparently made his way as a professional gambler for many years — the final price was left up to chance via a good, old-fashioned coin toss. And as the toss fatefully broke her way, the Pickers ultimately shelled out a little more than they'd hoped. But it's safe to say they were all winners in the end.