Cadillac Eldorado

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The Cadillac Eldorado is a private luxury car manufactured and marketed by Cadillac from 1952 to 2002 for ten generations. Competitors and similar vehicles include the Lincoln Mark series, Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado, and Chrysler's Imperial Coupe.

Eldorado was at or near the top of the Cadillac line during the early model years. The original 1953 Eldorado convertible and Eldorado Brougham model from 1957-1960 was the most expensive model offered by Cadillac for years, and the Eldorado was never less than the second after the Cadillac Series 75 to 1966. Eldorado carried the Fleetwood design from 1965 to 1972, and was a resurrection modern of Cadillac V-12 pre-war and roadster and convertible Cadillac V16.

Video Cadillac Eldorado

Name

The nameplate Eldorado is a contraction of two Spanish words translated as "plated (ie gold)" - and also refers to El Dorado, the South American myth of "Lost City of Gold" to which Spanish explorers fascinated.

Elected in an internal competition for a 1952 concept vehicle that celebrated the company's golden anniversary, the name Eldorado was proposed by Mary-Ann Marini (nÃƒÆ' Ã‚ Â© e Zukosky), a secretary in the Cadillac merchandising department - and subsequently adopted for limited edition conversion for the 1953 model.

Palm Springs Life magazine incorrectly associates its name with the Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells, California, a favorite of General Motors executives in Coachella Valley - although the resort opened in 1957, five years after Cadillac's own naming competition.

Cadillac began using nameplates "Eldorado Seville" and "Eldorado Biarritz" to distinguish between hardtop and convertible models (respectively) while both were offered, from 1956 to 1960 inclusively. The name "Seville" was dropped when the hardtop was initially discontinued (1961), but the name Biarritz continued until 1964. Beginning in 1965, Eldorado became 'Fleetwood Eldorado'. 'Biarritz' returned as a top trim package for Eldorado for 1976.

Maps Cadillac Eldorado

First generation (1953)

Cadillac Series 62 Eldorado joins Oldsmobile 98 Fiesta, Chevrolet Corvette and Buick Roadmaster Skylark as a limited convertible production convertibility introduced in 1953 by General Motors to promote its design leadership. A convertible production of a specially manufactured low body (total 532 units), it is a production version of the 1952 El Dorado "Golden Anniversary" concept car. Along with borrowed bumper bullets (aka dagmars) from GM Le Saber 1951, this car features a wide range of luxury accessories and introduces windshield cover and beltline cut-down to standard Cadillac production.

The wide frontal glass and distinctive slope in the sheetmetal at the bottom of the side window (shown on one or both of the other 1953 GM special convertibles) is particularly loved by General Motors Harley Earl's head styling and then copied by many other marques. Available in four unique colors (red Aztec, white Alpine, blue blue and ocher artisan - the latter is yellow, though it is shown wrong as black in the color folder issued on this rare model). Conversion boss is available in black or white Orlab. Air conditioning is an option, like a wire wheel. The car did not carry a special badge besides the golden "Eldorado" nameplate in the center of the dashboard. Hard tonneau cover, flattened with a rear deck, concealing the convertible portion of the open car version.

Although technically a subseries of the Cadillac Series 62 based on the Series 62 regular conversion, sharing the engine, it costs almost twice as expensive at US $ 7,750. The vehicle with a length of 220.8 inches (5,610 mm), 80.1 inches (2,030 mm) comes with standard features such as windshield washers, radio signal search, power windows, and heating. Eldorado covers only 5% of Cadillac sales in 1953. Second generation (1954-1956) Second generation (1954-1956)

In 1954, Eldorado lost his unique metal sheet and shared his basic body shell with a standard Cadillac. Distinguished now mainly by the pieces, this allows GM to lower prices and see substantial sales increases. The Eldorados have a gold identifying the tops positioned just behind the air-slot fenderbreaks and wide fluted beauty bars to decorate the lower back bodysides. These panels are made of extruded aluminum and also appear on one of the Eldorado coupon types built for Reynolds Aluminum Corporation. Also included in the production of Eldorado convertibles are monogram plates on doors, wire wheels, and custom interior trimmings with Cadillac tops embossed in roller chairs. Two thousand one hundred and fifty Eldorados were sold, almost four times as many as 1953.

For 1955, Eldorado's body gained its own back end styling with its tall, slender, pointy tail. This contrasted with the rather thick fins that were common at the time and was an example of Eldorado once again showing the way forward. Eldorado sports have additional features such as wide body belt chrome mold and twin rear lights in the middle of the fender. Sales almost doubled to 3,950.

For 1956, a two-door couptop version appeared, called Eldorado Seville at which point the convertible was named "Eldorado Biarritz". An Eldorado script finally comes up with a fender emblem on the car which is further distinguished by twin hood ornaments. An additional feature of the Eldorado convertible is a striped chrome saddle mold that extends from the windshield to the rear window pillar along the beltline. With the addition of Sevilla, sales rose again to 6,050 where 2,150 were Sevilles. Eldorados accounted for nearly 4% of all Cadillacs sold.

RM Sotheby's - 1963 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz | Fort Lauderdale 2018

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Third generation (1957-1960)

1957 saw Eldorado (both in convertible and Sevilla hardtop bodystyles) with a revised rear-end design featuring low fenderline, downswept closed by pointy, in-board fin. The rear fenders are often referred to as "squirrel cheeks". This concept is used for two years, but it does not spawn the imitators. The Series 62 Eldorados (which is different from the Series 70 Eldorado Brougham) further distinguished by the model name on the ornament behind the V-shaped deck and on the front fenders. The rear spakbor and the contour deck are trimmed with extensive sculptured stainless steel beauty panels. Also visible is the "shark" fin that leads to the back of the car. A third section built on the front bumper is another exclusive feature of the Series 62 Eldorados, which comes with a long list of standard features. Four customized 4-door hard drives Eldorado Sedan Sevilles were also built in 1957.

1957 was especially prominent for the introduction of one of GM's most memorable designs, the Eldorado Brougham 70 Series. Announced in December 1956 and released around March 1957, Eldorado Brougham is a limited handmade car. from Park Avenue and Orleans showing cars from 1953-54. Designed by Ed Glowacke, it features the first appearance of quad and trim headlights that are truly unique. Exterior ornaments include wide and striped rear beauty panels that extend along the rocker frames and the side of the body are carved squares of "cove" highlighted with five horizontal windsplit at the back door. Treatment of tail styling follows the Eldorado pattern. This four-door hardtop with a rear hinged back door is an ultra-luxury car that costs $ 13,074 - twice the price of the Eldorado 1957 and more than the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud that same year. It features stainless steel roofing, self-leveling air suspension, first automatic two-position "memory" seat, dual V-8 tires, low profile tires with thin white walls, automatic luggage opener, cruise control, high-pressure cooling system, polarized solar shield , electric antennas, auto-release parking brakes, electric door locks, dual heating systems, magnetic glovebox magnets, beverage glasses, cigarettes and tissue dispensers, lipsticks and colognes, compact ladies with talc, mirror and matching leather notebooks, combs and mirrors, ArpÃƒÆ'Ã‚Â¨ge sprayer with Lanvin perfume, automatic starter with restart function, Autronic Eye, drum-type electric clock, power window, wrought aluminum wheel and air conditioner. Buyers Broughams has 44 choices of leather interior and trim combinations and can select items such as Mouton, Karakul or sheep carpets.

There are serious difficulties with air suspension, which proves troublesome in practice. Some owners find it cheaper to replace with conventional coil springs.

Eldorado Brougham 1957 joined the Sixty Special and Series 75 as the only Cadillac model with Fleetwood's body even though the Fleetwood script or crests did not appear anywhere on the outside of the car, and so this would also mark the first time in 20 years that a fleetwood paired Car with the name Brougham. Eldorado Brougham 1957-58 also marked the return of Cadillac Series 70, if only briefly. Only 400 Eldorado Broughams were sold in 1957.

The car radio looks for signals of all transistors manufactured by GM Delco Radio and was first available for the 1957 Eldorado Brougham model, which is standard equipment and uses 13 transistors in its circuit.

For 1958, GM promoted their fiftieth production year, and introduced an Anniversary model for each brand; Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Chevrolet. The 1958 model shares a common appearance on the top model for each brand; Cadillac Eldorado Seville, Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Oldsmobile Holiday 88, Pontiac Bonneville Catalina, and All-new Chevrolet Bel-Air Impala.

In 1958 the 2-door Eldorados, V-shaped ornaments and model identification scripts were fitted to the deck lid. The two-door Eldorados also have ten vertical chevron slashes in front of the open rear wheel house and a peak medal on the side of the tail. The wide and sculpted beauty panels decorate the lower back of all Series 62 Eldorados and extend around the wheels to stretch along the body frame. All-new is a special order of Series 62 Eldorado Seville, of which only one is actually built.

A major change to Eldorado Brougham in 1958 was seen in the car. The inner top door panel has finished on the skin and not the metal layer used in 1957. A new wheel cover also appears. Forty-four trim combinations are available, along with 15 special monotonic paint colors. A total of 304 Eldorado Broughams were sold in 1958. 1958 was the last year for the domestically produced Brougham production at the Detroit Cadillac plant, as the future of the manufacture of a special agency was transferred to Pininfarina from Turin, Italy.

The 1959 Cadillac is remembered for its large, sharp tail with double-tailed tail lights, two distinctive roof lines and a roof pillar configuration, a new gem-like grille pattern and a matching deck beauty panel. In 1959, Series 62 became Series 6200 . De Villes and 2-door Eldorados were transferred from Series 62 to their respective series, the Series 6300 and Series 6400 , though all of them, including the 4-door Eldorado Brougham ( which was moved from Series 70 to 6900 Series ), sharing the same wheelbase 130Ãƒ, (3,302 mm). New mechanical items are "scientific engineering" drainage systems and new shock absorbers. All Eldorados are characterized by three-deck, gems, rear-inserted grilles, but the trim features and other equipment vary. The Seville and Biarritz models have the name Eldorado dubbed behind the front wheel aperture and feature full long curved body beams above the rear fender profile and back along the upper beltline area. The engine output is 345 hp (257 kW) from a 390 liter (6.4 liter) engine. Standard equipment includes electric brakes, power steering, automatic transmission, back-up lamps, windshield wipers, two-speed wipers, wheel discs, outdoor mirrors, mirrored mirrors, oil filters, power windows, six-way electric chair, heater, fog lamps , remote control deck cap, radio and antenna with rear speakers, power vents windows, air suspension, electric door locks, and license frames. The Eldorado Brougham also comes with air conditioning, automatic dimmer lights, accurate standard control over the trim lines of Seville and Biarritz.

Cadillac 1960 has a more smooth and more controlled styling. Common changes include full width grille, front bumper guard removal, improved restraint in chrome trim applications, bottom tailfins with oval shaped nacelles and front fenders mounted directional indicator lights. External variations on the Seville hardtop two-door Seville and the Biarritz convertible took the form of a bright light that widened at the bottom of the fender skirt and Eldorado on the front fender side, just behind the headlights. Standard equipment includes electric brakes, power steering, automatic transmission, dual back-up lights, windshield wipers, two-speed wipers, wheel discs, outdoor rearview mirrors, makeup mirrors, oil filters, power windows, six-way electric seat, heaters, fog, Eldorado machine, remote control rod lock, radio with antenna and rear speakers, power ventilation windows, air suspension, electric door lock, license frame, and five whitewall tires. Technical highlights are finned drum rear and X-frame construction. The interior is done in an optional Chadwick or Cambray cloth and leather combination. The last Seville Eldorado was built in 1960.

Different Eldorado Brougham was sold for 1959 and 1960. These cars are not very fancy but very unusual. Priced at $ 13,075, each costs $ 1 more than his older siblings. The company contracts the assembly to Pininfarina from Italy, with whom it has a long-term relationship, and these Eldorados are basically built in Italy. The irony is that it is now getting the Fleetwood wheel discs and doorill prints, probably because the design work and finishing touches are still done by Fleetwood. Discreet, narrow rear lights are integrated into the simple tailfins, and the rear square roofline with rear ventiplanes causes the Italian Brougham built to sharp contrast with the rounded roofline, and especially the new "rocket" rear lights and flamboyant fins of the 1959 Cadillac standard, which was the only feature of the year. Vertical emblem medals with Brougham script plates appear in front fenders and single, thin prints run from front to back along the mid-sides of the body. It does not sporting Eldorado's front fender letters or sill body lights. A fin-like emblem, or "skeg," ran from behind the front wheel aperture to the rear of the car at the bottom bodysides and there was a special peak medal on the trailing edge of the rear fender. The Brougham style cues will prove to indicate where a standard Cadillac style will head from 1960 to early-mid-1960s. List of standard equipment is pared down to suit other Eldorados, plus Cruise Control, Autronic Eye, AC and E-Z Eye glass. The quality of Brougham's manufacture did not come close to the standard Detroit-made 1957-1958 model, and thus Brougham 1959-1960 did not sell as well as their ancestors. However, the interest and value of collectors for these cars remain high. The Eldorado Brougham was transferred to the unique 6900 Series for the remaining two years.

1960 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz 6467E was featured as a Maurice Minnifield vehicle in the 1990's Northern Exposure television series. Fourth Generation (1961-1964)