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The 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was a General
Motors dream car brought to life. The most
prestigious Cadillac out of Detroit since the V-16
seventeen years earlier, the Brougham started life
at the 1954 Motorama as the Park Avenue, a four-door
town sedan which looked like, but wasn’t a hardtop.
It was a minor hit, and in May 1954 Harley Earl,
all-powerful GM design supremo, began holding
discreet meetings about a super Eldorado, a
production version of the Park Avenue for 1956.
The 1955 Motorama Cadillac was the prototype
Eldorado Brougham. Curvaceous, almost tasteful for
this gaudy period, it had pillarless claphandles
doors, restrained knife-edged fins and a 90-degree
wraparound in the front screen. Its stainless-steel
roof, narrow white sidewalls and twin headlights
were industry firsts. It say on a new X-frame
chassis with air suspension. A 6.3 litre 325 bhp
V-eight engine was hitched to GM’s Hydramatic
transmission as standard.
The Brougham had power steering, seats and windows
and dripped with electric baubles: automatic
headlamp dipper, cruise control, signal seeking
radio, electric aerial and door locks, a drum-type
electric clock and an automatic bootlid opener.
Other ultra-luxuries included polarized sun visors,
magnetized drink tumblers in the glove box,
cigarette and tissue dispensers, special lipstick
and cologne, ladies’ compact and powder puff, mirror
and matching notebook and comb and an Arpege
atomizer with Lanvin perfume. The buyer could choose
from 44 trim combinations and between karakul and
lambskin carpeting.
The Brougham was Cadillac’s response to the 1956
Lincoln Continental Marl II, nothing short of a
passion play for Cadillac which spent $25,000.00
building a car that could only sell for $12,500.00.
Only 704 Broughams were built. Nonetheless, the
Eldorado Brougham was the most luxurious automobile
of the 1950’s. |
