I love how the bodylines are so tight that they're nearly to the point of being invisible. One has to really look to see the back doors, and once seen, it's hard to believe its a 4 door. An engineering, styling and luxury tour de force. Just incredibly beautiful.
Many years ago, I was on Watson island, the first Island on the causeway to Miami Beach. There was this old guy sitting in a stainless roof over black Cadillac. I just had to walk up and talk to him, and get a closer look at this beautiful Cadillac .He said he bought the car new at the Miami dealer in downtown Miami. He lived part time on Miami Beach and drove the car for several months during his winter stay. Always garaged the car was mint only the original black paint was spider webbed. He offered a ride if I would reciprocate with a drive in my 68 green XR7 Cougar. I said, "Let trade"! He laughed and said he couldn't drive a stick shift. Beautiful car and what a nice man. K.
I was 10 in '57 and just starting to pay attention to cars as the mid '50s was the start of a 15 year 'golden age'...The average little boy knew the year, make and model of most every car on the road and every car enthusiast looked forward to the new styles every fall...It's so hard to believe they're almost all gone and what once would have been casually taken to the junk yard would now be an exciting and valuable 'barn find"... It's wonderful to see the rare, well care for originals.
Soon true! I'm happy to say I was one of those little boys. I agree with everything you wrote. In fact, I actually had to remind myself I didn't write it, lol. I remember the search lights from the dealers every September to announce the new model years. It makes me feel good to know there are so many guys out there that all feel the same way about our Golden Age of American Cars. I think that's so very cool! I really liked you post!
I too remember w anticipation going to the dealerships on a Friday night to view the exciting new car designs of Ford Chevy and Chrysler! Wow what a night and how CROWDED THE SHOWROOMS WERE IN SEPT/OCT TIME FRAME...........I LOVED THIS EXCITING PERIOD OF TIME I DONT KNOW HOW OTHERS FEEL ABOUT THIS EVENT OF VIEWING NEW CARS BUT FOR ME THIS WAS SOOO EXCITING! IN APRIL OF 1964, I REMEMBER GOING W MY DAD AND BROTHER TO VIEW THE NEW FORD MUSTANG AND HOW CROWDED THE SHOWROOM WAS THAT NIGHT!!! THAT WAS SOMETHING ELSE!!!
@@henry12397 A friend bought a new '64 Mustang convertible, dark blue, it was so cool riding around in it that first year almost 60 years ago...Our Ford dealer was only a block away from where I lived, dealerships were a much more friendly place back then...
This is one of those cars that need to be experienced in person to fully appreciate the full experience. I adore the styling, both exterior and interior, of all 50s Cadillac, but the brougham is truly a special machine inside and out.
These cars were simply OVER THE TOP! Lovely gorgeous hunks of steel. The dash is so full of chrome, it blinds the eye. Thanks for showing it. I can never see enough of it!
My grandmother had a black on black 57 ElDorado. My uncle got it when she died. My cousin got it when my uncle passed. He enters it in car shows around the southeast. Original paint, interior, power train. He's won over 18 best in show with her. I wanted her so bad.
It's astonishing this car was being designed and engineered 70 years ago. With memory seats, power trunk pull down, air conditioning (among the items you mention), it was a technological tour de force. I had the chance to really go over one at the Volo Auto Museum about 10 years ago and came away awed at its features, engine, styling, and quality of build. Also it was surprisingly short at 216"!
@@R.J.1respectfully, you are incorrect. At that time the least expensive Rolls-Royce was the Silver Cloud saloon at $13,996. The Eldorado Brougham was $13,074 which made the cheapest Rolls-Royce nearly 8% more expensive. Those are the facts.
@@JSDesignHK I'll believe Hagerty over some guy in the comments. Here's what they say: The 1957 Eldorado Brougham was a hand-built car with every luxury conceivable in the late-1950s, including air-conditioning, self-leveling suspension, a stainless steel roof and lamb’s wool carpeting. It cost more than $13,000 (over $110,000 in today’s money), which was more than a Rolls-Royce of the day.
@@R.J.1 Hagerty were incorrect. I informed them and provided documentation, but the article was already printed. It isn’t the first time they’ve been incorrect.
Truely a masterpiece on wheels that we will never see again! I was born in '57 so I grew up in the 50's 60's and 70's and it was a great time to be alive, just for the cars alone - lol - little did we know that it wasn't going to last! 😞
NOTE: The term Dagmar for car bumpers in the 50's are named after actress Virginia Ruth "Jennie" Lewis, known professionally as Dagmar. She had big "Dagmars"
100's perhaps 1,000's of years from now - Your videos will be popular classics - Thank you so much for your work and talent !!! So much would have been lost forever if not for you !!!!
My late father absolutely loved these cars! He had some amazing vehicles he purchased in his life including a 55 Chevy convertible, 1959 Buick Invicta convertible and a 1966 Buick Riviera. He also had a string of some amazing company supplied cars including 1966 Caprice Wagon, 69 Pontiac Safari, 71 and 73 Pontiac Grand Safari clamshell wagons, and his last company car a 1996 Impala SS! He never worked for GM but he definitely influenced my career path towards working for GM where I now am.
Really neat story Ed. Had a 96 SS, wish I had an opportunity to even sit in the cars your father had. Glad you have these memories. Absolute must for 94-96 Impalas, 9c1 and Lt-1 Caprice was to get the proper extended/adjustable rear trailing arms. The rear wheel sat a half inch or so too far forward and look ridiculous. Bad on GM to not correct it. Easy way to identify a 94-96 B-Body with a "Vette" engine tho.
Most folks go rah rah over the 59; to me this is the most beautiful Caddy ever. It has 50's bling, but unlike almost every other 50's car, it's tasteful bling.
The '57-8 Eldo was beautiful, though I probably have a preference for the '56-7 Continental Mark II. Both helped create the magical image of one of the most iconic eras of the US car industry: The late 1950's. Thanks for a great video.
BRAVO,! What you mentioned was spot on but do another video with ALL of the firsts that these Broughams had!! Memory seats, full open/close power trunk, power venti panes, power door locks, suicide rear doors with safety oval pull knobs and not handles, rear door automatic locking when car was put in gear, automatic gear shift locking if rear door was ajar, fully automatic power antenna, fully transistor radio, foot control button to change radio stations, startex solenoid if the car should die, simply put gearshift lever in neutral for a restart, glove compartment/rear armrest vanity items, polarized sun visors, under seat rear heater controls, forward opening hood, 2x4 barrel carbs for 1957 and 3x2 set up for 1958.....plus the items you already covered. BTW, it's not that the Broughams were not a good seller, but it cost GM so much to manufacture, that they lost $10K on every can they built so they limited the production to 403 in 1957 and 304 in 1958. Their thinking was in the long run, the advertising these cars would do for them in future years would offset those losses and every time I drive my 1958 in public, it proves their theory was correct!!!!
When people (non-car people) innocently try to make a connection with me, knowing me as a car-guy, what my favorite car is, I answer...this. Of course they have no idea, but the effort is appreciated anyway. What a monumental effort this car was...a halo car never meant to be a money maker. no factory options other than color or material choices. this was it, the ultimate in owner-driven cars, and truly was the standard of the world
Cadillac CELESTIQ represents a return to the aspirational top Cadillac offered, with pricing that starts at $340,000.. And goes up from there.. The sky is the limit.
My dad bought a ‘57 caddy hearse and proceeded to build a camper body on it. He had it weighed first. Then cut the hearse body off it behind the windshield- doors and all. Built the camper and had it weighed again. He was within 100 pounds of the original body. It handled and rode like a Cadillac. This was a professional job- looked like a factory build. He then had it painted white. We used it for a few years before he sold it. Last I knew, it was down in Florida, still being used! Beautiful cars. Back when cars still had style. 👍🇺🇸❤️
Iconic Caddy and agree this arguably one of if not the most beautiful 4-door hardtop ever designed. Definitely one of Harley Earl and his teams penultimate designs.
Also, if I am not mistaken, the 1957-58 Cadillac Eldorado was the first American car to have truly Narrow White Wall Tires, where there was a section of the side wall between the rim and the white was that was black - in other words, the white wall did not extend all the way to the rim. It was not until later 1962 models of almost all American cars that came with narrow white wall tires.
@@MarinCipollina I never heard the term "white stripe" used until the "Wide Oval" tire was introduced about 1967, with an even narrower "white stripe", like the redline tires that appeared on the '64 GTO. We just referred to them as narrow whitewalls. Actually, in the sixties, the width of the "stripe" narrowed a little every couple years, so if your '62 car wore out the front tires, in '65, you wouldn't be able to match the stripe width of your existing rear tires, when you replaced them. Until then, tire rotating wasn't a thing, and people couldn't afford to wear out 4 tires at the same time!
Actually, the first regular production American car to have quad headlights as standard equipment was the 1957 Nash Ambassador. These last Nashes would make for an interesting episode.
@@MarinCipollina the 57 Nash does not predate the Eldorado Brougham, but it was a regular production, assembly line, popularly priced car. The Brougham was a limited production, virtually hand built custom car at an astronomical price.
Also the 1957 DeSoto Adventurer & 1957 Chrysler 300C convertible beat the Eldorado Brougham to market with standard quad headlamps. They were introduced for sale at the New York Auto Show in December of 1956. The Eldorado Brougham, although at the same show, wasn't on the market until March of 1957. A handful of 1957 Chrysler 300C hardtops were built with single headlamps.
Adam, this is a lovely cameo presentation of Cadillac’s ‘pinnacle’ motorcar in the opinion of many. I wish to point out that even my personal favorite Cadillac (my 1973 Eldorado) retains the self-leveling suspension for the rear by employing a vacuum operated onboard compressor and leveling valve for the air-shocks assisting very soft rear coil springs as standard equipment. Thank you for the continuing videos.
@@MarinCipollina Yes, and by then it had become ELC, electronic level control with an electric compressor under the hood and an electronic sensor at the left rear wheel. There was a flaw though, at least in my '81 Eldorado, in that the system vented itself when parked... which made no sense because it uses no electricity to keep the valves closed.
My '73 Sedan De Ville had the self leveling suspension AND fiber optic lighting mounted above rear window and on the fenders to show at a glance (even looking into the interior rearview mirror) if any exterior lamps were burned out. LOVED that feature!!! :)
Hey Adam, great review of the 58 Cadillac Eldorado. Those are the Cadillacs that truly and tastefully defined what a Cadillac should look like, but as with the rest of the Big Three, they they had all they could do to control themselves in the late 50s. As usual, I learned something new as I always do with your reviews. I never knew about their air suspension system and how it worked. I had a 1990 Lincoln Mark Vll LSC with air suspension. It had air bags at all 4 wheels, which was controlled by an electric compressor under the hood. In my opinion, it gave the car great straight line handling, but was a little too stiff to handle tight mountain roads, which we have so many of out west. Your point about how the leveling was done while the car was parked gave all the Lincolns with air suspension these strange ticking sounds as the sensors adjusted the height of the car. My 95 Town Car had an interesting move. If there were six adults in the car, once parked, the rear of the car would rise way up once the car was emptied. Then within minutes, the ticking would start and the car would return to it's normal level. There was no problems with it, but it did startle me the first time I saw it happening. As I said, thanks for another awesome review Adam.
As I watch these videos..especially in regards to the Cadillacs, I am amazed as to how far down the brand has come. Being a kid in the late 70's and early 80's I saw the " cost cutting" models. Meanwhile growing up in Dallas Texas , I saw people lining up to buy Mercedes and BMWs and paying a lot more money for them. Its like GM/Cadillac gave up on the luxury market.
The transistor radio was a Eldorado Brougham innovation. As mentioned Nash had quad headlights, as did De Soto, Chrysler, Imperial and Mercury where they were legal. I’m not a big fan of Caddies, but these Uber Cadillacs Eldorados and the Italian made ‘59 & ‘60 Broughams are truly standards of the world.
Yes, the car screams excess but what a stunner! From the Dagmar bumpers to the suicide rear doors and the rear exhaust integrated into the rear bumper? Fuggetaboutit!
An interesting episode would be about the analog memory seat. An owner of a ‘57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser explained the Rube Goldberg-like mechanisms used in the Mercury and I wonder if Cadillac’s system was similar.
When I was a kid, my best friend's grandfather had a 1953 Olds 98 with the Autronic Eye. He quickly had it disconnected due to "false positives." It was a gimmick, not a feature.
Automatic headlight dimming wasn't really ready for prime time when introduced.. Sometimes it would dim lights with an oncoming car in the distance, only to revert to full brights before the oncoming car passed.. Oncoming traffic drivers probably thought it was intentional..
My step grandpa had one of those, just like that one. Sat in his garage forever, never got it running after him rebuilding engine. Eventually ended up at local scrap yard.. Sad..
While not an Eldorado, I had a 57 Cadillac series 62 4 door hardtop with 44K original miles on it. It was one of the first 1000 built and was my best barn find. I regret selling it to this day..
These were $13,000 at a time when a new Rolls Royce was about $11,000 and a fully loaded 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible with every option topped out at $3,000. And GM STILL lost money on each one they sold! Hand formed aluminum body panels. Cutting edge tech like you mentioned plus: 2 way Memory power seat position Power deck lid opening and closing (not just the more familiar closing lock latch but the whole lid operated with an electric motor driving the hinges - there were two buttons in the glove box) Suicide doors Stainless Steel roof Those wheels are among the first aluminum alloys like we have today that’s common - that was a first Central locking automatic door locks that locked when you took it out of park This was a very cutting edge car. Today they’re worth about $250,000 in nice condition. They’re a pain to restore if found in bad shape though. Impossible to find parts, need a highly skilled and knowledgeable crew to do the body work.
You are incorrect, and I have the period price list for Rolls-Royce sitting right in front of me. The Eldorado Brougham was $13,074 and the least expensive Rolls-Royce was the Silver Cloud saloon at $13,995 which is nearly 8% more expensive. Those are the facts.
A great overview of some new '50s technology, Adam. I didn't realized the Eldorado Brougham had an electric air compressor, rather than the belt driven one of the other Cadillacs. That would certainly help it to be more reliable. My parents had a black '58 Country Squire with Ford Aire and it never worked right -- it would deflate itself overnight, causing a wait the next time the car was driven to wait for it to level out again.
Regarding the automatic headlight dimmer, my `79 Fleetwood Limousine had it. But when I drove down country roads at night, as soon as my headlights hit reflective road signs, my headlights would switch to lowbeam, and then back up to highbeam after passing the sign. If there were multiple signs in a row for whatever reason, it would just keep dimming and un-dimming. I think I ended up switching to manual on that. Anyway, that's definitely a beautiful car. If I'm not mistaken the sticker price on those was in the neighborhood of $13,000, which was amazing at the time. On a side note I don't think I've ever seen an Eldo Brougham in person, only online.
I'd be very interested in seeing a video on that Continental, too. This is the first time I recall seeing it and the design is very interesting. I can't tell if it's unusually low to the ground or the aesthetic of the design makes it look that way.
Always wanted one of these. Nice curved SS roof, strange Tesla can’t curve stainless steel by the plywood look of that truck they have yet to produce 😂
Stainless steel can be curved- a few times. Then it destroys the tooling, which has to be replaced. Go ahead and do some reading on it- you'll be fascinated!
@@keithdukes5990I know of a few early production 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruisers with single headlamps. However, the 1957 Turnpike Cruiser convertible was a late addition for the Indy 500, and all of them got the quad headlamps.
The quad head lamp low beams are a dual filament bulb where the high output filament was used on low beam. When the foot dimmer switch was used to turn on high beams the single filament in the high beam bulbs would illuminate and the low beam bulb would actually dim to the low output filament and the low beam bulb would be used as ditch lighting.
Bob Hope had one of those, it cost him $13,000 new and he kept it for 26 years, that works out at $500 a year or $10 a week, at that price I could afford one.
I hope you also do a feature on the 1959-1960 Pinin Farina built El Dorado Broughams. Whereas the regular Cadillac's of that vintage were campy and over-the-top, the Pinin Farina's were sleek and classy with styling that Cadillac would adapt in the 1961-1964 deVilles.
Sadly these Broughams are largely forgotten today. They are very handsome units, surprisingly smaller than other Caddys of the time. GM's stylists also made a town car version with open driver's compartment, but was just a body mounted on a bare chassis used for car shows. The story goes that the town car was taken to an auto parts yard in Detroit with strict orders to crush it but the workers there hid it for years behind a stack of older, "totalled" wrecked vehicles because they didn't have the heart to break her down.
I had a mk2 VW Golf with the extra lamps in the grill that functioned just as this: H4 low/high beam in the outer lamps and H3 high beams in the grill. I didn't know it originated on this car.
I'm fairly certain my father's 1957 Turnpike Cruiser had quad headlights, as did a family friend's powder blue 1957 Lincoln Capri. 1952 Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles offered automatic dimming for headlights (Autronic-Eye). I believe my maternal grandfather's fire engine red 1957 Coupe de Ville had it.
One of THEE most gorgeous Post War US cars, probably that will ever be, to the end of time. Only 400 made in '57, 304 in '58, and the restyled Pininfarina, last of this series numbers were 101 in '59 and 99 in 1960.
I love how the bodylines are so tight that they're nearly to the point of being invisible. One has to really look to see the back doors, and once seen, it's hard to believe its a 4 door. An engineering, styling and luxury tour de force. Just incredibly beautiful.
Very true. But then at the same time it would not look right as a 2dr. coupe. 4drs. give cars a more statelier attitude it seems.
When the video began, I really thought it was a 2-door.
@@BingBangBye Me too!
Many years ago, I was on Watson
island, the first Island on the causeway to Miami Beach. There was this old guy sitting in a stainless roof over black Cadillac.
I just had to walk up and talk to him, and get a closer look at this beautiful Cadillac .He said he bought the car new at the Miami dealer in downtown Miami. He lived part time on Miami Beach and drove the car for several months during his winter stay.
Always garaged the car was mint
only the original black paint was
spider webbed. He offered a ride if I would reciprocate with a drive in my 68 green XR7 Cougar. I said, "Let trade"! He laughed and said he couldn't drive a stick shift.
Beautiful car and what a nice man.
K.
There's a guy in my town who has a 57 Eldorado Brougham that is fully restored. Absolutely gorgeous automobile. Great video Adam!
These have to be one of the most elegant Cadillacs that were made.
I was 10 in '57 and just starting to pay attention to cars as the mid '50s was the start of a 15 year 'golden age'...The average little boy knew the year, make and model of most every car on the road and every car enthusiast looked forward to the new styles every fall...It's so hard to believe they're almost all gone and what once would have been casually taken to the junk yard would now be an exciting and valuable 'barn find"... It's wonderful to see the rare, well care for originals.
I have a beater 69 deville and I keep putting money into it and can’t let it go. I love that car
Soon true! I'm happy to say I was one of those little boys. I agree with everything you wrote. In fact, I actually had to remind myself I didn't write it, lol. I remember the search lights from the dealers every September to announce the new model years. It makes me feel good to know there are so many guys out there that all feel the same way about our Golden Age of American Cars. I think that's so very cool! I really liked you post!
I too remember w anticipation going to the dealerships on a Friday night to view the exciting new car designs of Ford Chevy and Chrysler! Wow what a night and how CROWDED THE SHOWROOMS WERE IN SEPT/OCT TIME FRAME...........I LOVED THIS EXCITING PERIOD OF TIME I DONT KNOW HOW OTHERS FEEL ABOUT THIS EVENT OF VIEWING NEW CARS BUT FOR ME THIS WAS SOOO EXCITING!
IN APRIL OF 1964, I REMEMBER GOING W MY DAD AND BROTHER TO VIEW THE NEW FORD MUSTANG AND HOW CROWDED THE SHOWROOM WAS THAT NIGHT!!! THAT WAS SOMETHING ELSE!!!
@@henry12397 A friend bought a new '64 Mustang convertible, dark blue, it was so cool riding around in it that first year almost 60 years ago...Our Ford dealer was only a block away from where I lived, dealerships were a much more friendly place back then...
The cars were like art. Especially the 57 chevy
This is one of those cars that need to be experienced in person to fully appreciate the full experience. I adore the styling, both exterior and interior, of all 50s Cadillac, but the brougham is truly a special machine inside and out.
I am surprised you did not talk about the memory seat and power open-close feature of the trunk they had to be firsts!
These cars were simply OVER THE TOP! Lovely gorgeous hunks of steel. The dash is so full of chrome, it blinds the eye. Thanks for showing it. I can never see enough of it!
My grandmother had a black on black 57 ElDorado. My uncle got it when she died. My cousin got it when my uncle passed. He enters it in car shows around the southeast. Original paint, interior, power train. He's won over 18 best in show with her. I wanted her so bad.
From a time when cars were a piece of art. What a magnificent automobile.
It's astonishing this car was being designed and engineered 70 years ago. With memory seats, power trunk pull down, air conditioning (among the items you mention), it was a technological tour de force. I had the chance to really go over one at the Volo Auto Museum about 10 years ago and came away awed at its features, engine, styling, and quality of build. Also it was surprisingly short at 216"!
Indeed a masterpiece. Out priced and outshined the Rolls Royce in '57.
Right! They definitely were among the shortest of late '50s Cads. Kind of the first "Short Deck".
@@R.J.1respectfully, you are incorrect. At that time the least expensive Rolls-Royce was the Silver Cloud saloon at $13,996. The Eldorado Brougham was $13,074 which made the cheapest Rolls-Royce nearly 8% more expensive. Those are the facts.
@@JSDesignHK I'll believe Hagerty over some guy in the comments.
Here's what they say:
The 1957 Eldorado Brougham was a hand-built car with every luxury conceivable in the late-1950s, including air-conditioning, self-leveling suspension, a stainless steel roof and lamb’s wool carpeting. It cost more than $13,000 (over $110,000 in today’s money), which was more than a Rolls-Royce of the day.
@@R.J.1 Hagerty were incorrect. I informed them and provided documentation, but the article was already printed. It isn’t the first time they’ve been incorrect.
Damn the rear the quarters view really captures the magic of that body, what an amazing car!
Cadillac Eldorado Brougham also introduced the first car with power memory seats.
Truely a masterpiece on wheels that we will never see again! I was born in '57 so I grew up in the 50's 60's and 70's and it was a great time to be alive, just for the cars alone - lol - little did we know that it wasn't going to last! 😞
NOTE: The term Dagmar for car bumpers in the 50's are named after actress Virginia Ruth "Jennie" Lewis, known professionally as Dagmar. She had big "Dagmars"
Followed in 1961 by the introduction of the “car bra.”
LOL LOL LOL@@tntanto
100's perhaps 1,000's of years from now - Your videos will be popular classics - Thank you so much for your work and talent !!! So much would have been lost forever if not for you !!!!
My late father absolutely loved these cars! He had some amazing vehicles he purchased in his life including a 55 Chevy convertible, 1959 Buick Invicta convertible and a 1966 Buick Riviera. He also had a string of some amazing company supplied cars including 1966 Caprice Wagon, 69 Pontiac Safari, 71 and 73 Pontiac Grand Safari clamshell wagons, and his last company car a 1996 Impala SS! He never worked for GM but he definitely influenced my career path towards working for GM where I now am.
Really neat story Ed. Had a 96 SS, wish I had an opportunity to even sit in the cars your father had. Glad you have these memories. Absolute must for 94-96 Impalas, 9c1 and Lt-1 Caprice was to get the proper extended/adjustable rear trailing arms. The rear wheel sat a half inch or so too far forward and look ridiculous. Bad on GM to not correct it. Easy way to identify a 94-96 B-Body with a "Vette" engine tho.
When cars were a work of art as well as transportation.
Best of the best!.
The 57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser had 4 headlights also.
Great video. I’m glad I got recommended this video by CZcams
Some real beauties there! The Continental was an amazing tight design.
This, to me, is the ultimate classic car. I love the idea of having one of these. Amazing piece of work.
Most folks go rah rah over the 59; to me this is the most beautiful Caddy ever. It has 50's bling, but unlike almost every other 50's car, it's tasteful bling.
The '57-8 Eldo was beautiful, though I probably have a preference for the '56-7 Continental Mark II. Both helped create the magical image of one of the most iconic eras of the US car industry: The late 1950's. Thanks for a great video.
BRAVO,! What you mentioned was spot on but do another video with ALL of the firsts that these Broughams had!! Memory seats, full open/close power trunk, power venti panes, power door locks, suicide rear doors with safety oval pull knobs and not handles, rear door automatic locking when car was put in gear, automatic gear shift locking if rear door was ajar, fully automatic power antenna, fully transistor radio, foot control button to change radio stations, startex solenoid if the car should die, simply put gearshift lever in neutral for a restart, glove compartment/rear armrest vanity items, polarized sun visors, under seat rear heater controls, forward opening hood, 2x4 barrel carbs for 1957 and 3x2 set up for 1958.....plus the items you already covered.
BTW, it's not that the Broughams were not a good seller, but it cost GM so much to manufacture, that they lost $10K on every can they built so they limited the production to 403 in 1957 and 304 in 1958. Their thinking was in the long run, the advertising these cars would do for them in future years would offset those losses and every time I drive my 1958 in public, it proves their theory was correct!!!!
What number is your car? My friends is #683
When people (non-car people) innocently try to make a connection with me, knowing me as a car-guy, what my favorite car is, I answer...this. Of course they have no idea, but the effort is appreciated anyway. What a monumental effort this car was...a halo car never meant to be a money maker. no factory options other than color or material choices. this was it, the ultimate in owner-driven cars, and truly was the standard of the world
Cadillac CELESTIQ represents a return to the aspirational top Cadillac offered, with pricing that starts at $340,000.. And goes up from there.. The sky is the limit.
Love your channel. Just one small correction. That was a Continental, not a Lincoln Continental. Continental was the brand name for that body.
And Continental was a complete division on its own. But I think that during the manufacturing process parts of the car were shared with Lincoln.
Love the style of these cars both outside and inside. Loved the suicide doors too.
My dad bought a ‘57 caddy hearse and proceeded to build a camper body on it. He had it weighed first. Then cut the hearse body off it behind the windshield- doors and all. Built the camper and had it weighed again. He was within 100 pounds of the original body. It handled and rode like a Cadillac. This was a professional job- looked like a factory build. He then had it painted white. We used it for a few years before he sold it. Last I knew, it was down in Florida, still being used! Beautiful cars. Back when cars still had style. 👍🇺🇸❤️
Iconic Caddy and agree this arguably one of if not the most beautiful 4-door hardtop ever designed. Definitely one of Harley Earl and his teams penultimate designs.
I’ve only seen a few these in my life. What a bold idea. I would have loved to be old enough to be aware of these. I was born in 1956.
Also, if I am not mistaken, the 1957-58 Cadillac Eldorado was the first American car to have truly Narrow White Wall Tires, where there was a section of the side wall between the rim and the white was that was black - in other words, the white wall did not extend all the way to the rim. It was not until later 1962 models of almost all American cars that came with narrow white wall tires.
Technically, those were "white stripe" tires, not "whitewalls".
@@MarinCipollina I never heard the term "white stripe" used until the "Wide Oval" tire was introduced about 1967, with an even narrower "white stripe", like the redline tires that appeared on the '64 GTO. We just referred to them as narrow whitewalls. Actually, in the sixties, the width of the "stripe" narrowed a little every couple years, so if your '62 car wore out the front tires, in '65, you wouldn't be able to match the stripe width of your existing rear tires, when you replaced them. Until then, tire rotating wasn't a thing, and people couldn't afford to wear out 4 tires at the same time!
Actually, the first regular production American car to have quad headlights as standard equipment was the 1957 Nash Ambassador. These last Nashes would make for an interesting episode.
On what basis does the 1957 Nash pre-date the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham ?
@@MarinCipollina the 57 Nash does not predate the Eldorado Brougham, but it was a regular production, assembly line, popularly priced car. The Brougham was a limited production, virtually hand built custom car at an astronomical price.
Thanks for the Nash props
Also the 1957 DeSoto Adventurer & 1957 Chrysler 300C convertible beat the Eldorado Brougham to market with standard quad headlamps. They were introduced for sale at the New York Auto Show in December of 1956. The Eldorado Brougham, although at the same show, wasn't on the market until March of 1957. A handful of 1957 Chrysler 300C hardtops were built with single headlamps.
@@Lurch4you quad headlights were OPTIONAL on 57 Desoto, Chrysler and Imperial, NOT standard equipment.
The Packard torsion bar self-leveling system was really cool.
The Eldorado Brougham is probably the best example of a Motorama concept coming to life with the exception of the first Corvette.
Adam, this is a lovely cameo presentation of Cadillac’s ‘pinnacle’ motorcar in the opinion of many.
I wish to point out that even my personal favorite Cadillac (my 1973 Eldorado) retains the self-leveling suspension for the rear by employing a vacuum operated onboard compressor and leveling valve for the air-shocks assisting very soft rear coil springs as standard equipment. Thank you for the continuing videos.
My 1980 Cadillac Coupe de Ville D'Elegance had the same feature.
@@MarinCipollina Yes, and by then it had become ELC, electronic level control with an electric compressor under the hood and an electronic sensor at the left rear wheel. There was a flaw though, at least in my '81 Eldorado, in that the system vented itself when parked... which made no sense because it uses no electricity to keep the valves closed.
My '73 Sedan De Ville had the self leveling suspension AND fiber optic lighting mounted above rear window and on the fenders to show at a glance (even looking into the interior rearview mirror) if any exterior lamps were burned out. LOVED that feature!!! :)
Hey Adam, great review of the 58 Cadillac Eldorado. Those are the Cadillacs that truly and tastefully defined what a Cadillac should look like, but as with the rest of the Big Three, they they had all they could do to control themselves in the late 50s. As usual, I learned something new as I always do with your reviews. I never knew about their air suspension system and how it worked. I had a 1990 Lincoln Mark Vll LSC with air suspension. It had air bags at all 4 wheels, which was controlled by an electric compressor under the hood. In my opinion, it gave the car great straight line handling, but was a little too stiff to handle tight mountain roads, which we have so many of out west. Your point about how the leveling was done while the car was parked gave all the Lincolns with air suspension these strange ticking sounds as the sensors adjusted the height of the car. My 95 Town Car had an interesting move. If there were six adults in the car, once parked, the rear of the car would rise way up once the car was emptied. Then within minutes, the ticking would start and the car would return to it's normal level. There was no problems with it, but it did startle me the first time I saw it happening. As I said, thanks for another awesome review Adam.
As I watch these videos..especially in regards to the Cadillacs, I am amazed as to how far down the brand has come. Being a kid in the late 70's and early 80's I saw the " cost cutting" models. Meanwhile growing up in Dallas Texas , I saw people lining up to buy Mercedes and BMWs and paying a lot more money for them. Its like GM/Cadillac gave up on the luxury market.
Beautiful car. Bob Hope owned one. I want to say it also had dual four barrel carburetors on it
Yes it is a '57, '58''s have three two barrel carbs.
Mike's Lincoln is positively gorgeous!
The transistor radio was a Eldorado Brougham innovation. As mentioned Nash had quad headlights, as did De Soto, Chrysler, Imperial and Mercury where they were legal. I’m not a big fan of Caddies, but these Uber Cadillacs Eldorados and the Italian made ‘59 & ‘60 Broughams are truly standards of the world.
Chrysler used the quad headlights on cars with later introductions: the 300C and Adventurer. This gave states more time to change their rules.
I had no idea the '59 and '60 Broughams were made in Italy. Thanks for the info!
Yes, the car screams excess but what a stunner! From the Dagmar bumpers to the suicide rear doors and the rear exhaust integrated into the rear bumper? Fuggetaboutit!
An interesting episode would be about the analog memory seat. An owner of a ‘57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser explained the Rube Goldberg-like mechanisms used in the Mercury and I wonder if Cadillac’s system was similar.
When I was a kid, my best friend's grandfather had a 1953 Olds 98 with the Autronic Eye. He quickly had it disconnected due to "false positives." It was a gimmick, not a feature.
Automatic headlight dimming wasn't really ready for prime time when introduced.. Sometimes it would dim lights with an oncoming car in the distance, only to revert to full brights before the oncoming car passed.. Oncoming traffic drivers probably thought it was intentional..
@@MarinCipollina Yep. Cliff experienced that; he also said that sometimes a farmhouse half a mile away would do it.
Wow that Lincoln coupe is one good looking car!
It is not a Lincoln.
Another top notch episode! I always learn something new even about cars I thought I was knowledgeable about. Thank-you, Adam.
I consider myself to be an auto buff and I’ve never even seen this car. Thanks, Adam!
They are magnificent in person.
Citroën introduced adjustable air suspension on the 1955 DS-19. Although some of the later 1954-55 Traction Avants were also equipped.
Beautiful work of art
My step grandpa had one of those, just like that one. Sat in his garage forever, never got it running after him rebuilding engine. Eventually ended up at local scrap yard.. Sad..
While not an Eldorado, I had a 57 Cadillac series 62 4 door hardtop with 44K original miles on it. It was one of the first 1000 built and was my best barn find. I regret selling it to this day..
One of my favorite Cadillacs of all time, second only to the 67 Eldorado in my book. Edit: SO much better looking than the 59s...
Beautiful car, glad it didn't have hideaway headlights :)
Possibly the best looking Caddilac.
These were $13,000 at a time when a new Rolls Royce was about $11,000 and a fully loaded 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible with every option topped out at $3,000. And GM STILL lost money on each one they sold! Hand formed aluminum body panels. Cutting edge tech like you mentioned plus:
2 way Memory power seat position
Power deck lid opening and closing (not just the more familiar closing lock latch but the whole lid operated with an electric motor driving the hinges - there were two buttons in the glove box)
Suicide doors
Stainless Steel roof
Those wheels are among the first aluminum alloys like we have today that’s common - that was a first
Central locking automatic door locks that locked when you took it out of park
This was a very cutting edge car. Today they’re worth about $250,000 in nice condition. They’re a pain to restore if found in bad shape though. Impossible to find parts, need a highly skilled and knowledgeable crew to do the body work.
You are incorrect, and I have the period price list for Rolls-Royce sitting right in front of me. The Eldorado Brougham was $13,074 and the least expensive Rolls-Royce was the Silver Cloud saloon at $13,995 which is nearly 8% more expensive. Those are the facts.
They also had an electric fuel pump with auto engine start.
Wow, this Car is a stunner and those bumpers on the front end are like Jayne Mansfield's Chest back in '57, eh Adam😜🙌
56 Lincoln definatley ushered in the 60s styling cues. Could have passed for a 65' model.
A great overview of some new '50s technology, Adam. I didn't realized the Eldorado Brougham had an electric air compressor, rather than the belt driven one of the other Cadillacs. That would certainly help it to be more reliable. My parents had a black '58 Country Squire with Ford Aire and it never worked right -- it would deflate itself overnight, causing a wait the next time the car was driven to wait for it to level out again.
Throw all superlatives at this beauty. This was the standard of the world.
Regarding the automatic headlight dimmer, my `79 Fleetwood Limousine had it. But when I drove down country roads at night, as soon as my headlights hit reflective road signs, my headlights would switch to lowbeam, and then back up to highbeam after passing the sign. If there were multiple signs in a row for whatever reason, it would just keep dimming and un-dimming. I think I ended up switching to manual on that. Anyway, that's definitely a beautiful car. If I'm not mistaken the sticker price on those was in the neighborhood of $13,000, which was amazing at the time. On a side note I don't think I've ever seen an Eldo Brougham in person, only online.
Sticker was $13,074.00
That dashboard!
Fell in love with these the first time I saw one.
When you you're unashamingly rich and want a '58 model in late 1956))
I'd be very interested in seeing a video on that Continental, too. This is the first time I recall seeing it and the design is very interesting.
I can't tell if it's unusually low to the ground or the aesthetic of the design makes it look that way.
It’s extraordinary that a safety idea of auto dimming headlights is a standard feature on my BMW and many high end vehicles 65 years later. 😏
Always wanted one of these. Nice curved SS roof, strange Tesla can’t curve stainless steel by the plywood look of that truck they have yet to produce 😂
Stainless steel can be curved- a few times. Then it destroys the tooling, which has to be replaced. Go ahead and do some reading on it- you'll be fascinated!
the headlight treatment looks like it was cut and pasted onto the 1958 Impala.
thats a beautiful car Adam, I'd love to find one for my daily driver 👍 also I'm surprised no right side mirror
😲😲😲😲😳😳😳😳i love a Cadillac car.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Nowhere near as good looking as the 57 Belair. At least in this beholder's eye.
The 57 Nash had quad headlights too.
The Autronic Eye was around at least two years before. My grandfather's '55 Caddy, which is pretty much a base 4-door and still in the family, has it.
Thank you for introducing to this model, Adam! Beautiful car!
Man great vid, love ALL those cars !
First in industry with an all electric automatic memory seat also.
It also had automatic a/c, memory seats and suckdown trunk.
They did not have "Climate Control", it is manually controlled A/C which was standard.
It also had a fully powered trunk lid (not just pull-down) like a modern luxury car, although I'd be curious to know if it was the first.
It was the first to be fully powered open and close.
The Mercury Turn pike Cruser also had quad Headlights for 1957, so did the Nash Ambassador.
So did the 57 Lincoln premier!!!😊
@@keithdukes5990I know of a few early production 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruisers with single headlamps. However, the 1957 Turnpike Cruiser convertible was a late addition for the Indy 500, and all of them got the quad headlamps.
In the early 1960s I grew up in the back seat of Dad's 1958 Cadillac Sedan Deville.
The quad head lamp low beams are a dual filament bulb where the high output filament was used on low beam. When the foot dimmer switch was used to turn on high beams the single filament in the high beam bulbs would illuminate and the low beam bulb would actually dim to the low output filament and the low beam bulb would be used as ditch lighting.
Yes please
Bob Hope had one of those, it cost him $13,000 new and he kept it for 26 years, that works out at $500 a year or $10 a week, at that price I could afford one.
One of the most beautiful cars ever made.Adam I LOVE your videos.The only drawback is I wish they were longer.Cheers from Eluethra.
Great video! How about the vanity items? The perfume atomizer and the stainless tumblers? That was a unique feature of this beast!! Thanks Adam.
Those stainless steel tumblers encourage DWI!
i like those cars.
Beautiful car 😮
I hope you also do a feature on the 1959-1960 Pinin Farina built El Dorado Broughams. Whereas the regular Cadillac's of that vintage were campy and over-the-top, the Pinin Farina's were sleek and classy with styling that Cadillac would adapt in the 1961-1964 deVilles.
I believe these had optional magnetic shot glasses in the glove box. A different time for sure.
They were part of the "Vanities" that came with every Brougham.
Sadly these Broughams are largely forgotten today. They are very handsome units, surprisingly smaller than other Caddys of the time. GM's stylists also made a town car version with open driver's compartment, but was just a body mounted on a bare chassis used for car shows. The story goes that the town car was taken to an auto parts yard in Detroit with strict orders to crush it but the workers there hid it for years behind a stack of older, "totalled" wrecked vehicles because they didn't have the heart to break her down.
I had a mk2 VW Golf with the extra lamps in the grill that functioned just as this: H4 low/high beam in the outer lamps and H3 high beams in the grill. I didn't know it originated on this car.
It was also the first appearance of narrow white stripe tires, foreseeing the big swtch in '62.
I'm fairly certain my father's 1957 Turnpike Cruiser had quad headlights, as did a family friend's powder blue 1957 Lincoln Capri. 1952 Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles offered automatic dimming for headlights (Autronic-Eye). I believe my maternal grandfather's fire engine red 1957 Coupe de Ville had it.
I thought 57 Chryslers and DeSotos had quad headlights too.
This Edoardo had a bar kit on board.
My Dream Car ❤
An Attorney had one of these gorgeous cars in the Downtown of my small city in "Chicagoland"! So very cool!!
Is the body panel around the grill steel? If so, its incredible how smoothly its executed!
Yes it is, and the whole stainless steel panel at the rear wheels is a removable fender skirt.
One of THEE most gorgeous Post War US cars, probably that will ever be, to the end of time.
Only 400 made in '57, 304 in '58, and the restyled Pininfarina, last of this series numbers were 101 in '59 and 99 in 1960.
But only the 57-58 Broughams are recognized by the Milestone Society as postwar classics
True classic. where did you film the video?
Quad headlamps were options offered by many Makes in 1957 - Chrysler, Imperial and Mercury come to mind.