Cadillac Eldorado Brougham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also: Cadillac Eldorado

Derived from a Cadillac concept vehicle exhibited during the GM Motorama of 1955, the Eldorado Brougham models of 1957 through 1960 were designed to showcase Cadillac's abilities as a maker of luxury vehicles.

The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was an example the company's post-WW2 styling direction. While no single Cadillac stylist may be credited with the final design, the latter began on the drawing boards of Bob Scheelk, a new recruit to the GM Styling Section. Bob's work was supervised by Charles "Chuck" Jordan (who had taken over from Ed Glowacke), and by Chuck's assistant, Dave Holls.

On September 15, 1955, the Cadillac Styling Section moved from its old quarters in downtown Detroit to the new, more modern General Motors Technical Center in Warren, north of the Motor City. The moved was meant to symbolize a new, lighter, and brighter design scheme (similar to that of the new headquarter buildings) for Cadillac.

The Eldorado Brougham was the product of several years of engineering and styling development. It was preceded by a number of experimental models, concept vehicles including, principally, the Cadillac "Orleans" (1953), the "Park Avenue" (1954), the "Eldorado Brougham" prototype (1955), the second Eldorado Brougham prototype and Paris show car (1955-56), and the "Eldorado Brougham town car" (1956).

The first production Eldorado Brougham (car #3) was shown at the New York Salon in January 1957. This car was featured also in a factory promotional film set in New York's Central Park, where it stole the limelight from another, specially-appointed Cadillac Sixty Special.

The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham is a rare automobile. In his authoritative "History of Cadillac", author Maurice Hendry of New Zealand said, "the biggest news for fans of mid-fifties gimcrackery and engineering innovation was the Eldorado Brougham..."

Its extravagant price tag (for the time) of more than $13,000 (roughly $88,348 in 2005 dollars) made it a low-production car, with 904 vehicles sold. Today more than half the total number built have survived and were mostly in the hands of enthusiasts and collectors the world over. The majority of these vehicles remain in good to very good condition, despite 40-45 years of age.

Anyone interested in the history and production of the Cadillac "Eldorado Brougham" models of 1957 through 1960 should consult these Web pages: http://www.car-nection.com/yann.

Cadillac road car timeline, 1930s-present -  v • d • e
Type	1930s										1940s										1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Entry-level							60				61			WWII			61																																				Cimarron																								BLS
	355						70/80					62					Series 62													6200						Calais																																Catera						CTS
Mid-size																																														Seville																														STS
Full-size																				Coupe de Ville/Sedan DeVille																																																									DTS
									60S								Sixty Special Fleetwood																									Flwd60S							Fleetwood														Fleetwood
Limousine	355						72/75/85										Series 75											6700								Fleetwood 75												FL			FB						Brougham
Personal Luxury																								Eldorado
Crossover																																																																															BRX
																																																																											SRX
SUV																																																																						Escalade
Roadster																																																										Allanté																	XLR
Halo	V-16																											Brougham