1959 Cadillac Eldorado | Classics and Eight

valuable information eightcylindir.com readers! The subject of the second article in our series is about my personal 1959 Cadillacs. 1959 Cadillacs are so special to me that I ask, “What is your purpose in life?” When I was asked that question, the answer I gave without hesitation was to one day own a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Let me tell you about my “dream car”…

Click for Classics and Eights Part 1…

As you know, creating a car is a long and difficult process. The models of cars we buy as 2020 models are probably the result of an event that started in 2012. If we go to the America of the 50s, the situation is as follows.

World War II had just ended, and the car manufacturers of that period were tasked with the production of military vehicles by the government, so new car designs and research and development studies were not enough. Especially after the war, the needs of the American people for cars were tried to be met by pre-war models, but unfortunately, the search for “new breath” began.

The three major American car companies, Ford Motor Company (FoMoCo), General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, have entered into a major conflict. As a result of this conflict, vehicle designs and equipment developments, which are almost updated every year, have been found in the industry.

The 1959 Cadillac Eldorado is also a product of this controversy. 1959 Eldorado, whose design work began in 1956, was completed in a short period of 3 years for the GM company. Let’s move on to the design features of this Cadillac.

1959 model Eldorado

Considering that design is a process, we must first go back to 1948. Harley Earl, GM’s Chief of Design at the time, commissioned designers working under him in 1948 to study the P-38 Electric fighter with a Lockheed production piston engine. The Earl and his crew were very impressed with this aircraft, especially those with a rear tail, and reflected this in their design.

In fact, you can see an aviation book in front of every designer’s desk in photos of design offices of the period. After this push, the Cadillac company began a “tail race” in American cars. Cadillac ended this race with its new products in 1959, because this year, we saw the largest winged cars in the history of the world’s cars on the market thanks to the Cadillac company.

This tail design, which you can also see in the photo, is considered the most graphic element of the car. Although some car enthusiasts find this design very attractive, many people do not like it at all. There is much criticism that the design is excessive. In fact, we can say that GM has somehow accepted this surplus in the queue.

Because in the 1960 model of Cadillacs, the tails were “beaten” aggressively. No matter how much the P-38 brings to mind the idea of ​​a tail, the most popular of the 50’s was a jet-powered military aircraft. Therefore, tails are more suitable for the design of the aircraft. As can be seen, the rear lights are bullet-shaped.

About other design elements;

The intense use of chrome parts is surprising, especially the brightness of the shutter part is at a level that can be seen from a distance of hundreds of meters. The interior design is also elegant, colorful and made with lots of chrome. Considering the abundance of devices in the world of that period, this design can be considered normal. The glass design is perhaps the most driver-friendly glass design in the world. Because the pillar-less or ultra-thin frame structure is supported by highly curved glasses, an almost 360-degree uninterrupted field of view is achieved.

The 1959 Cadillac Eldorado, which has many common parts in design with other brand vehicles produced by GM, was presented to customers by announcing complete freedom in an eye-catching segment. Interestingly, however, 1959 Cadillacs are primarily designed around the front doors of Buick, a sub-brand of GM. Because for the past 3 years, GM has been pouring a lot of money into the design business. He was left penniless. After all, both Buicks and Cadillacs had GM’s C body type (C Body Line). That is why their designs are based on common points.

1959 Cadillac Eldorado technical

If we consider the technical characteristics, the table we come across is as follows: A chassis design called tubular center X frame in its original language was used, model names such as Series 62, Fleetwood, Sedan de Ville, Coupe de Ville, Eldorado SeVille were presented. This chassis design is very stable and enables the design of vehicles with a low ground clearance. Therefore, very good care and beauty of design has been achieved.

390 cubic inch (6.4 Lt) V8 engines were recommended in the 12-cylinder versions of the cars, excluding the “Eldorado” models. Powered by 4 cylinder carburetors and dual exhaust systems, these machines produce 325 horsepower and 548Nm of torque. These values ​​are very high for that period. However, considering that the Cadillac 59 weighs 2100 kg, less horsepower and torque is unthinkable in a luxury car of this type.

When we look at the drive line, there was a “Hydra-matic” automatic transmission, which provides a 4-speed gear, which was offered as standard and exclusive equipment. When this engine and gearbox combination is combined, the 0-100 km/h time varies from model to model, but is generally within a reasonable 10-11 seconds. If the “Eldorado V8”, which is offered as an option but is offered as standard equipment in the “Eldorado” models, is recommended, 345 horsepower was obtained, which, as you will appreciate, affects acceleration.

1959 Eldorado price

Prices for a Cadillac 59 in today’s F segment vary between $5,000 and $13,000 in the currency of the period. In today’s money, this range would be about $44,000 to $115,000. Considering the cheap prices of cars in the United States, it doesn’t take an expert to say how “extreme” these prices are. The “Eldorado Brougham”, Cadillac’s most expensive car of 1959 and produced in 99 units, has a pillarless four-door design and sold for more than Rolls-Royce cars of its time.

Finally, if we look at the equipment; (Not counting simple things like radio etc.) As usual, there are features like Hydramatic automatic transmission, power steering (hydraulic steering), power brakes (power braking). In the list of options, air conditioning, cruise control (cruise control system), air suspension, autotronic headlights (a system that detects the headlights of an oncoming car and turns off the Cadillac high beams when they are on.), windows electricity. , electric seats, power trunk (automatic opening and closing of the trunk.) features were presented over the period and even today.

This is my dream car, I hope one day I will have a lot of money and can buy a 1959 Cadillac so we can talk to Etem Ağabey on our Youtube channel. All the best…

Author: Arda Kayra Kolak