Chrysler had the new Imperial Ghia limousine, built in Italy. The Shah of Iran, Jacqueline Kennedy, General Macarthur, Nelson Rockefeller, The King of Saudi Arabia, Pearl Buck, and David Sarnoff were customers. At approximately $19,000, each one sold (132 through 1965) was a money loser. It was more of a marketing tool than anything else, designed to sell regular Imperials. Not to be outdone, Cadillac threw their dream car (and their checkbook) into the fight.

Based on a 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 Brougham was the realization of  dream car designer Harley Earl, who retired in 1958. The hyper-luxurious Brougham was described by Cadillac management as the most advanced automobile ever built and a mirror of things to come. It was the most complex automobile ever offered to the American public, with features supposedly not yet found on today's cars. Like what, the cigar humidor and the dual quads? Smoking is bad for you. 

The Eldorado Brougham was an example of GM'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, below,  a new recruit to the GM Styling Section. Scheelk's work was supervised by Charles  Jordan, who had taken over from Ed Glowacke, and Jordan's assistant, Dave Holls. Scheelk was later fired because his name was too hard to pronounce. Just kidding.

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. The move was meant to symbolize a new, lighter, and brighter design scheme (similar to that of the new headquarter buildings) for Cadillac. It also made it less likely that the Detroit street gangs would get you on your way to work.

The Eldorado Brougham was the product of several years of engineering and styling development. It was preceded by a number of experimental Cadillac concept cars nobody in their right mind would have bought including  the 1953 Orleans, the 1954 Park Avenue, the 1955 Eldorado Brougham prototype, and the 1956 Eldorado Brougham Town Car. Funny, the final production cars never looked anything like the dream cars, no matter whose it was, Chrysler, GM, etc. Makes you wonder what kinds of dreams these designers were having. Pass the bong, dude.

Initial plans called for the Eldorado Brougham, which used a different body than the rest of the Cadillac line, to go into limited production in 1956. It would take another year to come about, so  another Brougham dream car made the show circuit. This was the 1956 Town Car. Unlike the 1955 Eldorado Brougham prototype and the 1957 production car, it used fiberglass body construction. It featured an open compartment (oh sure, I want one of those, my driver would be very happy in the rain) in black Morocco leather for the sometimes soggy driver and enclosed beige themed passenger upholstery. It mirrored the 1930s style limousines, and probably wouldn't have sold at all with its antiquated look. One exists, the prototype, see it in the gallery.

Among the features awaiting the passengers were radio / telephone, air conditioning controls, women's vanity, cigar humidor, thermos bottle, and glassware. Sorry, no booze, you had to buy your own. An electronic locking system both secured the doors when the vehicle was in motion and opened the center opening doors when needed. Larger than the 1955 Brougham, it was 219.9 inches long and 55.8 inches high. Wheelbase was 129.5 inches. Although it didn't much resemble the eventual production model,  the Town Car  illustrated what was to come for 1957.

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. Okay, maybe this isn't it, but it looks like a park, doesn't it?

The price for the Brougham was a lofty $13,074, making it the most expensive American production car of its day.  Unfortunately,  it cost Cadillac  $23,000 to build each one. I could never understand why a car company would be willing to lose tens of thousands of dollars on cars sold to people who could probably buy the company outright  if they chose to. 

The 1957 Brougham featured the 365 cubic inch Cadillac engine, equipped with two four barrel carburetors to help out with gas mileage, no doubt. The mill produced 325 horsepower and about 8 mpg. Hey, who cares, you got the big bucks, you can swing the 20 cents per gallon for 1957 gas.  For 1958 they switched to three two barrels and upped the rating to 335 horsepower. For 1959 and 1960, the new 390 cubic inch motor was used with tri power, producing 345 horsepower.

The Broughams were typically owned by movie stars, wealthy industrialists, and even a reputed gangster or two. For your money, you took delivery of the most opulently equipped car ever to come out of Detroit. It was equipped with such items as a ladies compact, magnetized drinking cups, cigarette case, lipstick holder, beveled mirror, note pad, lambskin carpet, and a perfume atomizer filled with Arpege de Lavin, Paris.  For slightly less, say $10,000 less, you could get most of this crap in a Dodge La Femme leftover. The atomizer was filled with Old Spice after shave, but what the heck, think of the money you'd save.

Obviously the perfume and the drinking cups weren't worth 13 large, but it was a nice touch. The items that made the car worth the price included an electronic memory seat position system, an automatic starting mechanism which would start the car without having to touch the key, (car thieves have this system, it's called a dent puller) automatic trunk release / lock  with a control button in the glove box, and of course the usual power assists and air conditioning. Leather seats were optional at no extra cost. 

This car was strictly for those privileged few who could afford the car of the future while living in the present. The underprivileged few, like my family, lived in the past and got an old  Ford with Dixie cups in the glove box and a half empty bottle of vodka. What, no perfume? If you were lucky, maybe somebody would spill Aqua Velva on the seats.

The Brougham's most intriguing mechanical feature was its unique air suspension, the brain child of engineers Lester Milliken and Fred Cowin. (Didn't they design Bendix Fuel Injection?) Based on systems used for commercial vehicles since 1952, it employed an air "spring" at each wheel comprised of a domed air chamber, rubber diaphragm, and pistons. Fed by a central air compressor, the domes were continually adjusted for load and road conditions via valves and solenoids.  Unfortunately, cost and complexity were too high relative to benefits. The air domes leaked, and dealer replacements were frequent, leading many owners to junk the system in favor of conventional coil springs. Four years later, Cadillac and GM abandoned air suspension altogether. Most remaining Broughams have springs.

I thought we had air suspension in our 1957 Ford; one day the ride changed dramatically, accompanied by a rather impressive rush of air. Turns out that my old man had farted at the same time a tire blew out. Hey, where's that Aqua Velva? 

After two years and 704 units, the Brougham was fully restyled and its  bodies farmed out to Pininfarina in Italy. Only 99 were built for 1959, and 101 of the near identical 1960 models.  The clean looking cars previewed Cadillac's 1960-61 styling, but were larger (130 inch wheelbase) and heavier than the 57-58 version. They  weren't put together very well, for some reason, with bodies containing lots of lead filler. 

The  Eldorado Brougham debuted at the Chicago Auto Show in January 1959 and  sold for a still lofty $13,074. It didn't have the fins, twin taillights, and wraparound windshield of lesser '59 Cadillacs, and none of its exterior panels interchanged with the regular models. Its grille differed in that it didn't incorporate the divider bar. The Brougham didn't contain as much gadgetry as previous models, although the rear quarter windows retracted a bit for easier entry and exit when the rear doors were opened. 

Narrow whitewalls were found only on the Brougham for 1959 and '60. In 1960, the Pininfarina  cloisonne emblems moved from the side of the front fenders to the back of the rear fenders, hubcaps were changed to a smaller disc design, and the crease line rode lower on the body sides similar to the 1962 models. A distinct model called the Jacqueline was built for the 1960 Paris Salon auto show. This was a "pushmobile" with no driveline. It was sold by Pininfarina and resold, then  in 1996 it was mounted on a 1960 Eldorado Biarritz chassis with a 1959 Cadillac engine so as to make it a regular driveable car. Only one was built. Originally white, it is now gold.

They also built a special, one off car for my old man; it was called the "Ed" edition. It was a  1957 Ford with ripped cloth seats, bondo instead of lead filler, and a rather peculiar odor resembling skunk spray mixed with cow manure and beer. Originally white and yellow, it turned a rather attractive shade of brown as it rusted. 

 Today more than half the total number of Broughams built survive and are in the hands of enthusiasts and collectors the world over. The majority of these vehicles remain in good to very good condition. They represent the finest of GM's efforts of the day. I don't know where my old man's Ford went.

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