Amelia Island Weekend Edition: A Few 50's Cadillac Concepts Anyone?

LongRoofian

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PICT4421

Last weekend after spotting that new C7 Corvette and a couple older race cars (and totally missing the BMW Art Car), this olelongrooffan wandered down the 18th fairway of the Amelia Island Ritz Carlton’s golf course in search of some other cool ass stuff to see and share with my fellow Hoons. And I found it.

Back in the Motorama era that was GM in the 1950’s, their policy was to scrap all of their concept cars once the show was over. As learned while checking out that LaSalle II, not all of them suffered that fate. In addition to that LaSalle, a few Cadillacs survived as well. And this olelongrooffan was lucky enough to see them that sunny Sunday afternoon. My fellow Hoons can, as well, should you choose to make the jump along with me.

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How about a baby blue supercharged Cadillac from the mid 50’s? Yeah, that thing is absolutely gorgeous. I love those Duesenberg style flexible tubes on the side of it.

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Not only that, it’s a ragtop with real wire wheels. Just love it.

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And lest my fellow Hoons think the Alante and the XLR were the only two seater Cadillacs, check out this one.

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Even the engine compartment on this one is beautiful.

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Not to mention the design treatment along the side of it.

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Yeah, this olelongrooffan would include this in my livery any day of the week.

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But wait! Another one? Holy Crap.

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I fell in love with this Eldo limo. Open up front with suicide doors in the rear. Excellent.

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It certainly was an attention getter. I stood there for more than a few minutes trying to get a shot of it sans onlookers but was totally unsuccessful in that endeavor.

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But I was able to capture an image of the dagmars out front.

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And speaking of dagmars. Check out this two seater roadster. Yet another beauty.

Gotta go. The Mad_Hungarian is calling.

Image Copyright Hooniverse 2013/longrooffan

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LongRoofian

LongRoofian

No biography of the LongRoofian would be complete without [edited for length and adherence to subject matter] and your continued enjoyment of these ramblings is certainly welcome.

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12 responses to “Amelia Island Weekend Edition: A Few 50's Cadillac Concepts Anyone?”

  1. salguod Avatar
    salguod

    That Eldo is the 1956 Eldorado Brougham Town Car, the predecessor for the Eldorado Brougham which went on sale in 1957. Sticker was over $12K. It looked pretty much just like that without the open front seat and formal rear roof. Instead, it had a brushed stainless steel roof panel.
    Amazing car, I saw this red one in a local show in 2008.
    <img src="http://www.salguod.net/gallery/arthritis_foundation_2008/images/1957_cadilac_eldorado_brougham_6.jpg"&gt;
    <img src="http://www.salguod.net/gallery/arthritis_foundation_2008/images/1957_cadilac_eldorado_brougham_3.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      I have less fingers on my hand than there are design elements to count here which I'd like to make a comeback…gorgeous!
      Did the roofs do well over time? How much is a driver today?

      Reply
      1. salguod Avatar
        salguod

        I'm no expert in these but I know that these are not common cars so there's kind of no such thing as a 'driver'. My Dad has a '57 Eldorado Biarritz (Caddy for 'convertible' Eldorado) that my Grandpa bought it used in 1959 and it's stayed in the family since.
        They made some 1200 of the Biarritz and the 4 door Brougham was even rarer. This non-running but complete Biarritz with a poor & weathered repaint and a worn interior recently sold on eBay for $60K.
        Here's a 'mostly original' 1958 Brougham for $75K, which is cheaper than I expected to find a running example for.
        Not cheap cars to get into. Dad's fortunate to have his stay in the family so long or he wouldn't have it either.

        Reply
        1. C³-Cool Cadillac Cat Avatar
          C³-Cool Cadillac Cat

          I'd LOVE to have one of the suicide door Eldos, but they're a fortune for one in good nick.
          Plus, I can only imagine what parts hunting is like…

          Reply
  2. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar
    Rust-MyEnemy

    Dagmars! That's what's missing from the Caddies of today! Not even on the option list. Memo to GM; if you don't get to it with the dagmars, I won't be buying from you.
    This is no hollow threat.

    Reply
  3. XRSevin Avatar
    XRSevin

    Is that where they got this idea?
    <img src="http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1064366015-00.jpg&quot; width="600">

    Reply
  4. timmy201 Avatar
    timmy201

    One of them was bought from Craigslist too!
    http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php…

    Reply
    1. dukeisduke Avatar
      dukeisduke

      Oh yeah, I remember reading that thread! Lots of fiberglass body parts, and the guy that bought it just lucked out, and wasn't looking for a concept car. Wild.

      Reply
  5. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    The black Dagmars on that last car contained radar, for traffic. It's the Cyclone.

    Reply
  6. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    And I dig those Eldorado Broughams, and batwing air cleaners.

    Reply
  7. ˏ♂ˊ mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
    ˏ♂ˊ mzs zsm msz esq

    Holy cow those TWO giant things (like bigger than the external oil filter canister in some '50s Volvos) are for the A/C compressor oil! I want to feel that, just once. And these are in convertibles! Man Cadillacs were something else back then!
    Also, OLRF great posts, thanks. How do Volvos never seem to get invited to these hoity toity shows? It must be in the BMW rider – no Volvos and only Alaskan King crab legs.

    Reply
    1. boxdin Avatar
      boxdin

      I think the reason those two canisters have AC on them is to signify 'AC Delco', not Air Conditioning.

      Reply