The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, also known as the Series 70 Eldorado Brougham, was designed to be Cadillac’s halo car. Built at the Clark Street Cadillac plant, it was a four-door with reverse-hinged “suicide” rear doors that closed against a stub pillar, allowing the car to be constructed without a traditional B-pillar. The roof was made of stainless steel.
The Eldorado Brougham would be considered opulent even against today’s luxury cars. It was equipped with full power accessories such as power steering, power brakes, power windows and locks, but also had a number of additional luxuries including Autronic Eye automatic headlight dimmer, an automatic starter, air conditioning, cruise control, self-leveling air suspension, automatic trunk opener, electric antenna, automatic release parking brake, front-seat two-position memory, metal drink tumblers and a glove box door with magnetic tray, an Evans leather cigarette case, gold mechanical pencil, a vanity set with lipstick holder, a powder puff, perfume atomizer of Arpege by Lanvin , a comb, a beveled mirror, and a coin holder.
The Eldorado Brougham was hand built in small numbers, with 1957-1958 production totaling just 704 units. Sticker price on the Eldorado Brougham topped $13,000, more than double that of other Eldorados, and more than either of its primary competitors, the Lincoln Continental Mark II or the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.
This 1957 Eldorado Brougham has been cosmetically restored and mechanically updated. Finished in a gorgeous shade of burgundy, the paint looks to have been done to a high standard. Chrome bumpers and the extensive chrome trim appear to have been refinished. Stainless trim has been polished to a brilliant finish. Kelsey-Hayes-style chrome wire wheels wear wide whitewall radials. Lights and lenses look fresh and new. Newer Cadillac rear view mirrors have been fitted.
The interior of this Eldorado Brougham is awash in custom two-tone leather on the front and rear bench seats, as well as the door panels. Some updates can be seen, such as the brushed metal cupholder that is hidden beneath the center armrest. Interior chrome and stainless share the same brilliant finish as the exterior brightwork. The dash features new gauges by Dakota Digital. Vintage Air keeps the cabin cool, and music is provided by a hidden Kicker Bluetooth audio system.
Beneath the hood of this Eldorado Brougham a sparkling engine bay is home to a modern Cadillac 6.0-liter LS powerplant. The engine is topped by a modern Cadillac engine cover painted in a glossy matching burgundy. The new mill is backed by four-speed automatic transmission. New disc brakes have been fitted.
This stunning classic with modern power will be heading to the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas event taking place June 17th-19th.
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Comments
Very cool
Too bad its so altered from original.
Ah, when cars were cars and bean counters weren’t born yet.
Yep. The engine swap to a modern corporate V8 really kills it in my opinion. Would much prefer the original 365 Cadillac engine.
This is such a rare and significant car that it should’ve been precisely restored to its original specifications and glory, not resto-modded.
Ci2Eye. You hit it right on the head. It was Denair California, population 93 and the year was 1955. Right next door was a family in the rural farming town and There were Cadillacs in the driveway, one of which was a 1954 Cadillac Eldorado. I lived in that little house with my family for one year. Just before we moved, the 1955 appeared in the driveway as well. These were horse people as they owned a couple of Palominos that were in their small stable as well. I was curious about these people, but never found out anything as I was 10 and 11 years old at the time. In the meantime, my Uncle, Ken Bacciocho had a 1954 Continental in his garage as he was an independent designer working for Ford while living in San Francisco. These were my first exposure to custom factory luxury cars and I was hooked on the designs.
If the builder’s purpose was to create a more reliable and safer, enjoyable weekend cruiser, than I applaud the changes except for the impractical wire wheels. If it was to be a garage queen show car, than originality is key. In either case, it’s stunning
This era of true limited edition cars built with little compromises was cool but due to the high cost no one bought them. Hence why they are as rare today.
This was not a bean counter deal, it was the difficulty of selling a very high priced car in numbers to make money.
I like seeing people complain about the lack of the original Cadillac engine, this was a major factor in the decline of Cadillac. Corporate engine removed part of the identity of the brand.
This car today would be just as reliable and much more valuable with the original engine.
I know two owners of this model and they drive them with no caution.
This is when Cadillac was Cadillac, the standard of the world, not anymore . Too bad.
Celestiq appears to be a return to hand-built production of Cadillacs.
Look at the size of that thing. Would take up two lanes going down the road!
Not digging the lowered front end or the white leather, but the body looks great.
I briefly thought about buying a shabby one for sale near me in the 80’s. It’s a much taller (even with the air springs deflated) and fatter car than it looks in photos, and we had a ’56 Olds since 1970, so I was used to tall and bulbous.
Oh, how I coveted this glamorous car when I was a teen! This one is even in my all-time favorite color…candy apple red (the author says burgundy, but I think otherwise). I hope there will be a follow-up on what it goes for at auction.
The Cadillac of Cadillacs . . . and I love it! I do, however, prefer classics like this to remain original.
I remember reading about this most superlative model of Caddies in the car magazines when I was a kid and daydreaming about having one some day.
This example is a a beautiful looking machine, but a bit too much of a resto-mod for my preference. The original engine was an excellent power plant. I assume the engine swap must have been intended to improve serviceability because original parts are probably hard to find. I hope the decision to go resto-mod was due more to unavailability of original parts rather than discarding original parts for the sake of modernization. I really like the burgundy paint though – it is a nice compliment to the lines of this car.
One error in the description, there was no “Lincoln Continental Mark II.” For 1956 and 1957 production of the Mark II, the Continental Division of Ford stood as its own to create a flagship American car for Ford. Continental existed with its own offices, assembly plant, employees, engineers and design team much aside from Mercury, Lincoln and Ford products. It is like saying “look at that Buick Cadillac Eldorado.”
Me being a car enthusiasts, I think with all the modifications of today’s ride engineering and power hands down excellent job. I don’t need to bash the concept, as to other concept cars. This was carefully done with such meticulous effort to be look and function in a way of the millennium standards. Love it! It has the deep wheel well like that bad 55 Buick convertible skylark.