(first posted 9/13/2017) While traveling earlier this year, I stayed in a hotel that was just up the street from a Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership. Normally I don’t have much interest in new cars, so I hardly gave it a second glance. However, as I drove by the dealer, something caught my eye. It was something, big, red, shiny, and something that is definitely not normally at new car dealerships. Turns out It was this stunning 1958 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. Well, this Chevy Cadillac dealer just got me to pull into its lot, hook-line and sinker.
The 1958 Cadillac was really just a facelifted 1957. There wasn’t a whole lot different, beyond the typical grille refresh, new fins and of course the obligatory-for-1958 quad headlights. Since we haven’t really examined the 57-58 Cadillac in any depth here, let’s enjoy this red specimen, and learn a bit more about these cars.
Cadillac Park Avenue.
Cadillac was all-new for 1957, featuring new styling and a completely new chassis. This was really the newest Cadillac since the 1948. While Cadillac had gone through three different bodies since 1948 (1948-49, 1950-53, 1954-56), they were rather evolutionary in their styling changes and not that different under the skin. For 1957, Cadillac adopted new styling elements quite a bit different than the previous models. Much of the styling elements for the ’57 Cadillacs were inspired by the Park Avenue, El Camino and the 1955 Eldorado Brougham show cars.
Cadillac El Camino
The ‘57 Cadillacs were styled under studio chief Ed Glowacke, who had been Cadillac’s chief designer since 1952. His team included Bob Sheelk, Dave Holls, and Ron Hill. Sheelk had been responsible for much of the Eldorado Brougham show car, while Holls designed the El Camino show car, and Hill is credited with the distinctive tail fins on the ‘57 Eldorados. When looking at the show cars, it’s easy to see the styling elements each of the team member brought to the production Cadillac, like the roofline, the wind splits, the grille and tail fins.
1955 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Show Car.
Other than the new ultra-expensive limited production Eldorado Brougham (which is not going to be discussed in this article), the Cadillac line-up remained much as it had in 1956. The Series 62 line-up consisted of the 2-door and 4-door hardtops, a convertible as well as the Coupe DeVille and the Sedan DeVille. The DeVilles were essentially better equipped Series 62 base cars, while the Series 62 convertible was actually more comparable in trim and equipment to the DeVilles.
Eldorados included the Biarritz Convertible and the Seville coupe. The Eldorados featured unique rear styling, with a sloping rear trunk, a shark-like rear fin and a two-piece bumper with a roll pan in the center. These bumpers were dubbed “chipmunk cheeks”. Although not officially on the model roster, there were four custom Eldorado 4-door hardtops manufactured. From what I could find, it seems at least one has survived today. Finishing off the line-up was the series 60, which used a new for 1957 hardtop body, and the series 75 limousine which remained the only pillared sedan in the line-up.
Engineering-wise, there were some big changes as well. GM’s solution to building lower cars, while maintaining interior space was its cruciform frame, commonly known as the “X-frame.” Cadillac was the first GM division to adopt this new chassis design that would eventually be used by all other divisions except Oldsmobile. The new chassis helped lower the ’57 Cadillac 3” from the ’56 models
The chassis essentially consisted of triangular front and rear frame sections. These two frame sections were joined together with a tubular center section to form an “X” shape. This design easily allowed for various wheelbases by simply using a different length center tubular section on the frame. This was beneficial to Cadillac which had three wheelbases in 1957, 129.5”, 133” and 149.8” (not including the Eldorado Brougham). The new chassis was claimed to be 18% more resistant to torsional forces, and 16% more resistant to bending, while being far lighter than the ’56 frame. Reinforced body sills were a key component in this new construction technique, which made the X-Frame cars something of a hybrid of unibody and traditional ladder-frame construction of the past.
For 1957, Cadillac finally adopted a spherical ball joint front suspension. The new modern design allowed for better suspension geometry which reduced brake dive and made steering easier, while requiring less maintenance. The rear suspension remained relatively unchanged, still using leaf springs. However, the new chassis set the springs wider apart than the ’56 models, and this change resulted in the front and rear tracks becoming equal.
A surviving 1957 Eldorado 4-door hardtop
The 365 cubic inch (6 L) Cadillac V8, introduced in the 1956 model year, was carried over for 1957. This being the era of the horsepower race, Cadillac tweaked the engines for more power. The engines featured larger intake valves, but smaller exhaust valves while compression was bumped up from 9.75:1 to 10:1. The carburetor was also revised with larger secondaries. As a result, the 365 was rated at 300 (gross) hp, 15 hp higher than the 1956 version. A dual 4-bbl 365 was optional on Eldorado models, and it was rated at 325 hp. Both engines had a 400 ft-lb torque rating, but the single-carb engine met this torque peak at lower RPM.
While Dave Holls and other stylists were crazy about the 1957 Cadillac design, the public and the dealers didn’t give it such a warm reception. As hard as it is to believe today, the design was perceived as appearing too short. The front end leaned back slightly while the fins leaned forward, making the car appear shorter than it actually was. As a result the stylists, who were so proud of their Cadillac, ended up having to muddle up their design for 1958. Nevertheless, Cadillac still sold well in 1957, moving 146,441 units. The numbers were down slightly from 1956, but surely Cadillac lost some sales to Exner’s cutting-edge ’57 Imperials.
The most obvious styling revision for 1958 was the use of quad headlights. The “gullwing” grille of the ’57 Cadillac was evolutionary from the previous generation and dated back to 1954, but for 1958 this design was abandoned. It was replaced with a full-width grille, with rounded ends that incorporated little bumperettes and Dagmars.
The designers fixed the appearance of lack of length in the rear with a new shark-like fin that was canted rearwards. While the ’58 Cadillac looked considerably longer than the ’57, it was actually less than 2” longer than the ’57 models.
The ’58 Cadillac shared a strong resemblance to the ’58 Chevrolet, and this was no accident. Harley Earl specifically cited the 1932 Cadillac-Chevrolet styling relationship to be used as the guideline for the 1958 Cadillac and Chevrolet models. It worked once, so why not do it again?
Harley’s last baby Cadillac.
Cadillac also incorporated a minor change to the 4-door cars to give a more open appearance. The 1957 cars had a portion of the C-pillar that appeared to be incorporated into the rear door. These formerly steel door “pillars” were replaced by small glass windows.
1958 was a year that General Motors was much maligned for styling excesses. While I don’t think the Cadillac was as bad as the ’58 Buick or Oldsmobile, it certainly wasn’t Cadillac’s cleanest design of the decade.
The Series 60 (above) in particular was adorned with somewhat excessive trim. That said, the ’58 Cadillac was actually toned down at the last-minute. Dave Holls recalls that the styling team was occupied with the new ’59 Cadillac when he went over to the ad agency to look at the ’58 Cadillac ads.
A pre-production Cadillac Sixty-Special, prior to Holls ordering the extra trim removed – March 1957.
It was only then he realized how overdone the ’58 Cadillacs were with extra and unnecessary ornamentation. Holls was disappointed with his work since the ’58 was his facelift, and as a result, most of the extra trim was removed from the ’58 Cadillac at the last hour, cleaning up the design considerably.
While the ’58 Cadillac may not be the cleanest of the decade, I certainly have to say that this striking red ’58 Coupe DeVille I came across was quite magnificent, especially compared to the white, gray and black late-model Cadillacs. Pictures really don’t do this car justice. While I have never thought the ’57 looked small, I was never a huge fan of the forward-canted fins on the ‘57s; they just look awkward and they don’t work for me. While the ’58 fins are a little on the big side for my taste, I do like the shape of them better than the ’57 fins. That said, I prefer the ’57 front end over the more Chevy-like ’58 design. I guess my favourite would probably be a ’57 Eldorado Biarritz, with the nice ’57 grille and no awkward rear fin.
Styling tricks weren’t the only thing Cadillac did to get rid of the 1957 models’ “small” stigma. The ’58 model line-up was revised slightly from 1957 resulting in new larger variations. Newly introduced was a Series 62 extended deck 4-door. The standard Series 62 4-door was comparable in size to the ’57 Cadillac version, while the new extended deck model was a whopping 8.5 inches longer. The extended deck Series ’62 was actually the same length as the Series 60, both measuring at 225.3”. Of course, at least with the Series 60 the extra length was in the passenger compartment due to its longer wheelbase, while the extended deck was all just rear overhang added on.
Note the new rear suspension design.
The biggest engineering revision to the ’58 Cadillac was in the suspension. While the chassis was all new for 1957, for ’58 an entirely new rear suspension was adopted. Cadillac moved away from the semi-elliptical leaf springs for 1957 and to a 4-link coil spring setup. The primary reason for this change was to accommodate GM’s new air ride suspension. Using coil springs would easily allow for a steel spring to be interchanged with a rubber air spring. The rear suspension used control arms to locate the rear axle. Like the 1958 Chevrolet and Pontiac, the Cadillac used two lower control arms, and a U-shaped upper control arm. The upper arm had two pivot points on the chassis and a single mounting point on the top of the rear axle.
The air suspension was a $215 option. The system consisted of an engine-driven air compressor, and an underhood reservoir (accumulator tank) which supplied air through lines to each of the air springs (bellows). Leveling valves were used to keep the car level even when loaded. Of course, while the air suspension promised and delivered a velvety smooth ride, it was much maligned and problematic. The biggest issue was the constant problems with leaks, which quickly earned the system a poor reputation. Many owners ended up having their cars converted back to steel springs. The air suspension option was installed in 14% of 1958 Cadillacs. As bonus for switching to a coil spring rear suspension, the rear frame section was reshaped and the trunk floor was revised to be completely flat.
The interior on the ’58 I found was like new.
Engine compression ratios were slightly tweaked for ’58 resulting in a slight bump in horsepower, upping the standard engine to 310 hp. The twin quad engine was replaced with a triple 2bbl version rated at 335 hp. Other revisions were minor, including the availability of power ventipanes and power door locks (the locks were only available on cars with power windows). Power seat controls moved to the driver’s armrest, and most cars used a fibreglass headliner for improved sound insulation.
Cadillac production was way down in 1958 and only 121,474 were built. Nevertheless, 1958 was a recession year and luxury models suffered the most. While Cadillac dropped significantly from 1957, its market share actually increased. Chrysler’s quality control problems certainly seemed to have had an effect on Imperial sales, while the all new gargantuan Lincoln was a sales flop.
Unfortunately, there was no price tag on this ’58 DeVille. I have a feeling it’s probably owned by the dealership’s owner. And while not officially for sale, I am sure the right price could purchase this car. Without even asking, I am sure it’s well out of my price range anyway. That gray ’61 Chevrolet pickup it was parked next to is probably in my price range, and more my style anyway. And don’t worry, I will do a write-up on the ’61 Chev pickup later.
Related Posts:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-now-thats-a-cadillac/
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake-1958-cadillac-roadster-shorty-caddy/
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-cohort/cohort-outtake-1957-cadillac-with-15-mph-bumper/
Excellent dissertation. One of my friends in college (I started in 1960) was the daughter of a lawyer who was also a judge. He had a 1958 Series 60 4-door. What a gorgeous tank in its day! There was no question that this car was a Cadillac.
Oh how the storied automotive model names have been allowed to wither and die!
Wholeheartedly agree – that red 58 is magnificent. I’m not a big Cadillac fan of this era but prefer the lines of the 57 to the 58. The late Dave Holls – extremely talented and a real car guy.
A great find! I have always preferred the 58 to the 57. The 57 may be the more complex design but the 58 looks more like a Cadillac.
Can you imagine the guy who got a new Cadillac every two years? The cycle of 1955, 57, 59 and 61 would have given him a dramatically new car each time. On the other hand a cycle of 1956, 58, 60 and 62 would have done the same but in a much more conservative way.
What I find interesting form the illustration of the chassis is that there appeared to be FOUR mufflers – two for each side of the dual exhaust system!
Not sure about Cadillac, but I’ve heard the forward ones referred to as “resonators” on Buicks of the same vintage. It just shows how much effort (and steel) was used to make sure things on these luxobarges were right, even down to tuning the burble of the exhaust.
That X-frame provided lots of room for mufflers. Four mufflers was used in a number of luxury vehicles for years, to achieve near-silent operation. Ford used this on Lincolns and Thunderbirds in the 60’s the ’70’s, until catalytic converters came about.
In a way, converters take the place of a second muffler (resonator) today as they have a modest muffling effect.
It is the rear ones that are usually called resonators (which you can loose and not make the vehicle noticeably louder) and it isn’t just for “luxury” makes. My 92 Crown Victoria had resonators when it left the factory with its dual exhaust. Of course when the mufflers finally rusted out I went for the cheaper “police” tail pipes that lacked the resonator. (Along with performance mufflers).
While they are often associated with older cars they are becoming very common once again. You’ll notice many modern cars with dual exhaust, or at least twin tips, where a resonator is incorporated into the tip or located just ahead of it.
Good info…thanks!
Yup. I ditched the rear resonator on a ’74 Buick Electra and it gave the exhaust just a nice hint of V8 burble, without making it sound like a hot rod.,
First of all, VINCEC (BILL MITCHELL), PLEASE decide on your screen name once and for all!
I have one screen name, and that’s plenty.
Nice article just the same, and a stunning red Cadillac to boot. Back when a Cadillac WAS a Cadillac. Now, most if not all the luxury features can be found on most any car, save for comfort and ride quality, perhaps.
Zackman, I didn’t mean to cause you any unrest. When I started contributing here, I figured I would use my real name rather than the internet handle I had been using. That’s the reason my old name is in partenthesis, simply to connect the two names. I plan to eventually remove the Bill Mitchell from my name.
I figured that’s why you did that, Vince, so others would not be confused as to who you were.
Nice ’58 Caddy. I’m not one for owning a red car, but if I did that one looks good in red. I hope the owner takes the car inside during rain storms and/or the occasional storm that contains hail. I’d hate to think of it being pummeled by hail stones!
Bill Mitchel writes: “… 1958 was a year that General Motors was much maligned for styling excesses.”
And my 14 year old eyes loved every ounce of these chrome bedecked monsters.
The first of my cohort to get his license took us cruising in his parent’s white over black 1958 Oldsmobile 88. For that reason alone I defend the 1958 GMs (and Chryslers) as irrationally exuberant rather than excessive.
Alan Greenspan stole that term from me!
To this day, the sight of a familiar shape of late 50’s automotive excess (I mean exuberance) grabs my attention and forces a quick double take.
Enjoyable write up; thank you.
The interesting part is that GM’s percentage decline in sales during the 1958 recession was smaller than that experienced by Ford and Chrysler, despite the overdone styling.
And, among medium-price marques, Oldsmobile suffered the least – it moved up to fourth place in the sales race, behind Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth. Even though Oldsmobile was arguably the worst offender when it came to styling. But Oldsmobile (along with Pontiac) hadn’t suffered any serious quality glitches during the 1955-57 timeframe. The same could not be said of Buick, Mercury or any Chrysler Corporation medium-price car.
The ’58 recession really cemented Cadillac’s dominance in the luxury field, as well as Buick’s and Olds’ in the mid-upper field. Imperial had a very good year in ’57, then imploded and never got back to that level. And it took Lincoln over a decade to get back in the running after their ’58s bombed. And similarly in the mid-field. It led to GM’s all-time market share high in 1962, after which time the competition started coming back.
I had all three luxury makes at different times, two of the Lincolns(Capri 4 door Landau, and Mark III convertible) were supurb, the problem was they had been completely restored and rewired. In stock form they were nightmares, the other dozen ’58-’60 Lincolns and Continentals I had were entertaining, I never knew what would catch fire next
It’s fascinating to look at the renderings of the pre-production ’58 Cadillacs here. I never would have believed that one could call a ’58 Cadillac restrained, but after looking at what might have been… well, I guess it is restrained. The extra ornamentation (particularly that brushed-metal skirting) would have looked dated very quickly — kind of like the extravagance of a Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.
Eric, those two renderings are of the the Series 60 production car; is straight from the brochure; the other from a PR or ad copy. If you go look at the image from the brochure with all the models in profile, you’ll see the Series 60 up there at the top. It really was over the top.
The 1957 Fleetwood Sixty Special had about the same amount of chrome on it.
OK — I see now, thanks. Comparing those brochure images is interesting because that brightwork really makes the difference between tasteful and excessive (to me, at least).
What am I missing? I’m comparing those two large over-the-top brochure/advertising ’58s and they look just like the illustration of the Sixty Special at the top left of the group illustration, as well as photos of the car I’ve looked at online. What trim was removed?
I was referring mostly to the wide slab of brightwork shown here on the Sixty Special from the brochure. I was mistaken in thinking that it didn’t make it into production because the featured DeVille as well as the Sixty-Two sedan shown on the bottom here didn’t have it.
Eric, I might be able to dig up some photos on the preproduction ’58 Cadillacs before the trim was removed. These pre-production cars looked way over the top and even the pre-production series 60 had more trim than the production version. If I find something that I can scan, I will post it on here, but probably not until the weekend.
Thanks Vince — I’d be interested to see that, if possible. I’ll begin preparing my eyes for the chromed onslaught…
I updated the post with a pre-production photo. I could only find a Sixty Special, but you can see it had all the trim of the production model plus more.
Very interesting. Looks like lots of minor (but cumulatively significant) busywork, particularly those rear pseudo fins. It’s easy to see why Holls was disappointed with the outcome.
Thanks for digging up the image!
Look at the quality of the interior of the 58 shown above. Everything looks rich. Everything feels rich. The high end fabrics of many textures, the leather, the deep cut carpet, and chrome accenting all of it. There was a level of luxury available back then that just cannot be had new anymore.
I note that GM went to the extra expense to tool up and create an 62 sedan with a trunk that was eight inches longer than the standard model. But a couple of years later they had the Park Avenue and Town Sedan models that featured trunks that were SHORTER than the standard models. Interesting.
Cause and effect. The long deck was ridiculous, and folks at the time knew it. There was backlash from women who were very unhappy about these cars getting longer and longer. Which led to the short deck versions. But it wasn’t until the ’76 Seville came that women were really ok again with driving Cadillacs.
That long deck was a classic macho thing. “My deck’s longer than your deck”.
I would imagine that a number of men were perturbed by the excess length, as well…particularly those who had built houses not too many years earlier, and were finding that their precious Caddy’s rear end wouldn’t allow the garage door to close.
Even though the tinworn was rare where I grew up, rust spots on the edge of decklids and on rear bumpers was not uncommon on relatively new GM C-bodies that were otherwise in pristine condition. The rear foot or so of the car would hang out of the garage, and the rain dropping off of the roof eaves would do its damage to the paint and chrome.
My grandmother had 4 feet added to her doorless garage (former chickenhouse) not long after she bought a ’64. In 1970, we got my great-uncle’s ’56 Holiday 88 that had been parked next to it. The middle of the rear bumper was thoroughly rusty, and the paint was faded but OK.
Last year I purchased All original 1978 Cadillac Coupe Deville bronze exterior brown leather interior has 17K All original miles. Of course 425 4B V8 power driver seat, Tilt steering ,Factory climate control , Factory AM/FM radio, power windows, rear deffoger , Factory AC
The car is in almost showroom condition it was in storage for over 25 years. Did I mention has Factory paint never been painted! Asking price was 18K I paid 16 Not bad!
Here’s mine, as photographed by professional New York photographer Jay Hirsch, author of “Great American Dream Machines”.
This is a short deck Series 62 sedan, purchased at Lead East. Original paint, engine, and interior. Autronic Eye and clock are working!
Very nice car! Would love to see a write-up with more pictures.
Excellent write up, as usual.
It is amazing what can sometimes be found at new car dealerships that you would not normally expect to see. Back in the late 80s/very early 90s the Chev/Olds/Cadillac dealer my parents always dealt with had 3 pristine Chevy models in their showroom: a green 1927 2 door, a silver 1937 and a dark blue 1952 (both 4 doors). Then one day circa 1992/93 they all disappeared, obviously having been sold.
This is the same dealer that today has a new, never registered 1993 Allante that has been sitting there since 1993.
Gorgeous cars, my preference is the ’57 with the slanted-forward fins, I just like the way they look over the ’58s.
A good friend restores old cars. A year or two ago I took a ride in his ’57 Olds coupe and was surprised at how harsh the ride was. A few weeks ago I went for a summer cruise in his ’64 Caddy Series 62 Coupe and was amazed at the ride quality, it simply floated over the worst roads. A huge difference between the two cars. My friend explained that GM used brass bushings in their suspension systems in the ’50s and didn’t switch to rubber bushings until the ’60s, which made a vast difference.
I am attaching a photo from seller of my 78 Deville before I bought it.
77-79 DeVilles are way cool to me, with a 425 to boot.
Nice Caddy Alan.
All this talk above of seeing these as kids had me thinking about my thoughts of cars like this when I was a kid in the early 70’s. At that time in the Northeast cars of this vintage were often seen sitting unused in a side yard, a farmer’s paddock, etc. They’d be rusting, often sinking into the ground, becoming one with the Earth again. And they’d be scary. As a young kid this is exactly the kind of car that looked mean and scary as hell to me. I can distinctly recall a ’58 Buick sitting in a neighbor’s side yard, slowly becoming overgrown by briars. It was faded, rusted black, with a blue-grey interior. It looked so menacing that I think if I’d ever actually seen or heard it run I’d probably have been terrified. To have left such lasting impact on the mind of a child takes some real design skill, I would think. These are amazingly evocative designs, if not exactly my cup of tea.
I know what you mean. Here are some actual “mean, scary, and menacing” examples from my neck of the woods when I was growing up. I took these pictures myself at the time.
Gas station or repair shop, Rt. 46, Kenvil NJ, 1991:
Back lot, Mount Freedom NJ, 1986:
G.I. Junkyard, Pine Brook NJ, 1995:
Excellent write up, Vince!
The featured ’58 Cadillac looks positively restrained in comparison to those of GMs sister divisions.
CCers wishing to learn more about GM’s X frame cars need look no farther than this article by Paul:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-an-x-ray-look-at-gms-x-frame-1957-1970/
That red ’58 coupe with the white top says only one thing to me…
Marilyn Monroe
I think Miss Norma Jeane was more about the ’54 Caddy ;o) ….
Me too!
If the Dagmars were removed, the Park Avenue (3rd picture) would look just like a Vauxhall Cresta PA (1957-62) from the front.
My reaction exactly!
The Dagmars on that Cadillac El Camino show car (weird name for a Caddy, right boys?) are over the top ridiculous. I do like the turbine style wheels on that car though.
Nice write up on the ’57 & ’58 Cadillacs, Vince. I think I prefer the styling of the ’57 with the forward raked fins, personally.
Is it weird though that I find the most attractive car pictured in this article the ’58 Impala?
Another great writeup with your usual detailed knowledge of all things GM…
Is my screen playing tricks on me, or is this really a red car with a green interior?
Green window tinting like they often used at the time making beige look green???
I’ve seen the same effect on red cars with baby-blue interiors, once on a 1961-’63 Lincoln sedan and once on a mid-1950s Packard Clipper. Optically, red and blue aren’t supposed to work together but a dark red with light blue is striking. Those mid-century green-tinted windows made for some weird effects, though, for sure. EVERYTHING came out looking as if one was wearing 1950s-vintage RayBans.
Scoutdude is correct. The tint threw off the interior colour. It was a light gray/beige colour if I remember correctly. It worked very well with the red exterior. The interior was fantastic and in like-new shape. Whoever did the restoration spared no expense.
I remember when these were at least young, if not new (I was 3 years old when the ’57s were introduced). I sort of waffle between the ’57 and ’58 Cadillacs; the ’58s say “mid-century modern” in a way that the ’57s don’t, maybe because of the quad headlights and a bit more use of chrome. At the same time, the ’57s seem more elegantly graceful to me, precisely because of the forward-slanting fins and some deft restatements of themes from the ’56 Cadillac. The ’58s, to me, don’t carry off those restatements quite as gracefully. And the trim panels on the ’57 Fleetwoods seem less intrusive than on the ’58s. The fender skirts on the ’58 Fleetwood, too, just don’t really fit. Finally, the ’58’s fins shout “FIN!” in a way that the ’57’s fins don’t. Still, lots to love from either year: big, smooth Cadillac engines; the Hydra-Matic at its height of development; rich interiors; pillarless hardtop goodness; the possibility of good air-conditioning.
I like the grille of the 57 better but the rest of the 58 speaks to me, the front end of the 55 Eldorado Brougham show car is the best of both worlds. Forward canted fins are my least favorite execution of tailfins, and I simply like the looks of quad headlights better
Long overdue CC on these cars. I have decidedly mixed feelings about them. I liked some of the concepts that inspired them and the whole GM line in ’57-’58, but the concepts were mostly a lot cleaner and not so over the top as the final products.
Frankly, I can’t really say I like these ’58s. As with the ’58 Chevy, these were just too long, low and wide and overly slathered with excess chrome and details. I loved their predecessors, especially the Caddy from ’54 – ’56. I find their replacements retrograde, and they came off cheaper from their excesses. Like the absurd long-deck version. Really??
It was stupid stuff the the long-deck that started the cracks in Cadillac’s image, and led to their long slow decline.
Obviously, I still love it for what it is, but give me a ’54 any day over one of these.
I wonder if the long deck option was a quick-and-dirty reaction to information GM had gleaned regarding the expanded size of the upcoming 1958 Lincolns/Continentals?
The 1954 Series 62 coupes were 223+ inches long. The 1958 coupes were under 222 inches.
My dad had a ’56 62 coupe, but soon replaced it with the “all new” ’57 Coupe de Ville. REally an excellent car, comfortable and well built. He kept it for about 8 yrs; prior to that a new one very year or two! times have certainly changed in length of car ownership. I don’t recall any specific problems..oh yes, a broken rear (elliptic) spring. Great wrote up, thanks!
Handsome, gorgeous car!
Thanks for this, Vince! I didn’t realise how different the Eldorado/Seville were to the “regular” Caddys. But frankly, I’m not as big a fan of their more sloped rear ends. And I’d say the ’57 looks better than the ’58… Of course, they’re all pretty over-the-top so why not go for the wild ’59?
I was pleasantly surprised when I visited Cadillac House in NYC this year to see a wall covered in artistic shots of old Cadillacs, mostly from the 50s. Looks like they skipped the 70s-90s though…
In the ’60’s a friend of mines neighbor had a a ’57 Eldorado don’t know if it was Biarritz or not. All I remember is that is was big, ugly and it seemed like half the side of the car was brightwork. Plus it was rusting and not in good condition. It turned me off to Cadillac’s for 40 years.
There are not too many cars that I would call “Sex on Wheels” —
This red ’58 2-door is one.
1961 XK-E is the other.
An enjoyable and informative article about cars *never* seen in my neighborhood growing up.
A good excuse to drop off two Chicago photos from the period–wish they were in color!
#1:
#2, reminding my why I’m with Paul, preferring the ’54-’56:
Very nice ’58, and a good article. Somehow whenever I see a ’58 Cadillac I can’t help but think of that “Little Nash Rambler” song you sometimes hear on the oldies stations…
At the end of 1958 a favorite uncle inexplicibly bought a new, baby blue Sixty Special. A/C and practically every option, including the air ride. Jaw dropping over the top. Quite out of character for him and I don’t think my aunt was on board with this. In 1962 he just as inexplicably traded it for a new Chevy Biscayne wagon, whose only option was an AM radio. Yep, 6 cylinder and 3 speed manual. When I asked him why, he mentioned something about getting tired of my aunt complaining about the Caddy
With regard to the “glass c-pillars that looked like vent windows”, the 58 C-pillars are not glass. There is a metal pillar, much thinner than on the 57. The rear vent windows on the 4-door models are part of the rear doors. They are real vent windows that open. At least on the Sixty Special they do.
They do on the others also
MadHungarian, I don’t disagree with you at all, I just articulated myself poorly. I re-wrote that section to hopefully it’s more clear now.
In my lifetime I’ve had around 160 Cadillacs (Buicks are the winner with 168) I always enjoyed them, with ’49’s, and all years from 1959 through 1966 being favorites, but the most desirable to me are 1957-1958 years with 1958 the ultimate. I’ve always liked the Fleetwood Sixty Special, from 1949 up because it had a longer tail that balanced the styling front to rear. The standard sedans were just too chopped off in the rear. In 1956 the Sedan deVille 4 door hardtop had a longer tail than the post sedan and looked more balanced. Then the ’57’s came out and the 4 door 62 series and deVille had a short tail compared to the rest of the line. People at the time that usually bought Cadillacs were changing buying habits because of the short tail look. One uncle that bought 4 door deVille’s each year switched to a coupe for the looks, but several family friends who always bought Cadillacs suddenly didn’t. The Brown’s had a ’55 Fleetwood 60 that got traded for a ’57 Lincoln Premiere 4 door Landau, and two families in the next block switched to Imperial Crown 4 doors.
One neighbor that did buy a ’57 deVille 4 door had a gas station attendant tell him. “Oh, you got the cheap model, with the short tail.” Which did not set well, it definitely was not a cheap model. Cadillac became very aware of this. Chico was a small town at the time, and if this was happening here you can imagine countrywide. When the ’58’s came out, one of the first ones I saw was a white extended deck model and fell in love. I was 10 years old, and our entire family was Mopar. A few had other makes as well, but everyone had Mopars. I had a secret in my 10 year old head, I loved all of them, if it had an engine and wheels I loved them, there were a few I loved less, and the short deck Cad’s were in that group, One exception to the family Mopar rule was Gavin and Lorelie. In the early fifties they decided to sell their house and travel the rest of their lives. They bought a new Fleetwood 60 and a 30 foot Airstream and traveled the country, usually getting to California for our huge Family annual picnic, and from Thanksgiving, until Christmas. They bought a ’58 60 Special in black (they always bought black), fully loaded with A/C and air suspension. They always had the Cadillac and airstreams polished regularly. They liked the ’58 well enough they kept it until 1966. When told the ’66 60 Special had rear level control, they went to the Chrysler dealer and bought a ’66 black Imperial LeBaron they are still driving.. The air suspension on their ’58 had failed 3 times by 1962 and heavy duty coil springs were installed.
Fast forward to 1965, I was 17, and going nuts buying cars because they were so cheap. My first 1958 Cadillac (don’t think I’d stop at one) was a very special one, a very slightly customized extended deck deVille 4 door hardtop. It was lowered an inch and a half, had chrome rims with baby moons (and wide whitewalls), Lake chrome side pipes the length from wheelwell to wheelwell, the emblems on hood and trunk were shaved but the gold Vee’s were still there. The most radical thing was found when I sat down in it after buying on sight, “Where the hell is the shift lever.” I asked, he replied it was converted to pushbutton. Sure enough, on the left side of the dash was a pushbutton panel expertly blended in. I’ve read that Autolite, who did the pushbuttons for Packard in ’56 had conversion kits for most every car. This is apparently what the ’58 had, as it had an electric actuator on the trans that did the shifting. I like pushbuttons but was dubious at first, but it never failed. It was white, with white leather and black fabric inside, black carpet and dash top, with power everything and A/C. I think the guy before me had to have “breathed” on the engine, it was the fastest of my ’57- ’58 Cadillacs, 0-60 in 7.5 and 140 mph top end, the rest did 0-60 in 9-10 seconds and had 120 at the top. gas mileage was around 18 mpg at 70 mph. Norm(best friend) and I went to Reno every few months to spend time at the huge Harrah’s auto collection. We’d go up highway 70 (Feather River Canyon) which is beautiful as well as a driver’s road if you knew what you were doing. Most people drove it in 2 and a half hours, the ’58 Cad we regularly did it in one and a half hours. There wasn’t very much traffic then, and rarely patrol cars. I was driving as normal when Norm yelled “Did you see that?” Asking what, he said there was a ’58 Cadillac convertible with for sale sign in a driveway. Rapid stop and U-turn, park next to it. A fellow came out of the house. It was a light turquoise/blue with white interior, all accessories and A/C, which all worked, it was in top condition mechanically and had new wide whitewalls. He wanted $800 for it, I had paid $300 for the 4 door, I offered $600 and he took it on the spot. I told him to take the for sale sign off and we’d pick it up later that day, coming back. When we picked it up, Norm asked if he could drive the convertible, I said sure. My parents didn’t know I was buying and selling cars. Virtually every other family member (around 80 people) did know, and I was storing cars at each place as well as Norm’s. I left the convert at his place that night. He wanted to buy it from me, but I refused. Within a week, Norm had a white ’58 Cad convertible found in Sacramento, with red leather, and red convertible top. This was when I had the most cars all at one time, 58 of them. I still had two 1957 Cadillac convertibles a pink one and a red one. the ’57’s didn’t handle as well as the ’56’s except for the 60 Special. I don’t really know why, they just didn’t. The ’58’s were much better, I had a ’58 Continental Mark III convertible in white with black top, and red/white/black interior, and a white ’58 Imperial Crown coupe. The Imperial handling was light years above Cadillac or Lincoln, but the Cadillac with air suspension cornered very well, as did the Continental with coils, in their own way. Yes the ’58 Cad convertible had air suspension. In my collection right then, I had the entire GM convertible line. A 1958 Impala convert in Larkspur blue, with full power, 348 with Turboglide, a Bonneville convert in white with lavender, full leather,and power, a “98” Starfire in off white with tri tone blue leather interior, full power, blue convert top, J2 371, a Buick Limited convert in silver with red pigskin leather, black top and full power with Flightpitch trans, and the ’58 Cad I’d just bought. They all had A/C and all had air suspension. Norm lived on a large piece of property and his dad was a cool guy who didn’t mind all the cars we were collecting.. Norm had recently given his mom and dad a like new ’59 Imperial LeBaron. I moved all my ’58 top of the line GM converts to Norms place. Every morning it looked like animals laying there grazing as the sun rose. Flat on their frames with the air suspension down. They all took exactly the same amount of time to pump up, you needed 10 extra minutes in your schedule. Start the car, fast idle, 7 minutes after starting, the rear would rise, three minutes later, the front came up. It took 7-9 hour for it to go down, so it wasn’t that much of a problem. I did buy a ’58 Eldorado Brougham for $600 because the Chrysler dealer couldn’t keep it off the ground long enough to sell it. I sealed all the lines and tightened everything and the suspension would stay up 6 hours or more. I detailed it to the nth degree and sold it to a minister of a church. God must have been on his side, the thing has been working ever since. I loved summer cruising in the ’58 GM converts. I would take the Olds, or Cadillac out first, and cruise until the hydramatic would start overheating and losing gears, then take it home and switch to another one. The Chevy and Buick didn’t overheat. Then I really went on a ’58 Cadillac binge, next came a near perfect 60 special in black with wide whitewalls and of course, air suspension, then a medium blue with white roof 62 coupe, Then while at the Harley shop (I rode from 15 years old) saw a purple ’58 Cad hearse in the alleyway, It had been converted to a camper inside and $300 later it was mine. Then getting gas in the hearse, the attendant mentioned a cherry condition ’58 Cad ambulance was mine for $800. Then a black limo, and another stock extended deck sedan. I had chances to buy short deck sedans (another BTW, the extended deck models were near perfect 50/50 weight distribution front to rear and handling showed it) and Eldorado converts, but didn’t like them. I did have a ’57 Eldorado for 2 days, but it was because someone asked me to find one. Both the hearse and the ambulance were Superior Crown Royals with the rear window wrap. Both also had 3x2bbls and were amazing fun when driven fast, drifting them was an otherworldly experience. I found myself driving the extended deck white and convertible the most (and camping in the hearse). I realized it was time to pass some cars on. I could have stored them for the future, but believe in driving my cars, plus I had just bought a emerald green and white ’58 New Yorker convertible with 392 Hemi and 2x4bbls that I thought I might be driving more than the Cadillacs.. I sold the majority (Including a ’59 Cadillac 62 convertible and a six window deVille sedan. The styling was attractive and spacey but the ’58’s had a regal feeling the ’59’s just did not.), I found I couldn’t sell the extended white and convert, I had them several more years and covered a lot of miles, they were very satisfying. I still want another extended deck back in the collection. And/or a convertible. I heard my convertible went to England, btw the convert, 60 special and hearse, had Sabre wheels on them. If you ever find a ’58 extended deck with pushbuttons, let me know.
The ’58 convert after becoming the wrong color, long story.
Such a great read, and so informative.
The “El Camino” show car’s greenhouse looks so tiny, but I am glad that model name went to Chevrolet. Two “El”s in the Cadillac lineup might have been too much.
(That press photo of the car with the valet attendant in red is superb.)
I’ll never forget that canary yellow 1957 Eldorado Seville that my father’s cousin used to park in front of the liquor store the next street south of where I lived when I was 7 years old. My father’s cousin owned the place. Really stood out in a working man’s neighborhood. My father was happy to be driving a ’47 Olds “6.”
I forgot about the 1957-1958 collapsing A-frames in the front suspension. The Olds, Buick and Cadillac had inadequate ball joints/A-frames when introduced. Very early on (still in 1957, and heavier in ’58) you could see these cars suddenly collapse on one side in the front, more rarely both sides, plowing to a stop in a shower of sparks. The first one I saw was a ’57 Coupe deVille on Main street, the right side just fell on the ground at about 15 mph. I saw lots of others over the years. In those days recalls were kept quiet and cars were repaired when they came in for service, some escaped repair somehow. It became rarer to see them collapsing in the 60’s, most had been replaced with heavier units I was talking with a friend at his upholstery shop, watching traffic drive by when a Dusk Rose ’57 Olds “98” Starfire coupe had the right front suspension collapse and slide to a stop. We talked to the original owner of the car, turned out he did his own maintenance and never heard about the problem. I saw a ’57 Buick Special Riviera coupe turning off the Esplanade (main road in town) again the right front collapsed while turning. I’d only seen low speed collapses, but heard the cars usually stopped very quickly digging into the pavement. I did hear stories of deaths from cars crashing at high speed, but always second hand. I worked at the Buick agency as a teen in the detail dept, as I walked past the service desk where a very nice black and white ’57 Roadmaster was being checked in, the service writer asked me to park it outside. I got in, started it, and put it in gear. When I did, both sides of the front suspension collapsed, and the bumper was sitting on the floor. The fellow brought it in because the front end was making noises. My personal most frightening experience was in 1966 with my 1958 Limited convertible. I was going to L.A. to visit a friend, it was a beautiful summer night with the top down. In those days I-5 was deserted after midnight, I was driving at 110-115 mph all the way down, the car purring along. As I turned into his driveway in Topanga Canyon the entire front end collapsed. I sat there thinking if that had happened at 115 mph. wondered how it could have happened, the ball joints and A-frames had been replaced years before. The answer was I had replaced the air suspension with a GM kit PACKAGED in 1958, with original ball joints and A-frames, sitting on a shelf, waiting for me to buy it. Since then I’ve had plenty of GM cars from that time, I check those, and all cars I drive to prevent this happening. It can happen to most any. Still as a teen, I bought a black ’59 Thunderbird coupe when I was visiting my Sister for awhile in Sacramento. I’d gone to a movie and was driving home on Watt Ave. (two lanes each direction undivided) at 2 am, the only other car on the road, a Dodge 880 CHP cruiser, behind me. I made sure I was at the limit cruising along, when suddenly I was upside down, sliding to a stop on the roof, looking through a severely cracked windshield. I put my hand on the headliner to support myself when I undid the seat belt, spraining my wrist in the process. I tried to open the door, but the now cracked side window wad dug into the weatherstrip, I hit the power window switch on the console and watched the sight of the window trundling UP into the door. I crawled out (those thick T-bird pillars really held up well). The cop was standing there. He asked if I was hurt, I told him just my wrist. He said”I;ll bet you don’t know what happened” Since I didn’t even remember the car flipping, no I didn’t. He saw it from behind me. The entire left front suspension collapsed at 45 mph and dug deep into the pavement. He said it was very fast. the only thing damaged was the roof and windows, it flipped with out touching the body. The idiot in the tow truck managed to total the car trying to turn it back over. So, as stated I check all my cars periodically. When I bought my 75 Imperial, a mechanic friend told me, reinforce the A-frames on it. Sure enough one side had a hairline crack in it, we reinforced it. I had a dozen Imperial and continuation New Yorkers from 1974-1978, and ALL had minor cracks in the A-frames. Driven normally there probably would never be a problem, but as my mechanic friend said, “You’re not normal.”
The Limited convertible on another visit to Topanga Canyon, B&W nostalgia shot with his Packard.
In ’74, in HS, I had a 58 Coupe de Ville. It turned heads. The styling was already of a bygone era. An era that would never be recaptured, only recalled.
I didn’t think of it as a particularly big car – I mean, it was big, but not abnormally so. There were still lots of big cars on the roads at that time. The steering wheel was larger than other “modern” big cars of the early ’70s.
I’m biased but I always preferred the 58 styling.
The extended-deck concept that began with the ‘48 Cadillac 60 Special spread throughout all other GM makes except Chevrolet throughout the 1950’s. For not much more cost than a longer frame and quarter panels plus ancillary components, top-line luxury models commanded premium prices. The proportional emphasis implying luxury being placed on the rear of the car, courtesy Misterl et al.
Something not generally recognized is that simply because the car was lengthened, it didn’t result in greater rear seat legroom. In fact, Cadillac used the C-Body passenger compartment unchanged from 1950 through 1958, placed it with the same front axle-to-cowl dimension as all other models, appended longer quarters with longer fender skirts which can be seen when compared to those on the 62. The ‘57 60 Special reveals lengthening in wider doglegs between the door opening and wheelhouse; ‘58‘s was mask by the returned fender skirts and broad stainless trim.
Through the 1955 model year, the best selling 62 sedans were still in the +/- 215” OAL range. When the ‘56 Sedan de Ville appeared with its extended-deck, the preference began to shift. With the 225.3” OAL extended-deck 1958 62 and Sedan de Ville, the type became dominant. Even Buick joined in, all Limiteds 227.1” OAL. Of course for 1959, all became essentially extended-deck at 225” OAL without exception.
To responded to complaints of excessive length and urban congestion, along with the 212.4” OAL 1961 Lincoln Continental, appears the 215” OAL short-decked ‘61 de Ville Town Sedan, reduced seven inches: 3,756 cars. Trying again for ‘62, de Ville’s renamed Park Avenue; the 62 the Town Sedan: 2,600 run off of each. The 5,000 total suggest a limited stamping run to control costs. Once more: a sole ‘63 de Ville Park Avenue: 1,575 cars. Each year the short-decks were parity priced with the other four door hardtops. Conclusion: the extended-deck concept the proven winner, time to throw in the towel.
I suspect that people were more interested in a smaller Cadillac, not a shorter Cadillac. To be clear, an A-body Cadillac not a short C-body. I suspect that Cadillac was concerned about how the Seville would actually do in the market place when these shorter C-bodies did not go over well.
58L8134 is right on all counts. Lincoln took a chance with its larger styling and hit a winner, the ’55 Imperial had a smaller stretch over Chrysler and DeSoto, and in ’56 an enormous tail, which I loved. Having Imperial’s from ’56, as well as Chryslers, and still having a ’56 Fireflite 4 door, from front bumper to rear window they are the same body, even the same rear doors on the 4 door even though there was room to carry the rear door line strait down.
Main reason I’m revisiting and adding to my prior long entries, I talked with Will last night, who bought my ’58 60 Special, in the 60’s. I told him I’d written about the ’58’s, he asked if I wrote about the feel of the air suspension compared to steel springs. The feel was why I left it on as long as possible, Will’s car had 24,000 miles on it when I sold it to him and has around 58,000 now, with the air suspension still working. The smoothness of GM air suspension was a step above the coil spring cars. It wasn’t as smooth as my ’56 Packard Patrician and seemed more related to the Citroen hydropneumatic although the Citroen was smoother. Driving fast on an interstate with trunk loaded, it leveled the car perfectly. On sharp corners they would lean because the compressor took awhile to catch up, (however, in a series of hard corners the suspension would pump more air and stiffen up, helping handling) On wide sweeping curves like interstates usually have, the suspension would level the car completely. A ’58 with air bags would always beat a ’57 through a corner. They could take corners at least 30-40 mph over a ’57 The frame and body mounts were made beefier on the ’58. ’57’s had a reputation for unacceptable body shake on the 62 and deVille 4 door hardtops which was not present on ’58’s, It also was less on the ’57 60 Special. The ’58 steel spring cars also cornered better than the ’57’s, and the power steering was tightened up, from 4 turns lock to lock, to just over 3 1/2 turns. No one mentioned the Elevator (believe that was what the Olds or Buick called it. Pull it out and a couple of minutes later you would have 6-7 inches more ground clearance, (the book said 5 inches, but actual measurement was usually 6-7 inches). We used to have minor floods every year (still do sometimes) from the Sacramento River. When I had the GM air suspension cars took several friends through the floodwaters with just enough clearance in the water. I was also still in my teens and several friends in Chico also had air suspension cars. We would drive to the ends of the paved roads and put the air suspension up, driving on 4×4 roads for 50-70 miles to where pavement started again. Hikers would be amazed at the sight of huge GM cars out in deep forest. That was how I killed the air suspension on the ’58 “98” Starfire convertible. We got back on pavement near Chico in the evening (Norm with me). There was a road for a new housing development out in the boonies, no houses yet, no one around. There was a hump back bridge that was fun to jump, which we did sometimes with our GM cars. I headed for the bridge. Traveling around 90 mph, full darkness out now, we approached the bridge, suddenly Norm yelled “The air suspension’s still up!” I shoved the lever in, but knew there was no chance, it took longer than that to react. On landing, there were interconnected explosions. The Olds was still going forward, but lots of stuff was rubbing, mostly the front tires in the fender wells. We stopped and looked, the car looked cool on the ground, but I destroyed the air bars. At around 5 mph, I drove to Norms and parked it. We switched it to coil springs from an aftermarket company. The changeover was easy, but the coil springs were so soft the rear bumper dug up pavement on hard corners. A lot more happened to the Olds, but it’s a different story.
Will also said to mention my pet peeves about the ’58 Cadillac. First, the parking brake release. It was a foot pedal and also had a small release lever on the side of the pedal. Only problem was getting the damn thing off. Sometimes it took 4-5 tries to get it all the way off. The white extended deck car had been converted to a Buick release (actually the whole unit), and I did that on the convertible and 60 Special. Second, the bottom cushion of the front seat was one inch too short to support my legs, I usually kept terrycloth towels in the car and put one at the bend of each leg. My ’58 Lincoln’s and Imperial had perfect support. Three, the gas filler was behind the left side tail lights, on a couple of the cars the latch could not be adjusted to bring the chrome closed all the way. I lived with it but didn’t like it. Four, the grille was popular with customizers but was anodized aluminium and a true pain, usually with bleeding fingers to clean it. Five, wheels were weak and I broke several, but I drove hard too. I Had Sabre wheels on the convert and 60 Special, and the white car had chrome, none of those broke. Six was minor, but an irritant, Most any Olds, Buick or Cadillac from ’57, ’58 will have matchbooks in the glove box. The windshield wipers were located on the left wraparound of the dash. Push the lever forward to activate the vacuum wipers. Driving down the road the wipers quit, they turn themselves off. A matchbook fits perfectly in the slot to keep the wipers on. I was able to find 2 electric wiper kits and put one on the ’58 Cad convert, the other on the 60 Special, the white car had electric already. Six, Anyone who has ever been in the high line series cars had a massive amount of chrome on the dash. I loved It’s looks, until with the top down the sun hit from behind. It was worse than looking at the sun. From then on I’ve had transition lenses in my glasses. Maybe I’ve covered good and bad now.
That picture of the black ’57 CDV is perfect. I had a ’57 SDV and a ’56 SDV. The ’57 had a flatter hood which gave better visibility and didn’t make you feel that you were driving a truck. The canted fins and basket handle rear window made the car look kind of sporty to me. That same roof was later used on Camaros and Firebirds and remains a favorite of mine. A shout out to LRC- Respect, Brother!
I am the proud owner of a 1958 series 62 short deck bought by my dad in 1960 from a Dr friend of his. I was 1 and a half years old. Color Prestwick Gray. Silver interior. Power windows and factory AC. Grew up with that car. We had other new cars, but kept the Caddy. Maybe because I always said how much I loved that car, and said I wanted it when I grew up!! I was given the car when I was 23. Both my parents have passed in the last few years, mom 89. Dad 97! Miss them lots, but still have the caddy which is a connection for me, Drive it regularly around town. Some people think any car can be had for the right price, this car is worth around ten thousand. I wouldn’t sell it even for a hundred thousand. It is something that I wouldn’t ever consider. She will be 60 this January, she was purchased new in January of 58, I have original delivery card. I AM 58 .We are growing old together! ! Lol.
Great article and comments and really appreciate RLF’s remembrances, puts one right back in the times.
Always thought 1957 was a zenith of sorts for Cadillac, capping off years of Motoramas and market dominance, the Eldorado Brougham its crowning achievement. Agree with others that the ’58 long deck SdV was a standout, wish they had done it for ’57 instead and made it the 60 Special… never liked the rear wheel kick-out on the production 60. Also never liked Cadillac’s shortish hood and cab-forward proportions during the Fifties. Personal coupes especially needed the opposite. Here’s work-up that shifts greenhouse back a good half foot and cleans up and closes in the rear quarters. My kind of Caddy.
Cadillac knew in the 1920s that their V8 didn’t produce the elegant long hood that Packard’s Straight 8 did. It might be one reason they developed the V16 and V12.
Photo-edited ’57 Sixty Special on same 133 wb as production but with 3.5 inches added to axle-to-dash rather than rear wheels moved rearward. Length increases from 224.4 to 227.9 inches, all for hood length. Chrome on lower quarters removed, skirts added.
In Lima-Peru, in 1957, my farher bought a Oldmobile 98 coupe for himself, and a Cadllac sedan de Ville for my grandmother, to replace her 1942 Packard limousine.
In 1960 my grandmother passed away and the Cadillac came to our house.
I drove both in several occations in the 1960s, the Olds was more fun to drive and better looking. The Olds was sold in the late 60s and the Cadillac in the late 90s.
If I had to choose today, it would keep the Olds.
In 1958 living directly behind us in Towson, on Charles St Ave, were the 2 Blair brothers, owners of a successful construction company in Lutherville. One brother had a ’57 62 DeVille sedan and his wife a ’58 Eldo Seville. Next to them in between was my 2nd grade girlfriend’s parents’ who had a ’54 Kaiser Manhattan. The other Blair had a ’58 DeVille coupe. I don’t recall the wife’s car. At that time, age 8, I was totally fixated on bumper exhaust ports found on Caddies, ’57 Olds and DeSotos, for some reason. I always compared the Caddies every time I walked by. To this day I prefer the ’58 front end with it’s quad lights, full width grille, and smaller Dagmars, but the more restrained and conservative rear of the ’57. I wonder if a hybrid could be made by swapping the front clip of a ’58 onto a ’57 body?
These don’t look like Cadillacs. This generation with all its fins and what-nots, don’t look luxurious. They were, but they really don’t look like a car for any formal occasion. In the ads, they looked completely misplaced in front of the banks, offices, theatres, or other formal settings they were placed within. As a matter of fact, by 1961 – Cadillac itself agreed with that assessment. Cadillac became a cartoon, not a car by 1959. It was a style dead-end.
There was a reason Americans turned away and mocked these kinds of encrusted bloatmobiles. The styling we are seeing doesn’t look like it has any movement – it just is a stationary design with ridiculous fins for back fenders. They appear as though someone walked around these cars and attached stuff to them like they were interior designers hanging pictures, sconces and pillasters where they could. Those chrome scoops on the fenders looked as functional as a gargoyle on an old church.
As dazzling as they appear – they are costumed cars. They wear masks, wings and tails of chrome.
The Lincoln Continental of 1961 won acclaim by having what these Cadillacs, Imperials, and yes – even the 1958-1960 Lincolns did not have – taste.
I’ve been watching old “Perry Mason” episodes on Pluto. Recently, a white early 60s Continental sedan (driven by the Skipper from Gilligan) was wrecked and burned. So sad. Perry drove the convertible in at least one episode, but Paul Drake had to settle for a Tbird conv. I don’t think Della drove at all. Sponsorship changed several times in the series, as he drove late 50s Cadillacs and 60s Chryslers.
A girl friend of my mother had a new 1958 Cadillac 60 Special, white w/black & white interior. I remember that car like it was yesterday but I was only seven years old at the time.
San Francisco, 1958, mom was divorced and she had three girlfriends also divorced. All four ladies would lunch weekly at one mid-century modern hillside house across the bay. Afternoon martinis and cards. Us kids found ways to amuse ourselves.
My memory and the 1958 Cadillac 60 is most distinct the day that beautiful home started to slide down the hill. Girlfriends called, children in tow, the rush to get things out of the house and into our cars. The evacuation priority was save the cloths. At seven years old I was handed cloths, raced to the cars to dump cloths, then back to the house for another handful. My gosh, those big dress’s we crammed into that 1958 Cadillac, as well as moms 1955 Olds Starfire conv. with the top down. I remember crossing the Golden Gate back to SF, Olds Starfire top down and me laying over a back seat full of cloths looking skyward.
In todays think, some might think this was child abuse. To me it is a wonderful childhood memory of a 1958 Cadillac Series 60 and moms 1955 Olds Starfire conv.. that could hold closets full of designer clothing.
What’s with the surviving 1957 Eldorado 4-door hardtop? Is that a photoshop or a design experiment?