1953 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

The image above shows the defining features of the 1953 Cadillac Eldorado, the first Caddie model bearing that name.  To begin, it's a convertible (hartop models appeared for 1956, and starting in model year 1967, all Eldorados became coupes until 2002, the final year for them).  Most important from an historical perspective is the panoramic or wraparound windshield, the first on a production General Motors car.  The other feature is the fenderline-echoing beltline dip.  Like the wraparound windshield, this appeared on GM's redesigned 1954 Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs.

The '53 Eldorado was one of three GM special-edition convertibles.  The Oldsmobile Fiesta also had a panoramic windshield, but the Buick Skylark did not -- I wrote about early Skylarks here.

Cadillac built 8,899 convertibles for 1953, only 532 of which were Eldorados.  Price might have been a factor because while regular convertibles were listed at $4,144, Eldorados were $7,750, an 87 percent increment.  As for the others, 458 Fiestas and 1,690 Skylarks were built.  The production total for all three was 2,680.  Even with their high prices compared to mainstream convertibles, I doubt that GM made a profit on them.  Most likely, they were loss-leader marketing tools that might have helped the buying public accept the 1954 redesigns.

Below I compare an Eldorado to a standard Cadillac 62 Convertible.  The Eldorado is painted blue, photos are from Barrett-Jackson auctions.  The red standard model photos are from Mecum auctions.

Gallery

1953 Cadillac 62 Convertible.  Curved windshield and straight beltline.

The Eldorado's body was the same as the 62's, aside from the details mentioned above.

Rear quarter view.

The Eldorado's rear is the same as the 62's.

Left side.

The panoramic windshield's frame required some new tooling where the A-pillar linked to the cowling structure.    But the door cutlines are the same.  The beltline dip meant additional stamping.  I'm not a body engineer, so cannot guess how expensive these changes were.  I assume they were not cheap, and costs were unlikely to have been amortized on such low production runs, high list prices notwithstanding.

Finally, a Cadillac publicity photo of a 1953 Eldorado.