The 1957 Cadillac
Eldorado Brougham was an extremely expensive car ($13,074 in 1957 dollars, when a mid-range Oldsmobile sedan was listed at a little more than $3,000). Total production was 704 units over its two-year run.
I recall that the Brougham was considered General Motors' answer to Ford's 1956-1957
Continental Mark II, a revival of the classic 1940-1948 Lincoln Continental. Mark IIs were priced around $10,000 and production was 3,005.
The 1957 Brougham was preceded by a concept version that appeared in GM's 1955 Motorama traveling show. The present post compares the two designs.
Images below alternate from the concept car to production Broughams. Concept Brougham photos are from General Motors.
Gallery
The concept Brougham is reasonably clean-looking and very much of its time. The reverse-slope C-pillar was found on some 1957-58 Cadillacs as well as some mid-50s GM concept cars, not to mention 1959-60 Mercurys. The windshield has a very thin A-pillar, and its slope is unlike any GM production car's during the wraparound/panoramic era.
The top of the production Brougham in this likely-factory photo differs from the concept version. The windshield A-pillar is vertical, like some other production cars. Fender lines are similar apart from the tail fins. The side trim theme is similar for both cars, though details differ.
Quad headlights did not become legal across the USA until the 1958 model year, though they were previewed here in 1955. The production version lacks the hood ornament on this car.
Air intakes in front of the cowling are the main difference. Note that both cars have "suicide" back seat doors.
Rear ends are less similar than fronts. Compare the shape of the trunk lid, tail lights, and exhaust outlets with the production version below.
Similar tail fins appeared on non-Brougham '57 Cadillacs. The concept car's are mercifully smaller. Backlight windows seem to be the same.
Concept and production front ends are nearly identical.
Mecum Auction photo. Headlight assemblies are more compact than the concept's. The small disks (what are they?) below them are new. Otherwise, the frontal designs are essentially the same aside from a few subtle shaping differences.
2 comments:
I think the small disk were grilles for the horns
Certainly the slickest version of that era of Cadillacs by far. Nothing is the same as a regular Cadillac except the basic mechanicals even though it is instantly recognizable as a Cadillac. Suicide doors with no center column between them and a stainless steel roof. With those production numbers GM must have lost even more per car than Ford did with the Mark II, even at the inflation corrected price of $146K.
1958 Chevy and Pontiac two doors, particularly the Impala or Bonneville hardtop ones, have a reverse slope C pillar design that's very close to the concept version.
The front of the pictured Brougham looks like a not quite really symmetrical Italian built car of that time, but maybe it's just the photo.
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