The Cadillac Eldorado was Cadillac’s luxury flagship for half a century, sold from 1952 until 2002 over twelve generations. Its name is a contraction of two Spanish words meaning “the gilded one”, and the car was at or near the top of the Cadillac range for almost all of its life.
Cadillac Eldorado at a glance
| Maker | Cadillac, General Motors |
|---|---|
| Production | 1952-2002 |
| Generations | twelve |
| Name | Spanish for “the gilded one”, after the city of gold |
| First production year | 1953 |
| 1953 output | 532 cars |
| 1953 price | $7,750 |
| 1953 length | 220.8 in (5,610 mm) |
| Bodies over the years | convertible, hardtop coupe |
| Sub-names | Seville (hardtop), Biarritz (convertible) |
| Fleetwood designation | 1965-1972 |
| Final car | 2002 coupe |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Eldorado.
History of the Cadillac Eldorado
The Eldorado name was chosen in an internal competition for a 1952 concept car celebrating Cadillac’s golden anniversary, and it was then used for a limited-edition convertible for 1953. That first car was a special-bodied, low-production convertible of which 532 were built, the production version of the 1952 El Dorado Golden Anniversary show car. It borrowed bumper bullets from the 1951 Le Sabre and introduced the wraparound windshield and a cut-down beltline to Cadillac production, features much loved by styling chief Harley Earl and soon copied by other makers.
An expensive halo car
Technically a subseries of the Series 62 based on the regular convertible and sharing its engine, the 1953 Eldorado was nearly twice as expensive at $7,750. It came in four colours – Aztec Red, Alpine White, Azure Blue and Artisan Ochre – with air conditioning at $620 and wire wheels at $325 as options, and carried no special badging beyond a gold Eldorado nameplate on the dash. Its 532 cars were only 0.5% of Cadillac’s 1953 sales.
Growing sales and the tailfin years
In 1954 the Eldorado lost its unique sheet metal to lower the price, and sales nearly quadrupled at $5,738. For 1955 it gained its own rear-end styling with higher, more slender tailfins, and in 1956 a hardtop coupe called the Eldorado Seville joined the Eldorado Biarritz convertible, lifting sales by 60% to 6,050. Cadillac restyled the car for 1957 with an exclusive rear end and pointed in-board fins. From 1965 the Eldorado carried the Fleetwood designation, and from 1967 it was built in high volumes on its own two-door personal luxury platform, which carried the model through to its last generation in the 1990s.
Design and features
- Halo status: never less than second in price after the Series 75 limousine until 1966.
- Distinctive styling: the wraparound windshield of 1953 and the sharp tailfins of the late 1950s.
- Named versions: Seville for the hardtop and Biarritz for the convertible, with Biarritz returning as a trim in 1976.
- Personal luxury platform: from 1967 a two-door platform of its own, shared with no other Cadillac.
Cadillac Eldorado versions
- 1953 convertible: 532 cars with unique sheet metal.
- Eldorado Seville: the hardtop coupe, offered from 1956 to 1960.
- Eldorado Biarritz: the convertible, and from 1976 an upscale trim package.
- Fleetwood Eldorado (1965-1972): the Fleetwood-designated generation.
- Later coupes: the personal luxury cars built to 2002.
The Eldorado shared its showroom with the de Ville and the Seville, and its open-air spirit returned in the Allante. More Cadillacs are in the Cadillac collection.
Video: 1972 Cadillac Eldorado – 8.2 Liters of V8 Power
Video by AutoMoments on YouTube.
Sources
- Cadillac Eldorado, English Wikipedia: name, generations, 1953-1957 cars, sales
