 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cadillac's "Car of the Future"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Cadillac Eldorado Brougham began life as one of GM's Motorama "Dream Cars" making it's debut in 1955 Motorama Show.
The car was again shown as a concept car in 1956, then on to become one of two Motorama Dream cars that made it into production. The other was the 1953 Corvette.
Like all General Motors vehicles, each car was issued a body number which corresponds to their order of manufacture. In 1957 due to the complexity of manufacturing the Broughams, approximately only one car per day could be completed. Therefore in 1957, 400 Eldorado Broughams rolled off the assembly line and 1958 there were only 304 completed. Because the issuing numbers were so low for each year, Broughams have a tendency to be referred to, or identified by their "Car Number".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"The Brougham embodies
numerous design and
engineering features never before offered on a
production car...
The exclusive nature of the car called for special tooling and assembly preparation to assure the Brougham to be as it was intended, the finest automobile ever built."
~James M. Roche,
Cadillac General Manager
Quoted in the December
1956 Cadillac
Press Release for the
Eldorado Brougham
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rich and the Famous
The limited production and exclusivity of the 1957 Eldorado Brougham drew the wealthy and famous.
Frank Sinatra, Conrad Hilton, Aristotle Onasis, Joan Crawford, Loretta Young, Bob Hope, Rick Nelson, John Wayne, the Armour Family (Armour Meat Packing), the Davidson Family (Harley Davidson) and Howard Hughes are some original Brougham owners. Even Fidel Castro reportedly owned a 57 Brougham.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Eldorado Brougham by Cadillac sold new in '57 for $13,075.00.
By comparison, a Standard Cadillac Hardtop Coupe in '57 was $4,677.00.
At that that time, the Brougham was the most expensive production car
available, out-pricing a Rolls Royce by $2,000!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Each car was considered a custom built vehicle, and boasted many luxury appointments as
standard equipment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|