1956 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Coupe (LHD)

Description

Despite the challenge from newly established rivals Lincoln and Imperial, Cadillac remained America’s leading maker of luxury cars throughout the 1950s and the confidence shown by the company – and the American auto industry as a whole - is perfectly embodied by the longer, wider and lower 1954-1956 models.  Built on a new 129-inch wheelbase frame, the new Cadillac boasted a wraparound windscreen, plenty of chrome embellishments and upswept tail fins.  The Series 62 saw a pillarless hardtop coupé badged the Coupe de Ville join the model line-up, a name first seen on a dream car built in 1949 and applied to all Cadillacs of this body style thereafter.  From 1953, Cadillac’s more upmarket sub-series was badged the Eldorado and for 1956, the convertible was joined by a new hardtop dubbed the Coupe Seville (body style 6237DX), joining the Biarritz Convertible (body style 6267SX).  Setting it apart from the Series 62, the Eldorado gained unique tail fins that were longer and taller than the entry-level Cadillac for 1956, the steel roof turret covered in a synthetic covering marketed as ‘Vicodec’.  Under the curvaceous bonnet, Cadillac’s V8 grew in displacement to 365 cubic inches, with 305 horsepower thanks to a four-barrel carburettor while the Hydra-matic transmission was revised for smoother shifting.  Cadillac built just 3,950 Eldorado Coupe Sevilles in 1956, making it one of the rarest models offered that year.  Although it managed to outsell the convertible by a ratio of two-to-one, with a list price of $6,551 the Eldorado Seville was about fifty per cent more expensive than Cadillac’s entry level Sedan de Ville and the same price as two brand new Corvettes.  A rare sight on Australian roads, the 1956 Eldorado Seville is one of the glitziest cars of the Rock ‘n’ Roll era and a genuine head-turner.