Rare Rides Icons: The Cadillac Eldorado, Distinctly Luxurious (Part XXII)

In our last installment of the Cadillac Eldorado saga, we covered the engineering and equipment advancements that arrived with the fourth generation in 1959. All Cadillacs grew longer, lower, and wider, and the exclusive Fleetwood Brougham moved closer to its Biarritz and Seville siblings. But the big news for 1959 was all-new styling courtesy of Bill Mitchell. As we’ve learned lately, even one-year-old styling was reasonable cause for criticism from the competition.

(Note: The red Cadillac pictured is the 1959 Eldorado Seville, and the white example is a 1958.)

The big and bold prow of the 1959 Eldorado Seville and Biarritz were more streamlined and modernized, keeping with Bill Mitchell’s efforts to undo the heavy chrome look cultivated by his predecessor Harley Earl. Quad headlamps appeared as expected, still a hot new lighting fixture in the United States. The lamps were spread apart more than previously, in an effort to cover the wider real estate available.

Above the lamps were fender awnings that extended further than before, and formed an eyebrow look across the front end. The awnings blended inward to the hood line, its opening concealed much more effectively than in 1958. Presented on a less vertical surface was the Cadillac crest and V emblem, both of which were simplified and widened for 1959.

The grille wore a refined egg crate theme that continued from the prior year, with bullet casing type details at each intersection of the grille vanes. New was a thick chrome bar that bisected the grille and created two equally sized sections. The bar wrapped around under the headlamps and terminated at either side at the wheel well. Dagmars were no more, the time for them had passed as they were an Earl hallmark. 

Bumpers were simplified and lightened in 1959, as rib detailing went by the wayside along with some of the vertical surface area. The front bumper wrapped around and under the front of the Eldorado, and presented fog lights and turning indicators in separate circular and ovoid pods. Viewed as a single element, the pods look a bit awkward. Between them was the recessed chrome license plate surround. 

At the front corner there was a notable removal of any vent detailing, and the height of the fender itself was lowered for less surface area. The mainstay chrome strake that extended from the headlamp into the door in 1958 was gone in 1959. Its replacement was a body character line in a similar position that faded to nothing ahead of the front door.

Also more restrained were the wheel well openings: Where the 1958 Earl design saw the front wheel well extended toward the rear, the 1959 Eldorado’s wheel arch tucked downward much closer to the front tire. At the bottom of the arch above the chrome body molding was block ELDORADO lettering; there was no body side script to be found. Other notable body chrome was found just below the window line and extended beneath the rear fins. Side strakes of any kind were removed, and rear wheels were once again skirted like they were in 1954. 

The windshield was still the wraparound style Cadillac pioneered in the first Eldorado in 1953, but wrapped around slightly less than it did in 1958. In its place was a new A-pillar shape that curved rearward at the top edge of the door instead of 1958’s 90-degree angle. Thick chrome surrounded window openings and the windshield as before, but the roofline took a more streamlined shape in 1959. No longer was there a rearward canted B-pillar, but rather one which angled forward in a natural way to the roof. Rear-side windows were much larger than before, and created a much lighter looking greenhouse with more glass area. 

The rear windshield was enlarged considerably, and took a more modern shape with minimal wraparound toward the B-pillar. Rear passengers were treated to much more light than in 1958, as the ‘59’s rear window extended above their heads. If those passengers looked behind them, they’d see the enormous new fins the Eldorado sported. 

Larger than ever before, the rear fins were a “take that” to Chrysler and Imperial. They extended off the fender looking sharp and encased in pointed chrome. Bullet-shaped quad brake lamps were placed in the middle of the fins, each with their own thick chrome surrounds and trim spear. Chrome along the body line extended under the fins and toward the rocket-inspired rear pods, which contained large reversing lamps.

The lamps were much smaller than they were in 1958, and wore new V detailing instead of the matching grille egg crate of 1958. An extended trunk lid sloped longer and further than ever before, and wore no badging at all. The only indication of branding at the rear was ELDORADO block lettering on a chrome trim strip between the trunk lid and bumper. 

The bumper wore new detailing to match the grille, surrounded by two thick bands of chrome. It also extended the full width of the rear, a different approach to the corner covering style seen in the prior generation. Overall there was more fender and less bumper at the rear, and the chromed shape looked more a part of the design rather than attached as afterthought.

Unfortunately, there was no special wheel design for the 1959 Eldorado. Thick whitewalls surrounded a turbine style wheel cover, though more traditional chrome wires were also available (optioned here). Both the wire wheels and turbine wheel disc were shared with other Cadillac models that year, with only two differentiations: Standard Series 62 and DeVille models had a flatter turbine design with more vanes, while Sixty Special, Seventy-Five, Eldorado, and Eldorado Brougham shared a taller turbine look with fewer vanes.

In our next installment we’ll take a look at the design of the exclusive Eldorado Brougham. Its hand-built Italian body was an oddity in the domestic automotive landscape at the time, and would be a one-off sort of experiment. And unlike the prior Eldorado Brougham, the ‘59 was a preview of future styling rather than a pastiche of the past. Until next time.

Images: [ dealer, dealer, GM]

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