American Cars of 1958

[Monksdream]

June 7--1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Part 2

This is an image of the interior of the 58 Biarritz. Typical GM styling of the period. Everything that could be electric was electric. The Wonder Bar radio only carried AM.




An interesting piece of automobile history is that Cadillac was formed by the breakup of Henry Ford’s company in 1902 due to a dispute between Ford and his investors.
The investors were trying to sell the assets from the closed factory when instead they decided to continue making automobiles by the urging of Henry Leland a Detroit manufacturer who also happened to have built a new engine. Leland convinced the investors that his new engine was stronger than that of Olds and he could produce them cheaper. The Cadillac name chosen for this new venture was the namesake of the explorer and Detroit’s founder, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.
General Motors would go on to purchase Cadillac in 1909 and eventually Cadillac became the luxury automobile and SUV division of General Motors Corporation.
The Cadillac Eldorado
The Cadillac Eldorado was a top of the line model. The Eldorado was introduced in 1953 and lasted continuously to 2002. The 1953 Eldorado was a limited edition convertible. The 1958 Cadillac Eldorado shown here is of the third generation models which were built from the 1957 through 1960 model years.
The Cadillacs of the 1950’s are remembered by their vast display of chrome.
Harley Earl and the new 1958 Cadillacs
Automobile design historians are well aware of the long tenure at General Motors by design chief Harley Earl. In short, Earl was hired by Alfred Sloan to be in charge of the styling section to design LaSalles. That worked out well and Earl was then put in charge of GM’s new “Art and Styling Studio” where he would head design for GM’s entire line. Essentially Harley Earl joined General Motors as a head designer and remained so for over thirty years.
Harley Earl was the head designer of the team working on the new 1957 Cadillac designs. These designs would mark the 1957 and 1958 Cadillacs. One of the major changes to these third generation models were the double headlights on each front side. The 1959 models would have much larger tail fins and perhaps the largest ever.
The 1958 Cadillacs received a modest facelift. Cadillacs for 1958 were basically carryover models from 1957 with a facelift on all but the Brougham. There was a new grille with multiple round “cleats” at the joining of horizontal and vertical members. The grille was wider and the bumper guards were set lower to the parking lamps. New quad headlights were seen on all Cadillac lines and small chrome fins were placed on the front fenders. Tailfins were somewhat less pronounced in 58 and trim attachments were revised. The Cadillac name was seen, in block letters, on the tailfins of Series 62 base models. On the sides of these models were five longer horizontal windsplits placedahead of the unskirted rear wheel housings.
The 1958 Recession Automobile Market
Sales were relatively poor in 1958. The reason was not the automobile itself but rather a recession that the country was in. Cadillac produced a total of 121,700 vehicles for the 58 model year.
The 1958 recession brought about the worst car sales year since World War Two. Overall American new car sales decreased 31 percent from 1957 levels. Fortunately, the recession ended during the last half of the year and sales picked up for 1959.
1958 Cadillac Eldorado Specifications
The 1958 Cadillac Eldorado had a 365 cubic inch V-8. The engine delivered 312 HP and was used in all Cadillacs that year. Eldorado performance was substantially improved with the adoption of three two-barrel carburetors, which boosted output to 335 HP.